Company
Greetings
Kagoshima produces the largest sweet potatoes in Japan.
It is our mission to be top in processed products in Japan also.
Our company started a business in the warehouse industry and continues to expand changes over time. Now we are focused on three areas of business; in the warehouse industry, food processing industry, and agricultural production. Our business has developed to be "specialized in sweet potatoes" in Kagoshima prefecture.
When we initially founded our company as a warehouse dealer undertaking distribution work, we paid attention to the high demand for processing sweet potatoes. We began handling sweet potatoes as well as their storage management.
As indicated by being called, “Satsuma’s Potatoes”=”Satsumaimo (sweet potatoes)”, it widely spread from Kagoshima to the rest of the country. Production volume is now ranked number one in Japan, becoming the representative of Kagoshima prefecture.
Sweet potatoes are highly capable of absorbing sunlight, it grows durably, even in volcanic ash, and are strong against typhoons. They are the exact crop suitable for the southern Kyushu climate. They’re rich in nutritional value and are also known as an excellent health food ingredient containing a lot of carbohydrates, starch, minerals, vitamins, and dietary fibers.
However, sweet potato production in Kagoshima is mostly produced for processing starch and shochu. Many high-value-added products using sweet potatoes are processed outside of the prefecture and commercialized. This is a shame. Since it is "Satsuma's potatoes", Kagoshima prefecture should aim for the best in Japan, not only in production but also in the processing of goods.
By processing the sweet potatoes produced in Kagoshima in various forms, I would like them to appear more on everyone's table. Eat and enjoy, and be more "energetic". Hence, we took advantage of the know-how and skills cultivated in processing shochu, and thought "to create value by the power of sweet potatoes".
The value of sweet potatoes is in their deliciousness, pleasure, and fun. I think that there are various aspects such as promoting health and beauty also. We believe that our mission is to increase value from simple "sweet potatoes" to "sweet potatoes essential for healthy living" by creating a variety of processed items.
Aiming to be “the No.1 sweet potato company in Japan”
The founding of Kairen Co., Ltd. was in 1999. We go back to the day, Hideki Nagai, the founder who was engaged in the refrigeration storage business, began to process sweet potatoes and tackled the value creation of sweet potatoes.
Since then, we are developing a business that specializes in "sweet potatoes" that represents Kagoshima prefecture. "Making Kagoshima the best in processing sweet potatoes in Japan" and "cultivating beautiful Japanese women" are two pillars I have considered building upon for operating business with sweet potatoes.
However, sweet potato production in Kagoshima is mostly produced for processing starch and shochu. Many high-value-added products using sweet potatoes are processed outside of the prefecture and commercialized. This is a shame. Since it is "Satsuma's potatoes", Kagoshima prefecture should aim for the best in Japan, not only in production but also in the processing of goods.
Sweet potatoes have various values such as taste and can be promoted as providing nutrients for health and beauty.
Our mission is to increase value from a simple vegetable called, "sweet potatoes" to "sweet potatoes that are indispensable for healthy living" by creating various processed products.
We deliver a wide range of innovative products taking advantage of the value of sweet potatoes one after another. First, Kairen will aim to become Japan's best in processing sweet potatoes, and furthermore, while garnering the support of everyone in the local area, put forth the effort to make Kagoshima prefecture "Japan's No.1 in processing sweet potatoes".
The second pillar, "cultivating beautiful Japanese women", emphasizes the feeling we wish for Japanese women to shine more vividly and be energized.
By working at our company, I want women to be beautiful and strong mothers, raise children properly and pass down the rich, beautiful Japan to the next generation. Mothers who actually work while raising their children are always working harder than anyone. From the viewpoint of supporting mothers who are raising the next generation, Kairen supports mothers as much as possible, such as normalized working hours.
I would like to have a firm understanding of what kind of work they do at our company and make sure they take their time to talk to their children.
"Purification Project" is what we do to conserve the global environment. We manufacture recipe making use of sweet potato skins to aim for zero industrial waste, recycling the offcuts of agricultural products and compile and compost them.
Through telling children what happened at work, it is necessary to help their consciousness to preserve the earth and to pass down to generations that follow.
All of our employees have been working under a system to ensure that they have a healthy work life. They not only recharge energy through eating our sweet potato products but I also would like to think that my energy also recharges them.
It is the human power that creates value in sweet potatoes. Rather than arranging machinery and equipment operators, securing excellent employees and raising work motivation is my main role as the president. In order to make our workplace fun and exciting, we will preach our philosophy and encourage employees, at the same time, I will make unremitting efforts to further refine my own self as well. If you like the company, and if you like the president, you should be able to enjoy your job more. I always like to communicate with our employees, let them find out who I am to strengthen their interest in me so they can lend me their support. There is nothing more important than to share the same thoughts and have companionship where we can all work hard together. Kairen, together with employees, will continue to aim to be "the best sweet potato company in Japan" and accelerate our growth.