In pursuit of lightweight solutions, the initial attempt was with mini bottles.

Initiated in 2019, the overseas market witnessed the revolutionary concept of 720ml small-scale air freight deliveries, challenging the conventional norms of shipping. While the innovation brought surprises, it also revealed a clear challenge - the weight of the 720ml bottles. In pursuit of lightweight solutions, the initial attempt was with mini bottles.

The background behind the birth of KURA ONE® is influenced by the experience of airfreighting Japanese sake to 50 countries in small quantities. Recognizing that 720ml bottles of sake weigh between 1.2kg to 1.5kg, with the bottle accounting for 40-50% of the total weight, led to the realization of a challenge. To showcase the diversity of Japanese sake, it was essential to consolidate the volume for comparative tasting in a single occasion. Drawing from experiences in international trade shows and tasting events, research focused on language adaptation, conveying the story of Japanese sake, and other aspects. The culmination of various insights resulted in the creation of KURA ONE®, a tale shared by KURA ONE® owner Sawada in an interview with Sake On Air.

Sake On Air, a podcast in English aimed at bringing the essence of sake to the world, was launched in 2018 with the support of the Japan Sake Sochu Association (JSS). The audio transmission is led by frontline members involved in sake awareness-raising, education, sales and export activities.

Interviews with our CEO, Katsunari Sawada, were published on 28 September 2023 and 11 October 2023 on this Sake On Air.

Episode 1

https://sakeonair.com/2023/09/28/kura-one-by-katsunari-sawada-part-1/

Episode 2

https://sakeonair.com/2023/10/11/kura-one-by-katsunari-sawada-part-2/

The hosts and interviewers are John Gauntner, content editor and co-founder of Sake Today, the world's first regular book dedicated to sake, which has been writing and speaking about sake since 1994 and published since 2014, and Chris Hughes, who teaches the Sake Level 3 course as an accredited tutor for WSET, a London-based sake qualification programme provider.

Both are experts who fully understand the appeal of sake and the expectations of the overseas market, as well as the fact that sake is not growing at home.

THEY ASKED SAWADA POINTED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW HE EVALUATED THE KURA ONE® INITIATIVE, WHAT WERE ITS CHALLENGES, AND WHAT WERE ITS ADVANTAGES.

The interview, which went far beyond the original plan, is divided into two parts, Episode 1 and Episode 2, which introduce Sawada's life that led him to the idea of KURA ONE®, the issues he focused on in the sake industry and his concrete efforts to solve them, as well as the label design, which is a feature of KURA ONE®. KURA ONE® and the label design that is a distinctive feature of KURA ONE®.

Episode 02 introduces the strategic aspects of KURA ONE®, such as PR strategy, marketing strategy and brand strategy. Interviewer John Gauntner commented during the interview that it was like a university class. Knowing the deep-seated challenges of the industry, he had a good understanding of what KURA ONE® wanted to solve, but on the other hand, he had detailed questions about how to overcome these difficulties.

KURA ONE® is not only a new product, such as small-capacity aluminium canned sake, but also an initiative to change the way we "deliver" in terms of communication and delivery. We are improving the sub-lay chain starting from product development, so please look forward to KURA ONE®'s challenges in the future.