Feudal Japan Meets the American Dream, by Way of Brazil

by Paul Crosswhite

When you think of the Inland Empire, or more specifically Pomona, ancient Japan is probably not the next thing to come to mind. Nor are the misty highland tea gardens of central Brazil. But nestled in the industrial heart of Pomona, near where the Union Pacific rail line intersects the 57 freeway, is a state-of-the-art tea processing plant that serves as the nexus of those farflung locations. Yamamotoyama of America is a thriving enterprise whose principal products are Japanese green tea, a wide variety of teas sold under the Stash brand name, and dried seaweed, known as nori...which is used to wrap sushi and which is also eaten as a sweetened snack.

Yamamotoyama of America has a corporate pedigree that is surely the envy of its rivals...dating back more than 300 years. In 1690, when Japan was ruled by the samurais of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Kahei Yamamoto the 1st began merchandising premium teas.

Today Yamamotoyama is presided over by his direct descendant, Kahei Yamamoto, the 9th, and is the largest and oldest family-owned tea company in the world. Privately held, you won’t find its stock being traded in New York or Tokyo. You will, however, find its products in thousands of restaurants and millions of satisfied consumers’ cups.

In an era when a company’s growth is micro-measured quarter-by-quarter, Yamamotoyama stands out as a marathon runner among sprinters. It was almost half a century after its founding that Kahei Yamamoto, the 4th, created a Japanese consumer sensation by rolling out a product that was brilliant in color and rich in aroma. That was in 1738. The seaweed line came along in 1947 when, after World War II, Yamamotoyama became a premier purveyor of nori.

The next big mark on the company’s timeline came in 1975 when the current president, Kahei the 9th, set up subsidiary headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. Yamamotoyama of America was born, with the goal of taking traditional Japanese green tea and seaweed to consumers worldwide.

Having outgrown its L.A. plant, the firm currently resides in a two-story, 74,000-sq.-ft building at 122 Voyager Street in Pomona, where 150 people are employed. Yamamotoyama also maintains a retail outlet in Torrance and a 54,000-sq.-ft distribution center in Chino. The operation is managed by Senior Vice President Kazumi Ikeda. Ikeda, 52, is a product of two worlds. Japanese-born, he came to the United States in 1965, graduated from L.A.’s Roosevelt High and went on to study engineering at Cal State University.

“I had a strong background in plant maintenance,” says Ikeda. “I joined the company in 1977...and had to maintain very expensive equipment for making tea bags.” Rising through the ranks from floor engineer to become senior VP in the mid-1990’s entailed years of solving the day-to-day problems and breakdowns that come with any array of machinery. “Yes, it takes a number of years to master the equipment. You have to have some kind of trouble in order to solve a problem. It was a good experience,” he adds with quiet confidence.

Yamamotoyama’s source is central Brazil, not far from the Atlantic Ocean, where it maintains two tea tree plantations at more than 2,000 feet above sea level. The area has rich, fertile soil and features fog and thick dews that are ideal for growing teas. (Research by renowned Loma Linda University scientist Szalay Aladar has shown Brazilian-grown green tea is the most rich in free-radical-fighting properties believed to engender good health.) To launch the gardens in the early 70’s, the finest tea bushes and seedlings were brought in from Japan. One plantation is 150 miles southwest of Sao Paulo; the other is 250 miles south of the capital.

Together, they comprise 1400 acres, 550 of which are under cultivation. More than 200 Brazilians are employed, and live on the sites during harvest times, which occur in spring and summer. Tea leaves are picked and dried on-site in Brazil, then sent by boats and refrigerated containers to Pomona, where they are further dried, cut and bagged. Then, distributors carry the product to restaurants and supermarkets.

In 1993, Yamamotoyama acquired Stash Teas, a privately-held company headquartered in the Portland, Oregon suburb of Tigard. Started in 1972, Stash was originally based in one of Portland’s old Victorian houses, supplying herb teas to natural food stores, and presently is a semi-autonomous unit, reporting to Pomona, which in turn reports to the main headquarters in Tokyo.

Today, Yamamotoyama and Stash are giants...producing hundreds of tons of green and dozens of other teas for consumers in America, Japan, the Middle East and South America. Senior Vice President Ikeda is proud of his role, noting the anti-oxident and cancer-fighting properties attributed to green tea. Overseeing the production of 350 million tea bags a year, he says, “It’s enjoyable working with a product that is beneficial to the public’s health.”