SAITAMA -- A fermented ginger ale production facility in Minuma Ward, Saitama City, is scheduled for completion next spring with the aim of serving a dual purpose.
The fizzy ale is a beverage that originated in Britain in the 17th century and is made by fermenting ingredients such as ginger, citrus and sugar. It is usually a non-alcoholic beverage, called "ginger beer" in Britain, where it has been consumed as a substitute for alcohol.
Koichi Shuto, 35, president of a translation company in the city's Midori Ward, has launched the initiative to create a new local specialty. He aims to start production and sales in April next year. The concept also includes the use of idle farmland -- which has increased due to a lack of successors -- where ginger will be grown in the Minuma tambo rice paddy area that stretches from Saitama city to Kawaguchi city.
After graduating from university, Shuto worked for 3-1/2 years at a major liquor retailing company. He left the company and went to Taiwan where he worked as a sake connoisseur, as well as a translator. After returning to Japan, he started a translation company.
Shuto came up with the idea of starting a ginger beer business when he visited Taiwan, where his wife's parents live. During the visit, he discovered the business potential in ginger beer when a batch that he made using ginger from a neighbor was received well by his parents-in-law and their neighbors.
In December 2018, Shuto became aware that many plots of farmland in the Minuma tambo area near his home were laying idle and being wasted, so he started to explore ways to produce and sell ginger beer, as well as revitalize the area by turning it into a ginger production hub.
In February this year, Shuto launched a company, called Ginger Bug. He procured ginger from Miyazaki Prefecture in April and asked eight farming families in the Minuma tambo to grow ginger on a trial basis without using pesticides. In October, he purchased a plot of land with a vacant wooden house that he would eventually turn into his ginger beer production facility. His company also has rented an 800-square meter field in the Minuma tambo where it will grow ginger, herbs and fruits as well.
As ginger beer is not as familiar as ginger ale in Japan, Shuto is making an effort to promote the beer by offering a batch he made at home to people in and outside the city for free. To increase fans of ginger beer, he is running a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the initiative through Dec. 6. On the crowdfunding site "Campfire," the company has raised more than 4 million yen from over 300 people, exceeding its goal of 2.5 million yen as of mid-November.
Construction of the production facility is underway to begin operation as early as February. Shuto plans to start selling his ginger beer online and at restaurants around April. His company has already signed deals with 15 restaurants and other entities in and outside the city.
Shuto intends to have contract farmers in the Minuma tambo grow ginger, while also planning to establish an organization to support local farmers in autumn next year.
"It's like killing two birds with one stone, if people can drink delicious ginger beer easily in Japan, and the issue of idle farmland is also solved," Shuto said. "We want to take action before the farmland goes bad."
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