Old Soy

Kikkoman soy sauce is an Island staple, found on lunch counters and home kitchens. I’ve just learned that it is also old. Very, very old.

Kikkoman soy sauce is an Island staple, found on lunch counters and in restaurants and home kitchens. I’ve just learned that it is also old. Very, very old.  In fact, it’s tied for 33rd place among the oldest family owned businesses in the world, according to Family Business Magazine. Kikkoman was founded in 1630, the same year as the Akerblad family hotel in Switzerland.

Hat tip: I get a lot of press releases. One this morning came from the family-run French perfume maker, Creed, announcing itself as No. 99 on the list (founded in 1760). The list seemed worth a perusal and there it was—Kikkoman.

The world’s oldest family-run business? Houshi Onsen, an inn founded in Komatsu, Japan, in 718.