history
The Journey of Sasuke Pork
The Beginning of Sasuke Pork
Ninohe City, Iwate Prefecture, where Kuji Farm is located, is a town of about 30,000 people situated at the northernmost tip of the inland Iwate region. Surrounded by mountains, including Mt. Oritsumedake, which is home to one of Tohoku's leading populations of fireflies(Mt. Oritsumedake), and the Mabuchi River flowing through the center(Mabuchi River), the urban area spreads along the river, with settlements scattered like stitches through the mountain valleys.
Kuji Farm, the producer of "Sasuke Sangenton" (Sasuke Pork), has been raising pigs in this nature-rich location for three generations.
The founder, Sasuke Kuji, began raising pigs as a side business around 1950. This was a time when post-war food shortages were improving, and the demand for pork as food was steadily increasing.
To create delicious pork.
At that time, small-scale pig farming, raising a few to several dozen head on farm premises, was the norm, and many people in Ninohe raised pigs as a secondary occupation.
Back then, they fed pigs vegetable scraps and leftovers, and the raising methods weren't established as they are today. Rather than 'making delicious pork,' it was probably more like 'as long as it becomes pork,' according to the second generation, Shuhei(Current Chairman of Kuji Farm), he recounted.
Shuhei, who grew up watching his father raise pigs, decided in his 20s to 'dedicate himself to pig farming.' This was in the early 1970s.
Shuhei, who made pig farming his family business, built new pigsties and relocated to Kamaishi Town, adjacent to Ninohe City. While increasing the number of pigs and expanding the scale, he also began to focus on 'improving quality,' that is, creating 'delicious pork.'
He raised various breeds of pigs and experimented with crossbreeding and feed formulations. He tested over 10 different breeds of pigs. In addition to taste, he had to consider 'ease of raising' and high reproductive rates.
Verifying one pattern took three years, and trying all possible combinations took 20 years. After much trial and error, Shuhei became convinced that 'this is the most delicious': a crossbreed of a female from Landrace and Large Yorkshire with a male Duroc.
This is how the pork, later known as "Sasuke Sangenton" (Sasuke Pork), was born.
Strengthening the Core through Branding。
The 'delicious pork' created by the second generation over 20 years.
However, at first, it was bought and processed like pork from other producers and distributed in supermarkets as 'nameless pork.'
The ability to brand it was due to the 'in-house processing and sales' system introduced by the third generation, Tsuyoshi, the current president.
If you sell the fattened pigs to a processor, the pig farmer's job is done – that was the traditional system. Prices also fluctuated according to the buyer's convenience, sometimes dropping significantly.
It felt wrong that lives raised with the same care were treated this way. With that sentiment, by developing their own sales capabilities, they became able to consistently supply the value of these lives.
By limiting sales to restaurants and direct-to-consumer markets, they avoided competition with distributors and enabled direct sales.
Born from our commitment to take responsibility from production to sales, this pork is named after my grandfather, the root of Kuji family's pig farming.Sasuke Sangentonwe named it.
We want to create smiles with Sasuke Pork.
Through Sasuke Pork, a precious breed nurtured over three generations, we strive to deliver value that brings smiles to everyone involved: the eaters, the cooks, our employees, and their families. We will continue to pass the baton to the next generation and dedicate ourselves to this mission.
