If you go to a supermarket in the United States to buy soy sauce, you might not see Chinese Haitian soy sauce. However, you will usually see this brand—Kikkoman, the manji brand soy sauce. This is not an advertisement, just a business discussion and a case study of going global. Manji soy sauce is a Japanese brand that now accounts for over 60% of the soy sauce market in the United States. In other words, when Americans think of soy sauce, they think of Japan, not China. The reason I first bought this soy sauce was because its ingredient list was so clean—only four ingredients: water, soybeans, wheat, and salt. No high-tech tricks, no monosodium glutamate, no sodium benzoate—chemical ingredients you wouldn’t recognize. It is naturally fermented, so it’s reassuring to eat.

Kikkoman was formed by the merger of eight Japanese soy sauce companies, most of which are century-old brands. How did they establish their dominance in the U.S. soy sauce market? Let’s go back to 1961. A young man in the Kikkoman soy sauce family, named Tomosaburo Mogi, was studying for his MBA at Columbia Business School in New York. At that time, Manji soy sauce faced a dilemma: the domestic soy sauce market in Japan was saturated and highly competitive, leaving little room for growth, so the company had to go overseas. But the problem was, in the U.S., soy sauce was still a niche product only found in Asian neighborhoods. Americans understood soy sauce as just a dipping sauce for sushi; if you didn’t eat sushi, you didn’t need soy sauce.

So, Tomosaburo Mogi was determined to conquer the U.S. market. The first step was to establish a sales company in San Francisco, but sales were sluggish. The reason was simple—misunderstanding of the product. So their first move was to redefine soy sauce: no longer just an “Asian cuisine condiment,” but an “all-purpose seasoning.”

The second step was to find American chefs, use ingredients familiar to Americans, and design a whole set of American recipes with soy sauce. For example: making meatloaf with soy sauce, marinating steaks with soy sauce, and using soy sauce in burgers. They didn’t change Americans’ eating habits; they just upgraded the flavor.

The third step was to go directly into supermarkets, grill steaks with soy sauce on-site, and offer free tastings. Once Americans tried it, they realized: this stuff is good.

The fourth and most aggressive move was to include recipes with every bottle of soy sauce. If you don’t know how to cook, just follow the instructions.

Later, their Teriyaki Sauce became very popular in the U.S. This soy sauce, mixed with sugar and sake, brushed onto steaks and burgers, made Americans think: “This black liquid was made for us.” As sales grew, so did their market share.

By the 1970s, they took a highly risky step—building a factory in the U.S. In 1973, they invested 10 million USD (note: that’s 10 million USD in the 1970s) to build a factory in Wisconsin, in the American Midwest. Why there? Because it’s rich in soybeans and wheat, and the water is very pure—three key ingredients for soy sauce.

However, in the 1970s, it was very risky for a Japanese company to build a factory in the U.S. The memories of World War II were still fresh, and anti-Japanese sentiment persisted; plus, American unions were powerful and prone to strikes. So, Mogi adopted Japanese management philosophy—“Harmony.” They recruited local employees, paid wages above industry average; they celebrated American holidays loudly, inviting the entire town to participate, even more American than Americans; they actively participated in local economic development and made many charitable donations. The result? Over fifty years, this factory has never had a strike, and locals are proud to have this soy sauce factory.

Today, 70% of Manji soy sauce’s profits come from markets outside Japan, nearly half of which is from the U.S. market. North America is definitely their core market. Just look at Costco—you can see large bottles of Manji soy sauce being sold. So, what is the key to this Japanese soy sauce legacy brand’s success in going global? I think there are three points:

First, long-termism. Their dominance in the U.S. soy sauce industry is due to decades of continuous penetration and consumer education—a true long-term battle.

Second, management philosophy. They dared to build a factory in the U.S. heartland. Although costly and risky, once established, it means stable scale, cost advantages, and a strong moat.

Third, and most importantly—product quality remains consistent over decades. Making soy sauce with chemical hydrolysis can produce product in days; but natural fermentation takes months. They chose the latter, like slow-cooking a pot of chicken soup, allowing time to release the ingredients’ natural flavors and aromas, with clean ingredients.

Consumers are ultimately willing to pay for truly high-quality products. Money is also a vote—buying from brands that align with your values.