Today, I’d like to proudly begin the latest of the series of Meet The Manufacturer special spotlights! This time, it’s a company from Japan called Sakurai Foods. The following interview was conducted over email.
THERAMENRATER> Thank you very much for agreeing to do this interview! Could we start off with some information about Sakurai Foods; when was Sakurai Foods founded, where and by who?
SAKURAI FOODS> Sakurai Foods was established on January 15th, 1910 in Seki City Gifu, Japan by Sutekichi Sakurai. Our company head Yoshiaki Sakurai is the 4th generation.
TRR> For those of my readers who are not familiar with your line of products, could you tell us a little about them?
SF> We have a policy not to use artificial additives for our products. And we give more priority to use the domestic ingredients(organically grown is the best) than imported items.
TRR> What is the story behind the name?
SF> The name was named after Mr.Sakurai, a founder of the company.
TRR> Is Sakurai Foods involved in the local community around you?
SF> We have a factory visit for elementary school students in our community. For junior high school and high school students, we provide work experience at Sakurai Foods.
TRR> Why do you think ramen is such a popular food?
SF> We think ramen is popular because it is cheap but it makes us full. Also, it has many kinds of taste, so we can change the taste every day, and it doesn’t make us bored.
TRR> Are there any new products that will be coming out soon that you could tell us about?
SF> Our new product is cup ramen for vegetarian with Shoyu stock.
TRR> Can you tell us about the different varieties of noodles you produce and how they differ?
SF> For the soup stock, we have Miso, Shoyu, Salty and Sesami, etc. And for the noodle, we have fried and non fried (Hot air dried) ramen. Our products differ depending on these soup stocks, and noodle types.
TRR> A lot of people wonder about the health factors (sodium, etc) when it comes to instant noodles. How do you recommend people made instant noodles a healthy part of their diet?
SF> We don’t use artificially additives, and it is Non-MSG, so we can recommend that our noodles are healthy for their diet.
TRR> Do you make/sell products other than noodles?
SF> We Produce bread crumbs, potate starch, and wheat flour.
TRR> What was your first product?
SF> Our first product was “Udon”. It is Japanese style dried noodle.
TRR> How does the process in which you make your noodles differ from other brands?
SF> It is almost the same.
TRR> Where are your products available?
SF> It is available at Japanese food store. Ex)Nijiya, Mitsuya, and Marukai.
TRR> When you make noodles for yoursdelf, do you add anything or have any recommendations?
SF> We add green onion, egg, and seaweed, and we recommend all of them.
TRR> Thank you very much for this opportunity to learn more about Sakurai Foods!
In the following days, I’ll be reviewing some samples of Sakurai Foods products they sent recently.
Interview * Sakurai Foods Samples * Sakurai Foods Soy Sauce Ramen * ARCHE Naturkuche Japanische Nudelsupper mit Ingwer * Sakurai Foods Miso Ramen Bowl * Sakurai Foods 100% Vegetarian Soy Sauce Flavor * Sakurai Food Soy Sauce Flavor Ramen Bowl * ARCHE Naturkuche Ramen mit Ingwer * Sakurai Foods 100% Vegetarian Miso Flavor
Disappointed with the short responses by Sakurai, made it seem like they didn’t care. I was really looking forward to see what makes Sakurai stand out in the instant noodle market.