Kikkoman Corporation

Japanese food manufacturers are accelerating investment in the United States, building new plants and expanding existing ones. According to U.S. Commerce Department statistics, the outstanding balance of Japanese investment in the food sector reached 8.195 billion dollars, or about 1.28 trillion yen, at the end of 2025, roughly 2.5 times the level of a decade earlier. Kikkoman, the largest soy sauce maker, reported that overseas operations accounted for 78 percent of its 745.5 billion yen in sales and 90 percent of its operating profit in its consolidated results for the fiscal year ending in March 2026. In the United States, the company has built its third soy sauce plant, in Wisconsin, which began shipping in October, and its U.S. production capacity is expected to roughly 1.4 times its current level around 2036. Hokuto, a major mushroom producer, aims to bring a second plant into operation during fiscal 2028. Morinaga is investing about 20 billion yen to build a second plant to strengthen supplies of Hi-Chew, with operations starting in October, and Meiji is adding a production line for Hello Panda and plans to roughly double its U.S. sales by fiscal 2030 compared with fiscal 2024. The number of American visitors to Japan rose about 22.9 percent year on year in 2025 to roughly 3.11 million, and the Americas division of the Japan External Trade Organization, or JETRO, analyzes the trend as a virtuous cycle in which people who become familiar with Japanese food during their stay continue to seek it after returning home.

Kikkoman has opened its third soy sauce plant in the United States, in Jefferson, Wisconsin, and held a commemorative ceremony at the site on the 18th. The third plant has already begun operations and will start shipping soy sauce in October, with plans to produce 4,000 kiloliters by March next year, and it is also looking at producing a wider range of products such as teriyaki sauce and ponzu. Honorary Chairman Yuzaburo Mogi said the plant "responds to growing demand across North America," expressing the company's policy of using the new plant to expand production for the North American market. The ceremony was attended by President Shozaburo Nakano and Senior Managing Director Osamu Mogi, as well as local officials, and the site becomes the company's US production base following its first plant in Walworth, Wisconsin, and its second in Folsom, California. The company established a US subsidiary in 1957, began shipping from its first plant in 1973 and from its second in 1998, and now holds the top share of roughly 60 percent of the US household soy sauce market. In remarks to reporters on the 17th, Yuzaburo Mogi said many people in the United States still do not use soy sauce and that "we expect the market to grow from here," adding that for overseas operations outside the United States, "Europe has the most potential. Where to build a second plant in Europe is also becoming a topic of discussion."