A historic sake brewery ventures into overseas markets—opening up new prospects with STANDAGE's "Leave it to us trading" service.Ken'ya Sake Brewery Co., Ltd.

Could you tell us what led you to introduce STANDAGE's automated trading service this time?

Before the pandemic, we conducted our export operations through intermediaries. However, we felt that we would eventually need to handle exports ourselves on a large scale. Although we already had experience in export operations before introducing "Omakase Trading," and therefore had no problem creating materials in English and Chinese for overseas markets, we felt that handling all of these time-consuming tasks ourselves, such as obtaining export documents and licenses, and negotiating with the importing country, would be extremely burdensome. Furthermore, the addition of overseas operations to our domestic sales was taking up a lot of our time and resources.

In that situation, we learned about STANDAGE's "Omakase Trading" through a bank referral, and felt that we had found the optimal solution to our company's challenges.

The deciding factor in adopting STANDAGE was the significant appeal of being able to conduct sales locally without having to travel directly to the United States or Asia, thanks to their sales offices scattered around the world.

What exactly did it entail?

Since implementing "Omakase Trading," the support of staff with a deep understanding of overseas markets has been extremely helpful. The STANDAGE staff member assigned to us is well-versed in alcoholic beverages and has extensive experience in overseas sales, so they handle our products with a deep understanding. Having such a person as our point of contact allows us to receive concrete suggestions and feedback on how to distribute our products locally, which is very reassuring.

Furthermore, we find it very efficient to work in collaboration with local sales representatives to determine which markets our products are most likely to be accepted in and what strategies we should employ.

What results have you achieved since implementing it?

Since implementing "Omakase Trading," tasks that would have been time-consuming and resource-intensive if handled in-house are now proceeding smoothly thanks to STANDAGE's support. In particular, market research and sales channel development in overseas markets are progressing very effectively thanks to the feedback we receive from local sales representatives.

Furthermore, the support we receive with tasks such as preparing trade documents and obtaining licenses has been extremely helpful. It has saved us time and allowed us to focus on our core business, which has improved the efficiency of our sales activities.

What kind of support do you expect from Omakase Trading in the future?

Going forward, with the support of STANDAGE, we aim to further develop new overseas markets. The first year will be a preparation period, during which we need to research local market trends and develop appropriate strategies. From the second year onward, we plan to seriously move forward with expanding our sales channels.

Our goal is to spread our products throughout the world. We intend to continue receiving support from STANDAGE to accelerate our efforts to expand our sales channels.

Comment from Mr. Miyano of Agata-ya Sake Brewery

We've been incredibly grateful for the help we've received from "Omakase Trading." The support from our assigned staff member, based on their deep knowledge and experience, has been extremely helpful. We also feel that they truly understand our passion for alcohol, and that we're able to work closely with our local sales representatives.

We look forward to continuing to work with STANDAGE to expand our products worldwide.