Uncle Yoshiro

Japanese snack conquering the hearts of consumers in the West

Uncle Yoshiro

Manufacturers of Revolutionary Marine Snacks

saketoba.co.uk

TL;DR

Uncle Yoshiro’s Saketoba was a brand I created to bring authentic Japanese salmon jerky to the UK. With a focus on premium ingredients, cultural heritage, and healthy snacking, we built distribution across 60 retail locations and sold over 15,000 packs. Despite strong traction, the combined impacts of Brexit, rising costs, and market volatility led us to close the venture. The journey provided invaluable lessons in product development, supply chain management, and team alignment.

background

Yuri, one of Monarch Caviar’s customers, asked if we wanted to get involved in the salmon trade with him, to which we happily agreed to. Initially, we launched a wild smoked salmon line, a product he was already selling to distributors around Europe.

Yuri was on a business trip to Japan and brought back a bunch of snacks with him. One of the snacks was saketoba - a variation of Japanese salmon jerky, which he wanted to share with the rest of the world.

He proposed to take care of the manufacturing and supply chain, while my responsibility was to build a strong brand and product - one that would resonate with consumers in the UK - and take it to market.

brand ideation

a bit of history:

In Hokkaido, the local Ainu people fished salmon in quantities greater than what could be eaten immediately, especially in the fall. They preserved it, so it could last up to six months. The first step was to cut the fish into thin slices, which was then dried on a rack outside with the skin still on, before being taken inside and smoked in the hearth. These dried slices, called saketoba, were eaten as is by pulling off the meat, or by rehydrating in water and eating as ingredients in other meals. In Japanese, ‘sake’ means salmon, and ‘toba’ is a poetic expression for autumn tree leaves.

With my experience of growing Monarch, I wanted to replicate some of the aspects of what worked before, so I dived right into researching the history of Japanese art for inspiration.

The three aesthetics I fell in love with were as follows:

1. Ukiyo-e woodblock paintings of the Edo period, and artist Katsushika Hokusai in particular
2. Vintage photos of Hokkaido in the 1960’s
3. Gyotaku, a form of nature printing where ink is applied to a fish which is then pressed onto paper

The Great Wave by Hokusai was a quite famous woodblock painting, and many would recognize it from afar. When I first saw Kajikazawa in Kai Province, I had my ‘aha’ moment and connected all the dots. This is how Uncle Yoshiro’s brand legend was born:

Once upon a time, in a small coastal village in Eastern Hokkaido, lived Oji Yoshiro. He was a respected fisherman, well-known by his fellow villagers for bringing in the most catch and sharing it equally amongst all people. As his legacy spread, the local council gifted premises to Yoshiro, where he built an izakaya. Ever since, Uncle Yoshiro has made it his mission to provide sustainably sourced, nutritious and mouth-watering snacks to the entire world! Out of all his delicacies, Yoshiro’s personal favorite was one called ‘saketoba’. It takes the form of fine salmon jerky strips, absorbed in a mixture of various Japanese spices. The recipe has a long, rich history and its secret was inherited from the Ainu people, who were the earliest settlers of the island of Hokkaido.

market analysis

The UK market for premium, healthy snacks has been growing steadily. In 2021, UK shoppers spent over £21bn on snacks. Within this trend, the meat snacking category has emerged as the fastest-growing segment in UK food and drink, increasing by 38% since 2020 and expected to grow another 49% by 2027, reaching £454 million.

With 28% of all UK food and drink occasions now snack-focused, demand is high for on-the-go products that are both satisfying and protein-rich. This consumer interest in health and convenience made saketoba a strong contender in the evolving healthy snack segment, with its high protein and omega-3 content.

consumer segments

I was confident that my caviar clientele, as seafood lovers, would happily adopt the product. However, we were on a mission to develop a grab-and-go snack, which resided in a retailer’s jerky section. We also believed it would appeal to pub visitors, as the umami taste highly complimented beer and wine. Hence, the target consumer groups were expanded as follows:

• Health-conscious individuals looking for nutritious, high-protein snacks
• Seafood enthusiasts who appreciate premium, wild-caught products
• Cultural consumers drawn to Japanese heritage products
• Families seeking natural, omega-3-rich snacks for children
• Social drinkers who enjoy snacks that pair well with alcoholic beverages, such as beer, wine, or sake
• Fitness-oriented consumers who need high-protein options

Our target consumers could be found in some of the following places:

We ultimately decided that we would prioritize three account categories to start off - delis and specialty stores, Asian grocers, and niche establishments - all with low-to-medium entry barriers. Saketoba could make its way into larger distribution channels, such as supermarkets and fast food chains, in the longer term - after earning trust and recognition in the market, and passing all the production requirements.

competitive landscape

The market for salmon products in Europe is dominated by farmed salmon from Norway and Scotland. However, wild-caught salmon, particularly when smoked or preserved, is seen as a premium offering. Traditional salmon snacks are limited in variety, often restricted to smoked fillets and gravlax, which leaves a gap for innovative products like saketoba.

