Kagome cultivates healthy, innovative flavours for Asian palates

When Kagome founder Ichitaro Kanie grew Japan's first tomatoes in 1899, he reaped more than a new crop variety; he cultivated a healthy, flavourful and revolutionary food that provides nourishment and sustainable livelihood in Japan.

More than a century later, Kagome has grown vertically integrated - from seed management to cultivation, ingredient processing, manufacturing, marketing and sales. In addition to selecting the finest from 7,500 tomato varieties to suit its range of juices, sauces and condiments, Kagome develops patented varieties, such as its LYLYCO brand tomatoes that boast two to three times the lycopene content of regular variants.

"We created the tomato condiments market in Japan 110 years ago; 30 years later, we introduced the tomato juice," says Hidenori Nishi, Kagome chairman. "Today, Kagome commands more than half of Japan's vegetable juice market valued at nearly US$1.5 billion. We take great pride in paving the way for healthier lifestyles."

The company has also mapped various one-of-a-kind tomato flavour profiles to match diverse consumer tastes. This provided Kagome the edge to venture overseas, initially in Taiwan where it has grown a following of health-conscious consumers for 45 years.

Kagome's food and beverage products are sold in more than 50 regions, including Thailand, Hong Kong and the mainland, where the company will establish a condiments factory in Tianjin this year to supply food service industries worldwide.

Kagome welcomes interested distributors and food-related businesses, including restaurants and bakeries seeking to add new flavours to their menus. It also looks forward to collaborative projects with clients and like-minded partners aiming to make a difference with healthy, sustainable products.