About
伝統や歴史のみに寄り掛からない日本食を、世界の人々へ。
A Creative Japan Inspired Food Brand.
Heritage Inspired And Driven to Innovate.
Our Story
Abokichi is dedicated to sharing the creativity which can emerge when different cultures interact. Abokichi means "Fortunate Avocado," a coinage from "abogado", a South American fruit which has found a place in cuisines all over the world, and "kichi" which means fortunate in Japanese, to express the blessing of the diversity of different cultures in the world.
Our story began when Abokichi co-founder Jess first encountered onigiri (Japanese rice balls) as a healthy and convenient snack or meal while living in Tokyo. After returning to Canada, Jess had difficulty finding healthy, natural, and minimally processed food to eat on the run. As a result, she decided to introduce onigiri as a healthy option for busy people in Canada, selling at farmer’s markets in the Toronto area with her business and life partner, Fumi. Bobby, focusing on operations, joined the team as a partner in 2018.
Today, the three of us entrepreneurs work tirelessly, along with our dedicated team, to deliver you healthy and delicious Japanese food.
Story of OKAZU
We wanted to add chili oil to our onigiri but soon realized the products shipped from Japan usually contain a lot of chemicals such as preservatives, msg and stabilizers. So we decided to make our original all natural OKAZU condiment and started to use it in our onigiri. And that was a big hit! So we started to put it in jars.
Today we sell three varieties of our miso-based sesame oil condiments: OKAZU Chili Miso, OKAZU Curry Miso and OKAZU Spicy Chili. All have been featured by major media outlets, including Chatelaine, the Globe and Mail, CBC, Edible Toronto, Toronto Life and more! (See our Media page)
OKAZU was chosen as a Gold Winner for the 2020 sofi Awards. Out of 1800 marinades, dressings and condiments, OKAZU was deemed the tastiest! Read more about it here.
Story of Instant Miso Soup
Abokichi instant miso soup is our newest product. Our instant miso soup is non-GMO, gluten-free and 100% vegan — unlike traditional miso broth which is made with katsuo bushi (fermented tuna flakes). Abokichi instant miso soup is made from organic soybeans, garlic, spices and sake kasu — the fermented, pressed rice leftovers from sake brewing.
Abokichi instant miso soup is available in three flavours: Original, Chili, and Black Pepper - all natural sources of healthy enzymes and prebiotics – good bacteria that promote healthy digestion.
Abokichi is a member of;
Mottainai (もったいない)! It means "What a waste!" in Japanese, so, lets up-cycle!
In 2020, our instant miso soup, containing sakekasu (sake lees) diverted more than two tonnes of nutritious byproduct from becoming food waste.
If you are a food entrepreneur with a byproduct that you're not sure what to do with, please get in touch. We would love to get creative with you and rethink our food system.
Tell us about your food byproduct at info@abokichi.com
Abokichi - Upcycled Food Brand
Globally, if food waste was a country, it would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. In Canada, over half the food we produce in the country is being thrown away. This costs billions each year, and the environmental and social impact is really unthinkable, particularly when over 4 million Canadians are food insecure.
Abokichi believes in saving food waste by using upcycled ingredients in their products. Reducing and diverting waste is a core value of the company. For the sake of the earth and future generations, the entire food industry should care about the current wasteful standards and strive to do better.
Media
Retailers
https://www.abokichi.com/pages/store-locator
*Before you make a special trip to one of the retailers listed above, we kindly recommend that you call in advance to confirm OKAZU and miso soup are in stock.