Kikkoman to Launch a 100% Vegetarian Oyster Flavoured Sauce Made for India

Mumbai, 26th April 2022: The world’s leading producer of naturally brewed soy sauce, Kikkoman Corporation, today announces the launch of Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce, which is 100% vegetarian, suitable for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians, for the first time in India.

Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce is the result of two years of intensive development to bring a new purpose-designed product to the Indian market. It is backed by years of experience arising from Kikkoman’s history spanning over 350 years. The R&D teams spread across Japan, Singapore and India began their work in early 2020, around the time of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. With travel restrictions making it impossible for the teams to travel, they worked separately in their own labs and collaborated on multiple taste-trials including with professional chefs in India. The team was able to successfully develop a product tailor-made for India, with a truly superb and authentic flavour profile. Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce is carefully crafted, delicious, packed with flavour, and set to become the standard oyster flavoured sauce in India.

The secret of the new Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce is the fact that it uses Kikkoman Soy Sauce as the key base ingredient. Using Kikkoman Soy Sauce adds depth and complexity to the vegetarian oyster flavour, creating a profound taste and aroma, to the point that it matches, or even exceeds, the taste of the most popular non-vegetarian oyster sauce. In other words, the product is so good that even non-vegetarians will opt to use it instead of the non-vegetarian oyster sauces currently found in the market. Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce for India has the perfect balance, or the so-called “golden ratio”, where salty, sweet, and umami are in harmony.

India has a diverse set of vegetarians belonging to many and varied communities and we at Kikkoman are committed to bringing more delicious experiences to all vegetarians. Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce perfectly accommodates all vegetarians who love their stir-fries and noodles. It can be used in all vegetarian dishes, including paneer and tofu.

Indeed, professional chefs in India have already started to use the 100% vegetarian Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce in their non-vegetarian dishes as well, such is the excellent flavour profile. An important aspect of cooking with Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce is to combine it with Kikkoman Soy Sauce. This combination ensures the heightening of taste for all dishes, to further draw out the natural flavours of the ingredients. In fact, our product label for Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce states this fact: “Very Tasty with Kikkoman Soy Sauce”.

Professional chefs in India who have switched to Kikkoman Soy Sauce and also additionally decided to switch to Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce as a result of participating in taste trials before the launch in preparing Chinese & Japanese dishes, were amazed with the product and felt that that the flavour is intense, contains less salt and has the perfect umami flavour and it will be a popular product with both, professional and home chefs..

Yosuke Hiraiwa, General Manager, Kikkoman Marketing & Planning Asia Pte Ltd, one of the key people behind the development of Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce, commented: “Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce made for India has been able to find the perfect balance of salty, sweet, and umami. Its development took more than two years, and the key to the perfect balance is the use of Kikkoman Soy Sauce as its base. We were able to add depth and complexity, mirroring the authentic flavour of oysters, creating a deep taste and aroma, making it as authentic as non-vegetarian oyster sauce. Kikkoman aims to enrich people’s lives and create delicious memories through food. With Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce, we hope that many vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike will enjoy a variety of cuisines such as Chinese, Asian, and Indian Chinese, together with family and friends.

Kikkoman recently launched its Honjozo Authentic Soy Sauce Experience throughout India, which has been much talked about in the food industry and the restaurant business. Hundreds of chefs have been brainstorming over how to incorporate Kikkoman Soy Sauce into their kitchens to enrich popular dishes and create new ones. The addition of Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce, the second product after Kikkoman Soy Sauce, is the start of an exciting range of products for India that are set to create further delicious experiences.

Launch: JUNE 2022

Channels: HORECA and Retail Trade

Kikkoman Oyster Flavoured Sauce will be available soon initially in the HORECA market, followed by the retail market.

About Kikkoman Honjozo Authentic Soy Sauce Experience:

Kikkoman’s ‘Honjozo Experience’ movement comprises three elements—developing talent and fostering exchanges among chefs; educating everyone on the use of soy sauce through cooking sessions and contests; learning about the contribution Kikkoman Soy Sauce can make by experimenting through R&D in food culture.

From professional chefs to student chefs, all chefs are going to have the opportunity to innovate, experiment and learn to use soy sauce to cook up a storm. Through cooking contests, videos, discussions and workshops, and more, the ‘Honjozo Experience’ movement will bring together chefs, students, restaurants, hoteliers, the media, industry leaders as well as government representatives to explore how Kikkoman Soy Sauce can enhance any and every dish served in India.

Brewed naturally, using only the four basic ingredients of soybeans, wheat, salt and water, Kikkoman’s soy sauce works like magic to elevate the flavour of any dish to another level. Due to this factor, hundreds of Indian chefs have already started using this soy sauce after the launch in February 2021. Moreover, Kikkoman plans to continue collaborating with many chefs in India as part of a great ‘adventure’ to experiment and co-create new delicious experiences using Kikkoman Soy Sauce with the objective of enhancing dishes across all cuisines, be it Chinese, Asian, Japanese, Western or Indian dishes.

About Kikkoman and Kikkoman India:

With a history spanning over 350 years and based in Japan, the current Kikkoman corporate entity was established through the merger of eight families in 1917. The company’s internationalization strategy began some 60 years ago, with its entry into the United States market. Kikkoman has become a global business, expanding to over 100 countries, with 11 soy sauce production sites worldwide that distribute its products all over the world to millions of consumers.

Kikkoman India is solely responsible for importing all Kikkoman products, and shall manage all production, marketing, sales, and distribution in India.