Regional Craft Chu-hi Connecting Farmers and Consumers
TAKARA SHUZO Co., Ltd.
| Updated | March 05, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Publication date | January 14, 2021 (Posted on July 8, 2022) |
| Sector | Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries |
Company Overview
TAKARA SHUZO Co., Ltd. is the core operating company of the TAKARA GROUP, which is engaged in domestic alcoholic beverages/seasonings business and biotechnology business. Our sake brewing history dates back to 1842 in Fushimi, Kyoto, during the late Edo period, and today we deliver safe and reliable products backed by technology, focusing on traditional Japanese liquors and seasonings as sake, shochu, and mirin.
Climate Change Impacts
The aging of farmers and the effects of climate change have posed a risk of decline in domestic fruit cultivation. In the Uwajima region of Ehime Prefecture, the effect of global warming has made it difficult to cultivate high-quality Satsuma mandarin, the mainstay of the region. However, efforts to incorporate fruits from warmer regions into domestic cultivation have been attracting attention. The average temperature in the Uwajima region of Ehime Prefecture has risen by approximately 1°C, making it possible to produce blood oranges from Italy, which was difficult to do before.
Adaptation Initiatives
＜Product Development by Leveraging Climate Change＞
In response to a request from the Ehime Prefectural Mikan Research Institute, which was promoting the production of blood oranges in Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, we developed a limited-edition blood orange chu-hi called “Jikashibori(directly squeezed) -Blood Oranges from Japanese Farms-” in 2012 (Fig. 1). We also tried a new approach to make further use of the valuable fruit, such as extracting oil from the peel after pressing and producing flavorings, rather than just using the juice.
We are now engaged in a project to turn Kyoto into a lemon production area. Lemons require a warm climate for cultivation, so Kyoto’s climate with its temperature differences had long been considered unsuitable for lemon cultivation. However, in response to climate change, the producers, processors, and sellers are working as one for the cultivation and branding of "Kyo-lemon ".
＜Efforts to Protect Production Areas＞
Our series of craft chu-hi, TAKARA CRAFT (Fig. 2), that we produce and sell exclusively in regional markets, makes the most of the unique features and characteristics of the ingredients cultivated with care in each area of Japan. The first initiative was to increase the fruit utilization rate, enabling the commercialization of fruits from small-scale production areas. The second initiative was to solve the issue of the gap between the harvest season and the tourist season of passion fruit in Ogasawara Village, Hahajima Island through our development of chu-hi.
Effects / Expected Benefits
Our TAKARA CRAFT project that focuses on the development of fruits and specialties of the local areas in response to climate change, is contributing to the branding of local production areas and the expansion of demand for local fruits. We also hope that this will lead to the revitalization of the local areas and the promotion of successors.
Fig. 1 Development of chu-hi using blood oranges
Fig. 2 Our series of TAKARA CRAFT chu-hi
