To further improve my Japanese, I’ve taken to watching business programmes from TV Tokyo on YouTube.
(The channel features selected extracts and highlights. Most are between 1-5 minutes in length. Perfect for studying and discovering new news!)
TV Tokyo is part of the Nihon Keizai group, the Nikkei, and is one of the 5 big private TV networks in Japan.
This week they featured an innovative craft gin distillery located by the Sumida river in Tokyo.
The distillery is attracting a lot of attention partially because gin’s popularity is growing in Japan, and partially through word-of-mouth marketing.
The company trades under the Ethical Spirits name making small batches of spirits from waste food.
(Note the distillery itself is called Tokyo Riverside Distillery. Confusing? I thought so)
According to TV Tokyo the distillery has made up to 40 different gins, some from traditional ingredients like juniper berries and other herbs, whilst more abstract types have come from Sake lees and even coffee waste.
Japan Airlines domestic lounge at Haneda airport generates over 1.8 tons of coffee waste annually. Some of this is finding its way into gin, according to the broadcaster.
Japan is one of world’s leaders in waste recycling, bettered only by South Korea. However, in 2021 Japan still generated over 5 million tons of food waste (just over half is from businesses). Recently, new legislation has been brought in to encourage further improvements (Food waste recycling act)
Craft gin has boomed in Japan, partially due to the shortage of Japanese whisky, partially a knock-on from the craft beer and artisanal coffee trends.
Globally, the craft spirits category is worth over $21b and forecasters say its growth rate will climb further.
I tend to assume craft beer/craft spirits/coffee roaster etc operations are start-ups. Ethical Spirits is clearly well funded. Its website reveals 100 million yen in capital ($690K), unusually high for a food-beverage start up (the typical range is between $50-300k).
How Ethical Spirits is going to market coffee gin was not discussed. Maybe Robusta gin or a new Arabica juniper series perhaps?
The fact that TV Tokyo and JAL are engaged reveals big corporates’ ethical interest in moonshine!