Passing Strict Import Tests
Featured in JAPAN FOOD JOURNAL!
Series: Overseas Japanese Food: The Watershed of Success / 196 https://news.nissyoku.co.jp/news/kwsk20240722045441122
Translated to English below ;
Bacchus Global, an import and wholesale liquor business, has decided to import rare and rare Japanese sake into Thailand. Owner Hara Koji was counting down the days until the ship would enter Bangkok Port, a river port, at the end of 2023. If the import test did not produce satisfactory results, the plan to import Japanese unpasteurized sake into Thailand would surely end up being nothing more than a pipe dream.
The long-awaited news of the arrival of the container arrived. He headed to the site out of breath. He quickly cleared customs and transported the container to the newly secured refrigerated warehouse in a special refrigerated truck prepared by the company. The biggest challenge was temperature control in Thailand. It is a country with a constant summer temperature of over 25 degrees. Food left outside will spoil within half a day. If a continuous cold storage system could not be established here, the entire plan would have been for naught.
Meanwhile, a USB memory stick containing the sensor data was recovered from the container. When it was analysed on a computer in an office attached to the warehouse, it was found that during the two weeks the ship was on board, the temperature had never once risen above zero, and had remained steadily below minus 5 degrees. Thus, the import test was successfully passed. Bacchus Global has essentially been granted a license to import Japanese unpasteurized sake into Thailand.
Official imports are planned to begin as early as October 2024. The first year’s supply will consist of about 1,500 bottles of rare alcoholic beverages. “Once we get on track, we’d like to import more from other manufacturers and increase the number of bottles,” says Hara.
Bacchus Global has previously imported foreign liquors to Thailand, including famous French champagne and organic wines popular in Europe. It is known as an importer with a long track record, having imported a large number of rare sakes and shochus from Japan. However, it is difficult to control the temperature of unpasteurized sake, and like other companies in the industry, the conditions did not match, so it remained in a state where it could not be handled.
Having taken a step forward, the owner, Hara, expresses his joy honestly. “The conditions were tough, but I thought that if I gave up, it would be the end. I believed there was nothing I couldn’t do, and I continued to persevere, which led to this moment.” It has been two full years since the decision was made. His body, which has been flying around all over the place without a break, is also feeling the next response.
“Mixed cargo shipping can carry up to 3,000 bottles of alcohol in a 20-foot container, and 5,000 bottles in a 40-foot container, so there is still room for more. I would like to continue discovering even more hidden gems of alcohol from all over the world and importing them to Thailand.” His dreams just keep growing.
I wondered why he was so particular about famous international alcohol, so I asked him frankly. The answer was quite simple. “Traditional sake brewing and unpasteurized sake are difficult to mass-produce, and cannot be brewed in the same way as popular alcohol. Of course it has value. I would like to help convey that value in an appropriate way to the global market. I sincerely hope that delicious alcohol, not just sake, will spread around the world.”
He also said that he is grateful to the sake brewers who unexpectedly gave him this opportunity. “There is still room for sake to become known around the world.”
(Bangkok, journalist Shinichi Kobori)
