Junki Yoshida’s Positive Revenge

The founder of Yoshida’s Original Gourmet sauce talks about how he started the company and why he bought it back from Heinz.

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I was originally a karate instructor. I was coming in to teach at the MAC Club, at Portland State and PCC, and also I was a head instructor for defense tactics for the Oregon police academy. It was a great job. There’s only one job in the world where you get to beat up a cop every day and they pay you to do this — awesome job. 

In 1982 there was a severe recession in the United States. Oregon was the worst state. My teaching business decreased.

People gave me Christmas gifts, and you usually return something, right? But in 1982, 1983, we were broke. So what should we do for returning Christmas gifts? My wife, Linda, said, “Why don’t you make your mother’s secret steak sauce? Make that and give it away.” 

We give it away and people love it. After Christmas they come back and say, “Sensei, that sauce was awesome.” They say, “Is it possible we can have more?” I say, “Wait until next year at Christmas.” They say, “No, no, no, no, Sensei, we cannot wait. I’ve got to pay you.”

I never even thought about it, but people wanted to pay. We started and the people kept coming back and coming back. Every time they come back, the price goes up. This is America, right? 

My wife said one day, “Honey, I think it could be a business.” 

I was not a businessman at all at that time. I was just a karate guy, teaching people to beat up people. I didn’t know anything about retail business, nothing. Just totally amateur, right? And I had a tough time. I was almost bankrupted four times by my sauce.

In 1983 Costco opened up its number two store. Number one is Seattle, number two is right here [in Portland]. People said, “You should check it out,” so I went to the airport one. So large and so cheap. I said, “Wow, those guys are doing something right.” I went to Seattle to interview with them. Then they took my product right away. I didn’t expect that they were going to grow that big, but Costco has such a beautiful philosophy. They always pay vendors on time. Always, even if they have a tough time, they’re going to pay a vendor on time. 

One day I decided, me and my wife, to cook in a Costco. At first they don’t want to take a sample. I’m wearing a cowboy hat with a kimono. I want to make a fool of myself. I want to act stupid, crazy, make a lot of noise, a lot of joking. And once one person tries a sample, she likes it. Seventy percent of people who try the sample, they love it, they buy it. That was amazing. 

The sauce has a Japanese name and Japanese flavor and the owners are Japanese, but we are never in the Asian section. Why not there? Because I fought like crazy. One chain put my sauce next to the Kikkoman in the Asian section; I discontinued. They got really upset. I said, “You promise me you’re going to put my sauce next to the ketchup and barbecue sauce. I want to sell my sauce to American people.” At one time, we had 26% of sales in the teriyaki category in the United States.

Then Heinz comes in. Heinz wants to buy our company. I said, “No, it’s not for sale.” I said, ‘How about as a distributor, right? Maybe you have 130 salesmen. I have only three, including me. You can triple the company.” 

They paid me good money when they did it. We kept producing it for them to sell it. That was 24 years ago. Then the brand started going down, sales were going down. Heinz’s CEO left and they bought us. There was an exclusive contract, I can’t even touch it, so I was ready to give up. 

And then last October, my number-two grandson — very smart kid, natural leadership — and he says, “Papa, I don’t mind coming to work for you someday.” I said, “What?” But then I thought, “I’ve got to keep my name in.”

I started talking to Heinz but we had gone down. We had lost Sam’s Club and Walmart and Costco, and retail was almost at zero. So at 75 years old, I just had to go back in action, because of my grandson. So I bought the brand back. 

Ten years from now, my grandson will be president with five years of training. It’s no accidental issue. Everything was meant to be. And so every day is exciting, really exciting. I’ve fallen in love with life.

I was excommunicated by my family in Japan because I came to the United States, 55 years ago, I came to the enemy country. They completely cut me off. I had no choice but to stay in this country here; I have to make it. I never thought about, “I want to be rich.” I just have to make it. 

When people watched me decide to purchase back from Heinz at 75 years old, I think they thought I was stupid. Yeah, I hope they think I’m stupid. I have a plan for everything. My spirit is positive revenge. That’s carrying on my life, helping, doing.

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