The Sustainable Food Future Agriture Aims For

We want to be like a greengrocer that connects farmers with you, the consumers.

The brand name OYAOYA—adding a Kyoto-style "o" to "yaoya" (greengrocer) and hinting at the presence of "vegetables"—carries that thought. Nice to meet you. I amOYAOYARei Kojima, CEO of Agriture Inc., which operates

OYAOYA is a new Kyoto-born dried vegetable brand that confronts food-loss reduction and the survival of agriculture by adding value to vegetables with nowhere to go. In this article, we share in detail the sustainable food future Agriture aims for and the efforts toward realizing it.

Agriture's origin: an encounter with off-spec vegetables

Born and raised in Kyoto, I studied agriculture at university with organic mandarin farmers in Ehime Prefecture as my research subject, and launched OYAOYA while still enrolled. I have loved vegetables since I was small. My favorite of all is Manganji pepper. What taught me the deliciousness and reality of vegetables that never see the light of day, and where the brand's business concept first sprouted, was the Manganji pepper that a farmer I was indebted to in Fukuchiyama, in northern Kyoto, raised with great care.

The reality of off-spec vegetables learned at a Fukuchiyama farm

But even to commercializeoff-spec vegetables, the more I learned of the farming field, the more challenges there were. As I heard even before visiting the Fukuchiyama farm—from the grandfather of a close friend who farms in Kyotango—vegetables that are uneven in shape or size, or bruised, carry an image of being cheap because they have a flaw, so they get haggled over, and at direct-sales outlets they fall into price competition, making it hard to turn them into revenue.

The wish contained in the farmer's words

"Off-spec vegetables are hard to turn into profit, so having them bought is a help. But rather than beating the price down because they're off-spec, I'd like them sourced at a fair price."

My close friend's grandfather conveyed to me that wish, which had never been granted. These words became the very core of OYAOYA's business policy and remain etched in my heart to this day.

The promise with farmers that OYAOYA values

What OYAOYA values is being in a win-win relationship with farmers. The off-spec vegetables that are reborn as dried vegetables are basically bought at the farmer's asking price.

Why we hold to sourcing at a fair price

Even off-spec, the production cost is the same, and the labor and care differ by farmer. Rather than a flat price, buying at a fair price based on the price the farmer usually ships at is what I believe is right. Rather than turning a temporary profit by beating the price down, building an equal relationship with farmers leads to long-term business growth.

A win-win relationship that isn't only about money

Business as it is, the win-win relationship I want to value isn't only about money. Listening to voices from the field lamenting that many people are interested in agriculture yet many quit quickly, OYAOYA wants to keep being a business that can maintain long relationships with farmers.

A dried vegetable brand where the farmer's face is visible

And by having OYAOYA's dried vegetables consumed in a form where the farmer's face is visible, I hope to cultivate deliciousness together with you and work on the survival of agriculture. In the farming field, often imagined as gloomy or grueling, there is actually a very bright and wonderful world.

Agriture's business domains and efforts

Agriture is a company name combining "Agriculture" and "Future." Centered on producing and selling dried vegetables, it develops multiple businesses that connect the future of agriculture and food.

Operating the dried vegetable brand "OYAOYA"

Using off-spec vegetables sourced from contract farms in Kyoto as raw material, we produce and sell high-qualityDried vegetablesWe also handle regionalKyoto vegetablesincludingHeirloom vegetables, offering a lineup that lets you rediscover the deliciousness of vegetables.

Dried vegetable OEM business

Beyond our own brand, we also handleDried vegetable OEMfor food makers and restaurants.Dried-vegetable OEMWe handle everything from raw-material sourcing to processing and packaging in one integrated flow, supporting companies' sustainability initiatives and product development.

The sustainable food mechanism Agriture realizes

Agriture's business aims for a circular mechanism in which all three parties—farmers, companies, and consumers—each enjoy benefits.

Balancing food-loss reduction and the sustainability of agriculture

By drying off-spec vegetables, we create new value from vegetables that would otherwise have been discarded. Because farmers can have them bought at a fair price, they can also recover the production cost incurred on off-spec vegetables. This connects to the motivation to keep farming, contributing to realizingsustainable agriculture.

Sustainability consumers can take part in within daily life

Simply buying OYAOYA's dried vegetables and using them in cooking lets you contribute to food-loss reduction. Without taking any special action, you can take part in building a sustainable society through your everyday meals. That is the way of sustainable food Agriture proposes.

The future of food and agriculture Agriture envisions

If you're going to do business, promise a good relationship where both sides benefit—the words entrusted to me by my close friend's grandfather, who farmed for many years, have always been in my heart.

Conveying the appeal of agriculture through dried vegetables

Agriture values delivering to consumers the wonderful stories in the farming field through the product of dried vegetables. Which farmer grows the vegetables with what thoughts. By conveying that background, we hope to cultivate gratitude for eating and interest in agriculture.

From Kyoto to all of Japan, and to the world

OYAOYA started with Kyoto's traditional vegetables, but going forward we plan to broaden collaboration with farmers across the country and roll out dried vegetables with regional character. We will convey the diversity and high quality of Japanese agriculture, in the form of dried vegetables, at home and abroad.

Those interested in Agriture's dried vegetables, please seeProduct listing page. Corporate customers considering dried vegetable OEM, please see theOEM page.

Recommended reading

Sustainable initiatives / Commercial dried vegetables / Product lineup / An office stockpiling plan to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake | How to think about food stockpiling / The relationship between non-standard vegetables and food loss | Solutions and case studies

We have materials available to help you understand dried processing OEM

Agriture OEM, flexibly handling everything from small lots to large lots

• OEM supported from 100 g of existing raw material
• Drying of brought-in raw materials also possible
• Support from processing to filling in one place

Download the materials here

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