In last year’s deep dive into sake, Oli Dodd explained how premium brands hitting European markets have targeted the wine space by offering alternatives for food pairings in top restaurants. This remains the case, particularly in the UK, but with weakness in sake’s Japanese regulations there are also production opportunities overseas.
While most booze is categorised by age, alcohol content or sugar level, sake is classified by the amount of sake rice which has been ‘polished’, with a higher rice polishing ratio (RPR) typically seen in more premium sakes.
In Japan, 65% of the total sake market is futushu, which is the base level sake (less than 30% of its sake rice polished away) and is generally consumed warm. The rest of the market is made up of more premium tiers, generally getting more premium the more rice is polished, with ginjo (+40% removed) and daiginjo (50% removed) considered the two most premium brackets. These styles are generally fruitier, more aromatic and are generally consumed chilled. It’s these latter premium styles which are in growth while futushu is diminishing, in line with the downturn in domestic sake breweries.
Oliver Hilton-Johnson, founder of online retailer Tengu Sake and an International Spirits Challenge judge, says: “The movement from drinking warm sake to the lighter, fruitier ones which are chilled developed in the ’80s in Japan, primarily as producers developed the ability to polish rice. Historically in Japan sake was never really paired with food, it’s something which has been adopted from the western wine trade. This trend is now accelerating in the UK, Europe and the US.”
Toku Sake, which launched in the UK in late 2022, sits in this premium sector and Grace Hunt, chief operating officer, says: “One of the most exciting trends is how sake is stepping beyond traditional Japanese cuisine and being embraced by fine dining restaurants and sommeliers in regions like North America (where value is up 27%) and Western Europe (18%).
“At Toku, we’re driving this movement with our Junmai Daiginjo sake from Hokkaido, which is now featured in places like the Fat Duck, Kioku Bar and Humble Chicken, which just received its second Michelin star.”
Basic barriers
Despite Toku flirting with luxury food pairings at the very top of hospitality, sake still has to overcome some basic barriers. “Often consumers experience sake for the first time served warm in a Japanese restaurant in quite a gimmicky way,” says Hunt. “I regularly compare this to tequila in that consumers can have a really bad first experience which puts them off the category in the long term.”
Lana Buchanan, CEO of Sake Ono, believes education is another hurdle for sake. The brand's inaugural sake, which is a Junmai Daiginjo made in partnership with Yoshi No Gawa, launched in the UK last year.
“One of the biggest challenges for Sake Ono is educating the consumer,” says Buchanan. “Today, many consumers still view sake as a niche product primarily associated with Japanese cuisine. There is little knowledge about the centuries of artistry and dedication that goes into every bottle. We believe sake deserves a new chapter and that this versatile liquid has the potential to be enjoyed in many ways, extending far beyond existing perceptions.”
The other major barrier for sake is its price point. Because of the higher alcohol volume and significant import costs from Japan, the price of premium sake sits above most premium wine.
Dreamsake, another daiginjo brand imported to the UK, launched earlier this year and co-founder Adam Levene has a different approach to grow premium sake.
“One of our main ambitions is to make sake more accessible, and we’re doing this by bringing the highest quality sake to the UK at the lowest price point possible,” says Levene. “You often find sake is very expensive because of shipping costs, but we want as many people to drink sake as possible. The way to educate people on premium sake is by getting them to drink it, and therefore the price point has to be accessible, like an alternative to wine rather than above it.”
According to Hilton-Johnson however, one of the major problems for sake is domestically with its regulations.
“The classification system for sake in Japan wasn’t necessarily designed for consumers and it’s coming apart at the seems,” he says. “It was only introduced in 1992 and I can see it being abolished in the next 10 years. Daiginjo is the highest quality sake, but it’s essentially just a minimum requirement which means there’s a vast range of quality and styles within the most premium sector of sake. The classification system is lacking and particularly in Japan producers are frustrated with it.
“In the UK and other less mature markets, brands are using this as an opportunity to make up their own rules when it comes to price points.”
The combination of challenges, including expensive import costs and a poor category structure, has subsequently led to producers popping up outside Japan.
“The US is a good example,” says Hilton-Johnson. “There’s loads of producers emerging and some of the sake is on a par with that made in Japan when it comes to quality. All the breweries I’ve spoken to in Japan are positive about this movement because it grows the global brand of sake.
“What’s interesting is that the word ‘sake’ isn’t protected and therefore if you produce it outside of Japan there are no regulations to oblige by. That being said, brands are prescribing to the Japanese production regulations because that’s the industry standard.”
The US has more breweries outside Japan than any other country and while the bulk of them are producing those premium daiginjo styles of sake, Hilton-Johnson believes there will be a swing in momentum in the future.
“It’s actually the Asian market, including Japan, which is primarily driving the growth of these fruitier styles of sake (ginjo and daiginjo). The US and Europe like them too, but they also want access to more reasonably priced sake like futushu, which is arguably better suited to traditional western cuisine. I think the pendulum will swing from the very fruity styles back towards more umami styles.”
