Will organic sake intoxicate consumers? Procurements of rice as bottlenecks and comparative procurement strategies by fo
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(2020) 7:30
Journal of Ethnic Foods
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Open Access
Will organic sake intoxicate consumers? Procurements of rice as bottlenecks and comparative procurement strategies by four brewers in Japan Yoshitaka Miyake
and Ryo Kohsaka*
Abstract This study reviews the status of current organic sake and procurement strategies of organic rice by four brewers in Japan. Despite overall declining trends in shrinking domestic markets, sake categorized in the premium segment has been increasing in trading volumes and indicated resilience in prices. This study first reviewed and analyzed the overall status of sake, trends in premium segment, and challenges for organic sake. Unlike wine, organic sake occupies a minor position in the segment. This was followed by the comparative analysis of procurement strategies of organic rice for four sake breweries in Japan. The strategies were contrasting; three breweries indicated strong “local” bonding while one procured organic rice outside of the region, resulting in different product strategies. At its initiation, all four breweries showed the interests in local agriculture and gained rice locally. Then, availability and affordable price became a bottleneck. Implications of these challenges are further analyzed from exporting perspectives as well. Keywords: Organic agriculture, Export, Local development, Terroir, Rice, Sake, Japan
Introduction Sake has been part of Japanese culture from the ancient time as the national foundation mythologies of Kojiki and Nihonshoki described them [1]. Brewing at low temperature developed at the time of the Song Dynasty of China (960–1279). Japan accepted this technology around 1570. In addition, the technologies have been developing to overcome immature flavors. First is the development of malt. Malt production became stable in the Muromachi period (1336–1573). The recipe of malt was shared among select groups. Malt became spread in the Meiji period (1868–1912). In the same period, scientists started to be involved in the studies of malt. In recent years, malt became specified to types of the products. Second, the scientific separations of yeasts * Correspondence: [email protected] Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Furo-Cho Chikusa-Ku, Nagoya City, Aichi 464-8601, Japan
started in the late ninetieth century. Amongst historical yeast, the “Number 6 yeast” is still used in brewing which was originally separated from a brewery in Akita Prefecture in 1930 [2]. After the WWII, the development of yeasts rapidly contributed to the evolution to the current flavor of sake [1]. Nowadays, the breweries polish the rice surface and have the scent given off from premium sake. The overall production of sake has been decreasing in contemporary Japan mainly due to diversification of preferences particularly for younger generations and decreasing population. In short, the domestic market, the production volume more than halved in the last 20 years. Despite such decline, the demand on premium sake and the increase of the export
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