- 14 Mar 2002
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Japanese startup Ferment Base, specialising in fermented foods, plans to expand into the United States, exporting a nonalcoholic rice-based drink to California and setting up a local unit on Saipan, a Pacific island territory under U.S. control.
The company, founded in 2023 by Mitsuyuki Hiramatsu, who was then a graduate student at Utsunomiya University, develops fermented products inspired by traditional Japanese foods, adapting them for modern consumers in Japan and overseas. It has already started shipping amazake (甘酒) to the U.S. The drink, whose name literally means "sweet sake", is made from fermented rice and naturally develops a mild sweetness during fermentation. The company's version contains no added sugar or sweeteners. Unlike some types of amazake made with sake kasu (酒粕), a byproduct of sake brewing, Ferment Base's product contains no alcohol.
Ferment Base describes its amazake as a "Japanese super drink" and says it may help improve gut health. Ferment Base also says the drink has only a light kōji (麹) aroma and very little aftertaste, which it believes will make it easier for American consumers to accept. Rising interest in nutrient-rich foods overseas also helped push the company towards exports.
Paywall alert:
asia.nikkei.com
The company, founded in 2023 by Mitsuyuki Hiramatsu, who was then a graduate student at Utsunomiya University, develops fermented products inspired by traditional Japanese foods, adapting them for modern consumers in Japan and overseas. It has already started shipping amazake (甘酒) to the U.S. The drink, whose name literally means "sweet sake", is made from fermented rice and naturally develops a mild sweetness during fermentation. The company's version contains no added sugar or sweeteners. Unlike some types of amazake made with sake kasu (酒粕), a byproduct of sake brewing, Ferment Base's product contains no alcohol.
Ferment Base describes its amazake as a "Japanese super drink" and says it may help improve gut health. Ferment Base also says the drink has only a light kōji (麹) aroma and very little aftertaste, which it believes will make it easier for American consumers to accept. Rising interest in nutrient-rich foods overseas also helped push the company towards exports.
Paywall alert:
Japan startup takes nonalcoholic fermented 'super drink' to US
Ferment Base bills its rice-based beverage as supporting gut health
asia.nikkei.com
