Challenge:

“Soy sauce is an all-purpose seasoning”

There are five different types of soy sauce. Like wine and food, there are soy sauce and food pairings. However, not many people were aware of this and, therefore, most tended to use only one type of soy sauce for every dish. This was a contributing factor in the decline in the number of Japanese soy sauce makers from 6,000 to 1,200 in the past 50 years.

Idea:

Make “soy sauce pairing” the norm

To introduce people the enjoyment of soy sauce pairing, we developed a new brand, “Favorite Food Soy Sauce,” for Dento Design Kobo’s soy sauce specialty shop Shokunin Shoyu. We created illustrations of Japanese people’s favorite foods for the sleeve packaging on each 100 ml bottle. This allowed people to intuitively choose the right soy sauce for the right purpose. When the sleeve was removed after purchase, the soy sauce brand’s name was revealed. This led to direct purchasing from the brewer.

Result:

Over 17,000 bottles sold in 10 months

Many people posted photos of their favorite food seasoned with Favorite Food Soy Sauce on social media. Wholesale distribution expanded nationwide, resulting in an average 240% increase in overall sales for stores carrying Favorite Food Soy Sauce products. Favorite Food Soy Sauce also contributed to a 308% increase in Shokunin Shoyu’s own sales, driving a V-shaped recovery for the seller, which had been struggling due to COVID-19. This was all good news for Japanese soy sauce manufacturers. We now aim to expand the initiative to favorite foods from all around the world.