(New York and Japan teams working together)
We have just arrived back in Kurume, Fukuoka at our Japan office - right in time to spend the day weathering Typhoon Shanshan—a very large, very serious storm that has already wreaked havoc on the Amami islands and parts of Kagoshima proper. While so far all we have seen is heavy rain and periods of high gusts, the city posted a bulletin asking citizens to stay home - so we are out of the office and back at our hotel. It has me reflecting on the early days of Kettl and the challenges and opportunities of opening a business in Japan.
(Packing tea at the software company in Kurume, Fukuoka - 2014)
When I first visited Japan and had the chance to spend time with tea farmers and producers, I realized quickly how insular the industry was. The culture of tea and tea production was unique in each region - not only the processing techniques and cultivation methodology, but also each area's particular openness to outsiders and their preferred way of doing business. When you say “Japanese tea” it doesn’t really do justice to the unique landscape of the industry here - Shizuoka is different than Mie and Saga is different than Shikoku. So even if one producer or region was more open to working with a young kid like me, there may be serious reservations in another prefecture. So the early trips to Japan were really research missions to collect and catalog what all of the potential pain points might be in my pursuit of working with ALL of Japan's most respected producers. Some were to be expected: Language barriers, the logistics of getting the tea ordered, packed, and shipped to the USA, and how we could contact them again when we needed more tea. But others were more of a surprise: payment - cash transfer in Japanese yen through the domestic Japanese banking system was universally preferred. Placing orders: to this day, if you don’t have a fax machine, you are not on the same page as the tea makers - they all use fax machines as the defacto method for receiving orders. But maybe most importantly, was a closeness to them. And I don’t necessarily mean physical closeness - but a sense of connection. A sense of understanding them and communicating our intentions in a way that feels, well, comfortable. Emails, phone calls, and, check-ins are important, but they do not convey the level of connection that I realized was necessary to build and sustain lasting, long term relationships.
(Kettl still hand-packs the majority of our teas)
Then it dawned on me that having a Japan based office was the solution. I imagined working with a group of local friends who could oversee the day to day - and create another level of connection with the growers. The faxes could be sent, the yen could be transferred, the teas could be processed, packed and shipped - but most importantly it would provide Kettl with a base in Japan. This felt like a way of being part of the industry that I would never be able to achieve only having an office in the States.
(Packing teas in our Japan office)
The early office was unique. After traveling to Japan and a few chance encounters, I was able to open the first office prototype. I was supported by a Japanese software company. The owners and I decided to work together and they allowed Kettl to use some space in their upstairs office for receiving and packing the tea. Their staff used a bit of each day to fax orders and pack teas. They were able to help me quickly and efficiently order products and make sure the flow of tea to my office in NY (my apartment at the time) was uninterrupted. There were a lot of challenges to be sure. But on subsequent returns to Japan, I could see that the growers had built a deeper connection with the folks at the office here - and in turn, built a deeper connection with Kettl. This was proof that the idea was a worthy one. After continuing to grow, I decided to move on from the software company - a group I will forever be grateful to - and hire my own staff. Well, one staff member. I rented an apartment in Fukuoka with my mother-in-law signing the lease for me. My only staff member, Tokitsu san, did everything from driving to pick up teas, labeling bags, packing teas, printing labels, and shipping directly to customers. She was in the office by herself week in and week out.
(Tokitsu san, 2014)
It was during these early days that I was confronted with the complexities of the international supply chain - forecasting and moving product from one side of the world to the other was a unique challenge for me - there was no real guidebook. It was here that being able to gain insight from the Japan side office again proved helpful. Exploring ways to optimize packaging, taking meetings with domestic Japanese freight forwarders, and even exploring direct shipping to customers worldwide helped me to understand the model that would ultimately work best for Kettl. If I had only been in NYC, the business would have developed much differently I believe. And from day one, an obsessive commitment to freshness was something I would not waver from - and I believe having an office in Japan means we could and still can meet or exceed the standards I set out to follow from day one.
As the business continued to grow it became clear that our single staff member Tokitsu san needed help. So little by little, we have been able to grow the team. This required me to fully incorporate our company in Japan - being able to offer all the benefits and rights of any other Japanese company meant we could attract an employee who otherwise might opt to go the “Safe” route and work for a local company. It was important to me that everyone here felt at ease working - not for a half baked, gray-zone “Japanese business”. Again, what a learning curve to set up and run a Japanese business. But now, we are able to work in a fully integrated way with our employees and our suppliers. And this seamless connection to our business in New York continues to not only create efficiencies in the company, but it enriches the experiences of our staff both in NYC and Japan through shared cultural learnings. I feel Kettl is now in many ways a reflection of the world at large - international and highly connected.
(Mouri san - the fastest hands in Fukuoka)
Sitting in our office in Fukuoka, I am awestruck at the amazing things that have developed in the business that I never could have imagined. Of course, we are a tea business with a focus on distributing Japan’s finest teas to customers all over the globe - but at the same time, the influence and impact of our employees and partners here have helped shape the business and its personality in new and exciting ways. How we organize ourselves, how we communicate with each other and our customers, how we tell the story of our teas - they have all been inspired by input and feedback from our staff both here in Japan and in NYC. As a business owner, this is perhaps the thing I am most proud of. Seeing the potential of everyone involved in Kettl coming together to strengthen the brand and the business.
(Mouri san, Yamasaki San, Fujii san, Malarick san)
We have recently expanded our footprint with new warehouses in both Brooklyn and Fukuoka. While we are not 100% vertically integrated, we are getting closer by the month. We select, pack, store, ship, and distribute all of our teas and teaware. Between Japan and New York, our teams work 24 hours a day with one focus: connecting Japan’s most celebrated producers with an international audience. My “broken record” phrase is “We are just getting started”. But in reality, we have gotten started. And while we have so much more work to do (Yes, our LA store is in fact opening soon) I want to take a beat to give sincere thanks to the entire Kettl family - staff and customers included. I truly believe the future of Japanese tea is bright, and we all have a place in it.
