Price Is the Sum of Value: SAKE HUNDRED's Luxury Strategy

Ryuji Ikoma, Representative Director and CEO of Clear Inc., which runs the sake brand SAKE HUNDRED, appeared on “BRAND NEW LINK”, a programme on the Tokyo radio station TOKYO FM (broadcast on 26 September). Ikoma was not born into an old brewing family. Even so, he has built a category that was rare in Japan until now: premium-priced sake. On the programme, he spoke about his thinking and strategy.

The First New Entrant in Around 70 Years, and a Premium Price Range

In Japan, regulation severely restricts new entrants from starting a sake brewery. According to Ikoma, that is why almost no new operators appeared for about 70 years. Clear had originally been running SAKETIMES, a web media outlet dedicated to sake, so it already had connections with breweries and sake retailers. He says that people around him were mostly supportive, but that there were cautious views within the industry about whether the venture would really succeed.

At the time, most sake sold in Japan cost around 2,000 to 3,000 yen a bottle. SAKE HUNDRED raised quality relentlessly and set a price range completely different from that norm. At the launch, Ikoma put particular weight on talking with senior figures in the industry and with people who have influence over distribution. He kept explaining, in concrete terms, “what kind of future will come if this challenge succeeds”. At the same time, he also takes care not to worry too much about the industry’s reputation. His reasoning is that if you look only at the industry, you leave behind the most important people: your customers.

The Idea That “Price Is the Sum of Value”

Eight years after the brand’s launch, premium sake has become established as a category in its own right. Ikoma explains the reason as “diversity of prices”. T-shirts and watches range from affordable to expensive. Sake, however, has lacked a sufficient movement to create a high-end price range. There are people, both in Japan and abroad, who are willing to pay appropriately for genuine value.

This is where Ikoma puts forward the phrase “price is the sum of value”. The idea is that price is the result of stacking up every element: not only taste and quality, but also the background of how the sake was made, its history, its design, its social reputation and the company’s stance. That is why polishing just one aspect is meaningless. Deliciousness matters above all, Ikoma says, but for luxury it is not enough on its own.

According to the sake-specialist outlet SAKE Street, one concrete example is a collaboration with Nagai Shuzo, founded in 1886 in Gunma Prefecture (an inland prefecture north-west of Tokyo). They released “Raihi”, a vintage sake stored and aged at minus 5°C, for 165,000 yen.

A Note for European Readers: How to View Premium Sake

The future Ikoma envisions is one in which people all over the world enjoy a richer life through sake. When choosing premium sake in Europe, it helps to think about the “breakdown of the price”, just as you would with wine. Who made it, and at which brewery? Has it been aged, and how? What is the rice polishing ratio (a figure showing how much of the outer layer of the rice has been milled away; the lower it is, the fewer off-flavours and the more delicate the taste tends to be)? What thinking has gone into the bottle and packaging? When drinking, use a wine glass, in which the aroma opens up easily, and do not serve it too cold. Take your time to enjoy the aroma and finish as they change while the temperature slowly rises.