Mr. Shinichiro Matsumura, President, Hokkaido Ai Co., Ltd.
– 10-1-24,Minami21-jo Nishi, Chuo-ku ,Sapporo City
●Established August 29, 2019
●11 employees
*interviewed in June ,2021※Photo
Tetsuji Kawabe, owner of Kubarahonke group (front row, 4th from left)
Mr. Shinichiro Matsumura, President of Hokkaido Ai Co., Ltd. (front row, second from right)
“Return the good taste” to Hokkaido.
Now, over time, a grand giving back begins.
More than 30 years ago. The owner walked around Hokkaido on his feet in search of cod roe, the raw material for Mentaiko. After 30 years of giving back to Hokkaido, I have been holding in my heart for a long time the support I have received from many people I met at that time. While it is said that it is difficult to use 100% Hokkaido products, “I will never use Hokkaido-produced tarako or something”. We asked Mr. Shinichiro Matsumura, President of Hokkaido Ai Co., Ltd. (hereinafter abbreviated title), about his thoughts.
Hokkaido’s delicious food culture is spread through all over the country.
——— background and thoughts of the establishment of Hokkaido Ai Co., Ltd.
Matsumura: Behind our founding is the deeply related to the Kubarahonke Group and Hokkaido. For more than 30 years, the Group has used many Hokkaido ingredients in its products, including high-quality cod roe, onions and kelp, which are the raw materials for the Hakata specialty “Spicy cod roe” brand “Shoboan”. In august 2019, we established Hokkaido Ai Co., Ltd. as a project to convey “hokkaido’s delicious food and food culture from Hokkaido to the whole country with ingredients from Hokkaido”.
I met hokkaido’s products and am now the Kubarahonke. Hokkaido has always been the basis of development, and I have always wanted to give back in some form someday. That was the “delicious return” that returned hokkaido’s happiness with manufacturing that made people happy.
There is a tailwind in Hokkaido right now.
——— the reasons and outline of the company’s decided to build a food plant in Eniwa.
Matsumura: We decided to build a factory to shape our 30-year thoughts, and decided that the place was Eniwa. Eniwa is located at the intersection of the JR Line connecting Sapporo and New Chitose and National Route 36, and I was attracted by the high access and visibility of traffic. We also considered the abundance of industrial infrastructure such as groundwater and natural gas. The site area is about 18,000 tsubo (about 60,000 square meters) and the total floor area is about 1,800 tsubo (about 6,000 square meters). We aim to be completed and operational in the summer of 2022.
I think Hokkaido had the wind at their back very much now. It is said to be global warming, but this is also positive in Hokkaido. You can challenge various crops more than ever, and the temperature difference is also a good condition for crops. Low temperatures are the best for food preservation than high temperatures.
Also, when I actually lived in Eniwa, I realized that it was a very livable gusset. My wife is a natural Fukuoka person, and when she first came here, she didn’t really look very good at snow. However, when I actually live there, Eniwa doesn’t have much snow in Hokkaido, and the inside of the house is warm. And, it because there were four seasons, and it be said that it loved Eniwa.
Using ingredients from Hokkaido, we polish the “deliciousness”.
——— are various “Domin rice” sent out, but what kind of products will be produced at the new factory in Eniwa? And please let us know your dreams for the future.
Matsumura We will establish a production system for new products centered on the Hokkaido brand, including the “Tabeyo Hokkaido” series. In addition, we prepare such research facilities (laboratories) that use Hokkaido ingredients to polish by “deliciousness”. We would like to work with the people of Hokkaido to develop products that make use of Hokkaido’s ingredients and ingredients through the whole country and the world. The company owner has always said. “I’m a Hokkaido person, and I do business with Hokkaido’s money.” I want to give back someday. That’s why Hokkaido Ai was born. I am prepared to bury my bones in Hokkaido, and I hope to develop together while establishing employment opportunities for local people based in This Garden.