Have you heard of konjac? Although Americans are familiar with tofu and soy sauce, few have heard of this healthy food unique to Japan. Konjac, made by processing yams, has a jelly-like texture and is used in various dishes. It is popular as a diet food because it has so few calories.

Ishibashiya, a company located in Fukuoka Prefecture, has been making konjac since its founding in 1877, and is now determined to make konjac a global product by “getting the word out about konjac worldwide.”

To find out more, we caught up with the man known as “Mr. Konjac” himself, Wataru Ishibashi, on his recent visit to New York City to promote konjac.

Today President of the company that bears his name, Mr. Ishibashi chose to enter the family business upon graduating high school and has single-mindedly worked in konjac-making ever since. For years, the company made 30% of its konjac by hand and 70% by machine, but 20 years ago, Mr. Ishibashi decided that selling machine-made konjac at a discount was not profitable, and chose to abandon the machines to make konjac 100% by hand.

What triggered the decision to go after the international market was the reception konjac received when it was sold at a Japanese food fair in Singapore about five years ago. It led to Mr. Ishibashi’s conviction that there could be a market for konjac outside of Japan, so he set a goal to explore the overseas market, especially in America, and specifically in New York.

Mr. Ishibashi refers to his attitude of remaining positive no matter how difficult business may get as his ‘Yes Strategy.’ The ‘Yes Strategy’ he put forward to capture the American market was to find the buyers from the U.S. who attended food fairs in Tokyo and negotiate with them directly. To conduct test marketing he came to the U.S. himself and sold the product for three days in a Japanese supermarket in the suburbs of New York, under the parameters that he pay the store 30% of sales and buy back all unsold product, with the store agreeing to sell his product as a regular item if it sold in the test.

The test was a big success, resulting in a sellout. Seizing the moment, Mr. Ishibashi entered the North American market and began selling in Los Angles and San Francisco as well. He also expanded his market further into Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, England and Switzerland, and participated in major trade shows in New York and Germany. Currently, Ishibashiya does business in 10 countries, and claims approximately 15% of sales from the overseas market.

The leading product for commercial use in North America is konjac noodles. This is because Mr. Ishibashi believes that many in North America would not like the distinct smell or texture of konjac. Convinced that konjac in the form of noodles would have wider appeal, he combined it with eight kinds of grains and eight kinds of vegetables and promoted it as healthy food. By creating colorful noodles using natural ingredients and eliminating the smell, the noodles were well-received, selling mostly to Japanese restaurants and sushi restaurants. The traditional handmade block konjac is sold at some Japanese supermarkets, but for commercial use the price is too high, making konjac noodles the mainstay.

Mr. Ishibashi says that he would like to put further efforts into the U.S. market. Since he believes promoting wider acceptance for the long-term is more important than just selling, he considers it critical to recommend ways to use the product to Americans. Despite having an affinity for traditional konjac, he does not believe in restricting it to Japanese ways of preparation. He has ideas for how to use konjac as an ingredient for sweets and drinks, and also as supplements. By explaining how healthy and natural konjac is, he feels that the demand will grow. In the future, he would like to team up with an American company and manufacture konjac at a plant here in the U.S.

One day Mr. Ishibashi was told by an American client, “You are Mr. Konjac,” and the nickname stuck in this country. “As the name implies, I would like to continue my efforts to make konjac a regular addition to the American diet.” says Mr. Ishibashi.

To help Mr. Ishibashi carry out his plans, there’s a Ms. Konjac too, so to speak, conducting grassroots promotional activities right here in New York. We spoke with the like-minded Sachiko Mitsuno, who shares Mr. Ishikawa’s vision for konjac in America.

When she came to the U.S. three years ago and volunteered for her children’s school lunch program, Ms. Mitsuno noticed that it was nutritionally unbalanced. She felt that through the dietary education of children, the American diet could be changed. Ms. Mitsuno focused on konjac not only because it is healthy and low in calories, but because it could be kneaded into pizza dough, meatballs and other dishes without taking away from the taste. Since then, she has provided muffins and brownies made with konjac to events at the United Nations and a New York elementary school.

On September 1, 2008, SHOW LLC (standing for Simple, Healthy, Organic, Wealthy) was established for the promotion and sales of konjac. A first-time event for the company was held on October 9th using konjac from Ishibashiya. At a kitchen studio of a high-end Manhattan supermarket, a local Japanese restaurant chef introduced many new konjac recipes, such as for pasta and hamburger, and even konjac cooked in an escargot style. The event space was small, accommodating only a maximum of 20 attendees, but the seminar conducted in three sessions was a well-attended success, and the feedback was positive for business expansion. Participants included chefs from American restaurants who are in a position to contribute to konjac’s use and to spread the word about it.

Very low in calories and high in fiber, there are opportunities for konjac in the U.S. market, where health consciousness is growing. However, unlike tofu, which is accepted as a healthy food, Americans hardly know anything about konjac. Tofu, which is now sold in just about every supermarket and has been embraced by the American diet, was virtually unknown 20 years ago. The positioning that tofu enjoys today is thanks to the efforts of many who worked long and hard to gain its acceptance. Unfortunately, no one has worked so hard over the past 10 to 20 years to promote konjac. A tremendous commitment is necessary to capture a market that is yet to be developed.

On the other hand, konjac’s being so little known in America provides the opportunity of a new, unexplored and exciting market. Through these interviews with Mr. Ishibashi and Ms. Mitsuno, I felt their enthusiasm and conviction about konjac, and their passion to bring it to the world. Based on their strong determination, konjac can become as popular as tofu in America.

(Makoto Yamauchi)