Time to give Japanese Sake a Go!
When it comes to sake, many people still think about it as a high-percentage, warm alcohol, that is mainly used for cooking. Not quite correct, sake actually contains several hundred flavor components and is a highly complex and digestible drink with many positive effects.
„While doing our market research we recognized that many people who we asked about sake, often replied in a similar manner. If the surveyed individual had knowledge about sake, then it was mostly in the context of cooking.
– the size of sake bottles
– readability of the bottles
– the availability of sake
– the price point of sake
– the lacking knowledge on sake.”,
explains Dr. Bastian Schwithal, CEO and Co-Founder, Go-Sake.
This is where the sake startup “Go-Sake” wants to tackle the challenges and to give guidance to the audience. With a catchy, handy bottle sized at 180 milliliters which is equal to one Gō (In the 1660s the Japanese shogunate introduced an uniform measurement as a result of the modernization of traditional Japan), sake-newbies should get the chance to purchase Japanese premium sake at an affordable price.
The customer is able to get access to a new product without having to buy a big bottle of sake. Go-Sake stands also for a conscious “cleaner & healthier” lifestyle: With an average alcohol content of 15-16%, sake is an all-natural brewed alcoholic beverage, gluten free, vegan, sulfate-free, low in sugar, low in acid. Go-Sake aims to inspire the younger generation who hasn’t had the privilege to experience the taste of sake, to test it out for themselves.
Go-Sake curates premium sake from little sake breweries from all over Japan: „There are over 1.000 sake breweries in Japan. It is essential for our project to find the optimal product which suits sake-beginners and -enthusiasts as well, says Dr. Bastian Schwithal. In order to reach this goal, the Go-Sake team travelled through Japan, visited many breweries and brewers and tasted a variety of different sake styles. “The support of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and the Kochi Chamber of Commerce and Industry were one of the decisive factors that helped us in finding the right partners in Japan”, explains Dr. Bastian Schwithal.
With their outstanding craftsmanship, the Arimitsu Brewery in Kochi, the KITA Brewery in Nara and the Yamamoto Honke Brewery in Kyoto, the perfect partners for starting the Go-Sake Project were found. As big acknowledgement of this endeavor, Go-Sake was awarded recently within the prestigious MEININGERS Sake-Tasting with 88 Points, as one of the best sake in the tasting.
With the new launched products: “Sake Gelee” and “Sake and Tonic” Go-Sake obtains attention of totally new target groups and invites them to enter the Japanese sake world, a market which has grown continuous:
The demand for Japanese sake is growing worldwide: the value of Japan’s annual sake exports doubled over the past five years to a record-high 22.2 billion yen ($200 million) in 2018 with Japan’s tax agency data indicating a 21% rise in the global sake exports year on year. The global market is anticipated to register a CAGR between 4.7%- 12.5% (depending on the forecast company). The North American market remains the largest importer of sake followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. Even if the full impact of Coronavirus on sake exports can not been overseen yet (the total sake shipments January to March 2020 was down about 18.4% on the previous year), it is expected that there will be a renewed drive and interest in sake, when normal business resumes.
“The growing Interest in Japanese Sake we also see within our Social Media Activities”, Dr. Bastian Schwithal confirms. “Meanwhile over 20.000 people are following Go-Sake on the different Social Media Channels and receive weekly news on Japan and Japanese Sake Culture.”
Besides the marketing of the handy Go-Sake bottles it is very important for the Go-Sake team to promote also the related Japanese culture by events, workshops, food tastings and pairings. Go-Sake is Co-Founding Member of the the 2020 founded Sake Embassy Germany, which consists out of a diverse filed of sake enthusiasts and has the aim to help people in the western world to understand sake in order to ultimately enable the best possible drinking moment full of mindfulness, purity and appreciation.
Press Contact:
Mei Watanabe
Head of Communications
Go-Sake
contact@go-sake.com
Go-Sake is there! The first handmade, awarded, designed Japanese Craft Sake-to-go! The Go-Sake project was founded to promote Japanese sake culture. Go-Sake curates premium sake from little craft sake breweries and stands for a new modern way of sake consumption, in a contemporary packaging. For a conscious “cleaner & healthier” lifestyle: An all-natural brewed alcoholic beverage: www.go-sake.com