Hello Kyoko, we have known each other for a while. The last time that we spoke we agreed that it's time to write about what SOI, the company you are working for, is doing with spent coffee grounds. But before we put the focus on your products made with upcycled spent coffee grounds, of which the most famous is your COLEHA chocolate bar, please give our readers some background information about the company.
Absolutely! SOI was founded in 1984 by Reizaburo Ishigaki, who held a master's degree in fermentation science. He's the father of our current CEO, Dr. Tetsuji Ishigaki. Our company's mission is to transform organic waste into delicious food products, revolutionizing the way people think about food and waste.
The Ishigaki family's legacy in fermentation dates back to 1739, providing us with centuries of expertise in turning waste into valuable products. Dr. Ishigaki's 'UPTECH' concept embodies our commitment to zero waste, utilizing every part of the resource through our time-honored fermentation techniques. Nothing should be lost.
Our main office is located in Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, about 100 kilometers west of Tokyo and near Mount Fuji. In March 2024, we opened a new upcycled factory in Tokyo, close to Haneda International Airport. I am one of the co-founders and am responsible for marketing and various other aspects of our business. We are a dedicated team of professionals.
What does it mean in Japan to be a zero waste company?
While we've been pitching this idea, it's a bit different from what people might expect. The Japanese are very conscious about waste and you'll rarely find any litter, especially in our cities. Because of this, they might not be as receptive to hearing about waste, even though everyone knows things like spent coffee grounds are considered waste. There's a prevailing mindset that nothing should be seen as waste.
For that reason, at SOI we use a holistic concept, which means we look at the whole thing. The goal is that every part of a fruit or plant is used, no matter how many people and processing and consumption steps there are. We call this “Mottainai” in Japanese. One of the translations of “Mottainai” could be something like “we regret wasting something” or “It’s a shame to let something go to waste”.
So, it's better not to put a marketing focus on waste, upcycling etc.?
Yes, we prefer to go ahead and do it, rather than make a lot of talk about it. And in our case, as we work with fermentation, there is barely any waste left when we are finished.
Upcycling without any leftovers, this sounds like an ideal situation.
Indeed! And it´s doable.
Let's dive a bit deeper in your fermentation process…
Unfortunately, I cannot go into details regarding the fermentation process; sorry for that. But the basic process is very simple: when we receive the wet spent coffee grounds, we grind them and start the fermentation with koji; koji is a mold which is widely used in Japanese fermentation of foods. After we stop the fermentation, we bring the transformed grounds, which now looks like a paste, to a partner who then makes things like our COLEHA bar, cookies etc. from it. Or we give it to baristas who create new coffee drinks with it.
A well-known example would be Taka Ishitani who used your paste at the World Barista Championships in 2022.
Yes, he actually did. And he placed 4th! He is truly amazing!
Ok, good to know! But talking about your COLEHA bar. You offer it with 4 different sugar levels, and I must admit that each one them actually tastes like chocolate!
Thank you. With our process, we can make spent coffee grounds tastable.
A process that you cannot describe in detail…?
Right! It´s our secret.
In 2022, Forbes magazine published an article about your company. Can you tell me about the impact that such a high-profile bit of publicity had on your company?
Yes, that was a real game-changer for us. Suddenly, we started receiving inquiries from all over the world. Unfortunately, this happened during the pandemic. Since our products aren't cheap due to our processing and relatively low production volume, many of them were too expensive at the time.
Based on this experience, we have taken a new path. We now see ourselves more as a fermentation technology consulting company than as a pure producer of upcycled Spent Coffee Grounds products. We advise companies that need support in the fermentation of all kinds of organic waste products, mainly in fermentation with koji, but not exclusively. We can also supply the necessary technology.
Can this fermentation process be used for different kinds of organic waste?
Yes, everything. From tea leaves to onions, cabbage or leftovers from an orange juice production. We simply can ferment anything, as long as it is from plants.
Is this related to the fact that you have now opened a new, smaller production facility in Tokyo?
Right! Due to the growing Sustainable Development Goals movement, upcycling has become a buzzword in Japan. New types of products typically gain attention in big cities rather than rural areas. That's why we decided to establish an upcycling factory in Tokyo. To keep costs manageable, we opted for a smaller facility that functions more as a pilot production site than a full-scale manufacturing plant. Even at around 95 square meters, I believe it represents the Tokyo standard size.
And this new production facility is in a strategically interesting location…
Yes, we're located in Ota, home to Haneda International Airport. This makes us easily accessible to both domestic and international business and private customers.
In the food industry, fermentation gets more and more important, especially for functional food ingredients. However, scaling up is problematic, mainly due to two factors: fermentation is expensive, and it takes time. For that my question: how long does your koji fermentation take?
Our fermentation process is considerably faster than traditional methods, typically taking no more than a few days. We are developing and refining a large-scale, low-energy fermentation system that is both simple and reliable. As a fermentation technology company, we bring the expertise and technology required for this process. We've also partnered with larger companies that generate significant amounts of organic waste or by-products to optimize its use.
While our process is quick, it does not substantially increase production costs; the primary expense comes from the specialized knowledge and technology we provide.
What comes next? I assume that at some point your pilot plant will be too small.
That's right, and we've already given it a lot of thought. As we don't think it makes sense from an environmental point of view to send our COLEHA bar and other fermented products around the world, our goal, or rather our dream, is to set up fermentation plants in other countries and produce everything locally.
Spent coffee grounds and other organic wastes are everywhere. We would sell our technology and platform and provide the necessary knowledge.
Where can people outside of Japan learn more about SOI?
We are preparing to launch a bilingual website (Japanese and English: https://soijp.com/) this fall, with an online store following in early 2025. This will be a key step in sharing our mission and innovations globally. Our products and technology are already geared for the international market, and we plan to showcase them at overseas exhibitions. Since 2022, we've been supplying the cosmetics industry with ingredients like hand cream and balm made from upcycled coffee grounds. These products are available for purchase through our partner’s online store: https://everest.ac/collections/hand-cream.
We are also able to develop ingredients that can serve as alternatives to cacao in chocolate production. With the increasing cost of cacao, we believe these products will fulfill a growing market demand.
Kyoko, thank you for your precious time, and good luck!
Thank you, it was a pleasure. We would be delighted to welcome you to our facility.
