Ayumi Chikamoto Of Sakuraco On 5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand

An Interview With Martita Mestey

As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Ayumi Chikamoto, Founder of Sakuraco.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

After spending my early childhood in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, my family moved to Tokyo, where I grew up. My parents were very devoted to my education, and from an early age I took many lessons and studied hard.

My parents were not the type to praise their children much, but rather, they would ask them to work harder and achieve more. This type of educational policy is common in Japanese families.

Because of this, ever since I can remember, I have been a very competitive person, but it has meant I have become an upwardly mobile person. Whether I was studying, taking part in piano competitions or swim meets, achieving my best (and beating others) was something I strived for.

Can you share with us the story of the “ah ha” moment that led to the creation of the food or beverage brand you are leading?

After graduating from university, I joined a large HR and sales company here in Japan. I was responsible for the planning for a domestic e-commerce business. During my role there, I noticed many foreign tourists were visiting Japan and enthusiastically buying Japanese electronics, brand-name products, snacks and other products you can only get here in large quantities.

Rather than focus on the domestic market, I decided that there was a bigger opportunity in marketing the best of Japanese food and drink to overseas markets and found there were not many companies offering this or doing it as well as I believed I could.

I chose confectionery because it is the most popular item purchased by foreigners traveling to Japan. We found that 75% of travelers purchase Japanese confectioneries when they visit and this figure convinced us that our business model will be popular among foreigners not only offline but also online.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Japan is known internationally for its unique culture which is heavily focused around food and drink. I initially thought that people in other countries really wanted to try the most different and ‘wacky’ Japanese products, so I decided to offer subscribers a type of Japanese soda drink called Takoyaki Ramune. Takoyaki is a street food, famous in Osaka, that is essentially balls of fried mayonnaise and octopus. It’s loved by tourists but it turns out the flavor in a soda is a step too far. It was poorly received by our subscribers who thought it tasted awful. This lesson taught me that the produce we share with the rest of the world needs to be the best Japan has to offer, authentic and appetizing above anything else!

What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they start a food or beverage line? What can be done to avoid those errors?

Starting an e-commerce food business that ships internationally isn’t easy. The biggest mistake is underestimating the cost of shipping which is increasing at a rapid rate. Businesses must learn to balance these costs without charging customers too much for shipping as an additional cost. Additionally, different countries have different rules and laws on what kind of food and beverage products can be shipped. Sometimes these can be quite restrictive and should be researched ahead of time.

Let’s imagine that someone reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to produce. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

First, you should always check that you have a Product Market Fit. Don’t make the mistake of trying to go for a Founder Market Fit! I am often consulted by people trying to launch new brands and many of them are products that the founder likes or wants to make. But I have to ask, “Who is going to buy it if you make it?”. Before trying to launch the product or brand, try doing some marketing or crowdfunding to actually gauge the demand of the product before putting more investment into the business idea or without testing it on a small scale.

Many people have good ideas all the time. But some people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. How would you encourage someone to overcome this hurdle?

When I started my business, I didn’t have many mentors, advisors or senior businesspeople around me. But if I were to start my business again, I would consult with several successful business leaders first and ask for their opinions. Hearing words of encouragement after having them analyze your business would surely give you the courage to continue during difficult times. On the other hand, if everyone you consulted with thought that your business would struggle, you may need to reconsider your decisions and listen to those who have been in your position before.

No matter how new your business is, there is nothing that has never been done before. And the words of people who have been in your position before can always be relied upon — but make sure to get more than one opinion.

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

I think you should try it yourself. If you have an idea and you want to start your own business, consulting fees are nothing but a waste of money. Consultants are a service for companies of a certain size, not for startups that are just starting out where every pound, dollar or yen counts.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

I think it depends on the business model you are hoping to follow. Of course, there are many benefits to bootstrapping your business in the early stages but it is never an easy process. But depending on the business model, you may have to rely on investors for funding. Some businesses in competitive markets are dependent on huge amounts of upfront marketing costs or investment in machinery to get going which can be a large hurdle to overcome without outside support.

Can you share thoughts from your experience about how to file a patent, how to source good raw ingredients, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer or distributor?

From my experience of running a successful international food business, my one piece of advice is to never take a shortcut to get to where you want to be. That involves sourcing your product or partners. The only way to go is to figure out your priorities and steadily develop relationships with your business partners. Over time, you will find those you can trust and who will deliver good quality products or services for you. My businesses are built upon relationships with artisan, local producers who are experts in their craft and have spent decades perfecting their craft. Authenticity and skill are what makes these products shine and is what keeps our customers coming back — and tasting delicious of course!

Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand” and why?

Can you share your ideas about how to create a product that people really love and are ‘crazy about’?

I am still in the process of learning this, but it is important to always ask myself “is this a product that will please the customer?”. I think that it is important to continue to get better at what you do and surprise your customers — this is the best way to keep them loyal.

For me, the best B2C brand in the world is Apple. Even though it boasts the world’s best-selling smartphone, the iPhone, Apple continues to refine its products each year and introduce market-leading features. Following Apple’s lead, we would like to continue to improve our products without ever being satisfied with its current iteration.

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place? You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Starting and running a business in Japan as a female isn’t easy and as a country we are lagging behind in terms of female entrepreneurship. While there is a new generation of clever, hard-working and inspiring female founders in Japan, the old mentality of men do the work and women bear and raise the children’’ continues to be deeply rooted here. In the future, I hope to engage in activities that support the development of women’s career development and female entrepreneurs in my home country, while continuing to inspire food-lovers worldwide about the best of Japanese culture.

Thank you so much for the time you spent on this interview. We wish you only continued success and good health.

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