It takes more than the family alone to make our tea. Sugimoto Tea Company is a fun workplace with employees from a diverse range of backgrounds. What we all share though, is a passion for sharing delicious Japanese green tea to people all over the world.
Headquarters / Production
My responsibility is retailing the Sugimoto’s tradition. “This tea is fantastic”. We often receive messages of praise from all over the world that encourages me to make the best tea. All inherited manufacturing skills from the past generations, such as the ratio of the blend and the process of heating, interact with each other. The taste of Sugimoto is born when all these skills are in alignment.
Since it’s a small scale company, they trained me well on every single detail, and allowed me to take on large responsibilities right after joining the team. Sugimoto Tea Company also gave me the opportunity to see an international market. In my second year, I visited Seattle and New York City. While receiving more and more orders from around the world, the company is growing rapidly every year, and stronger teamwork is required from our team. I feel these experiences and environment makes me grow.
My hope is that people from all around the world will visit Shizuoka and learn how our tea is made as well as the story of Sugimoto Tea.
Headquarters / Production
The world of tea is very deep. It’s impossible to make the exact same taste of tea every year, even if we use the same blend ratio and the same settings of the processing machine, because tea is a natural product and the leaves a different every year. Long experience and an artisan’s expertise are essential for tea making. And passion is the most important thing. Our company is a small scale family owned business, so the motivation of each staff can change the environment of the company and is important in solving any difficulty that may arise. I feel that the efforts I put in every day to make the best tea are rewarded when I get messages of praise from our customers. I would like to keep working hard with my team and continue to share the taste of Sugimoto tea to more people around the world.
International Office / Account Manager
Sugimoto Tea Company is a great company, where you can work in a very international environment with fun people from all different backgrounds. Everyone is motivated to make the company better and share the taste of Sugimoto Tea around the world.
Every day I communicate with customers in the US and other countries, study market trends, and plan how Japanese tea can fit into people’s lifestyles. Sometimes I also visit our factory and tea farms in Shizuoka. There I can talk to the growers and makers of our tea, hear their stories, and learn about their struggles and how passionate they are for making tea.
I travel to many places around the world, visiting different customers from the small locally loved tea shops to busy urban cafés. When I see our tea being enjoyed by people at these places, I’m reminded of the stories of the tea growers and makers in Shizuoka. When all the dots are connected, from where the tea comes from to who enjoys the tea, it really feels amazing to see Japanese tea spread around the world.