While there were plenty Japanese-style snacks available, there wasn’t a single saketoba brand in all of Europe. Additionally, there were a couple of salmon jerky brands on the market - none of which significantly took off. We had all the chances to establish ourselves in the nascent fish snacking segment.

product development

I tested out unpackaged saketoba samples with around 50 people, including friends, chefs that I supplied with caviar, and even random passerby’s in coffee shops. After receiving outstanding feedback, I knew this was something we could work with.

There were dozens of saketoba brands in Japan, each with its own regional flair. To stand out in the Western market, I knew we needed to preserve Japanese authenticity while adding a modern touch.

Since our GTM strategy was launching in higher-end specialty stores first, and we had a unique product proposition, we assumed that the consumer could pay a slight premium over meat snacks and salmon jerky.

We initially planned to package Saketoba into biodegradable pouches. However, the minimum order quantity requirements several pouch manufacturers gave us was too high for a brand just starting off. The quickest and least expensive way to test the product out was to take the vacuum-packed samples and stuff them into another layer of cardboard, where we could print out our design.

My sister introduced me to Dave, a talented designer who agreed to polish our product. Initially, Saketoba had three different flavors - original, oriental and hot&spicy. We wanted the packaging to be see-through, largely inspired by our Japanese counterparts. Dave drew the fish gyotaku-style, just the way we envisioned it.

go-to-market

Our first public appearance was at the Speciality & Fine Foods Fair 2021, hosted in Olympia London. Saketoba drew a lot of attention, especially from Japanese visitors - upon trying, some even said it tasted better than in Japan :)

After a productive fair, I proudly listed it on Monarch’s online store, noted down all the leads I collected into our CRM, and started drafting our first commercial offering.

We received a couple of orders, but not nearly enough to cover the costs of the exposition. Most of the retail buyers who appeared to be excited at the fair were reluctant to even trial it in their stores - for reasons including lack of product history, uncertainty of where to place the product within the store (seafood section vs snack section) and no agreements with distributors.

On the other hand, no distributors were ready to onboard a product without traction. For several months, I applied my best efforts to create this traction, at the same time as managing Monarch Caviar. I knew I had to expand my team, and I didn’t look too far - Nubar and Alan, two brothers who also happened to be my neighbors, were highly interested in the new business I was building.

We had a few discussions and they became cofounders - this gave birth to esma foods. Since the retailers I spoke to wanted to be supplied by distributors, we decided to start building a distribution company ourselves, with Monarch Caviar and Uncle Yoshiro as two of our portfolio brands.

I decided that our GTM strategy should replicate that of Monarch’s. In comparison to restaurants, retailers were even tougher to reach by phone or email, so I did what was natural to me - took samples, entered the shop, asked for the purchasing manager and pitched Saketoba. In most cases, I took the manager to the meat snack section, pointed the exact spot where I thought the product should go and showed them why it would stand out. With time, Saketoba was placed in some stores’ most visible and desired shelves.

We held many tasting events too, especially when entering a new retail location. One time, upon exiting Kings Cross station in London, a KIND Bar representative approached me and offered a product sample to try for free. Largely inspired by Daniel Lubetzky’s strategy, this became my own favorite field marketing tactic for Saketoba. We also partnered with a number of beer brands, as a complimentary snack.

culmination

By 2022, Saketoba had gained traction and established a presence in over 60 retail locations, with over 15,000 packs sold. However, the timing presented significant challenges. Brexit’s full effects kicked in, and the onset of the war in Ukraine triggered a cost-of-living crisis across Europe. These factors created a tough business environment, especially for niche products.

Our manufacturer began seeking ways to cut expenses, which strained our relationship and affected product consistency. Team morale declined. While Saketoba resonated with a loyal customer base, sustaining growth for such a specialized product in a volatile market was unsustainable and we ultimately decided to close down.

takeaways

1. Prioritize online viability - build a product that sells online first. If a product has strong online demand, it’s more likely to succeed offline as well, and vice-versa.

2. Focus on one product and execution - when building a business, there’s always something critical to work on. Prioritizing focus ensures momentum, and multitasking dilutes efforts.

3. Align team goals - ensure the entire team shares a clear, unified vision. Aligned goals create stronger team morale, especially during difficult periods.

4. Simplify the supply chain - the shorter and more direct your supply chain, the fewer complications you’ll face, particularly in the early stages. Reducing dependencies allows better and faster response to market changes.