One of the world’s largest sake breweries, Nihonsakari, has undergone a revamp – a rarity for such a longstanding major Japanese label – revealing a new brand logo, bottle designs and recipe changes to its core range and beyond.
Nihonsakari, founded since 1889 (originally known as Nishinomiya Kigyo Company), is renowned for being a sake purveyor for the Japanese imperial household since 1913; their Junmai Ginjo Souhana is served there till this day. Unlike most breweries in Japan, Nihonsakari also stands out for being a non-family run sake brewery, having been first founded by five young men as a corporation.
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Now, the over a century old brewery has renamed themselves as Sakari, unveiling a brand new logo in the process. “The shortening of the name is deliberate, concise and makes it easy to read and remember,” states a media announcement.
The new design resembles a sakura flower, that’s actually a composite of five modern sake glasses facing the center. It’s also meant to honour the five original founders of the brand.
It’s a contemporary Japanese look favouring minimalist design and white spaces, all in an effort to convey the message of modernity, timelessness and subtlety in this forward-looking rebranding exercise.
[Read more: Sake: A beginner’s guide]
The bottle labels have completely changed too, taking on the same minimalist look and feel as the logo, with its various sakes being differentiated vividly by colour. The use of English descriptors is also a means of acknowledging the global reach of its sakes today.
Beyond the facelift, Sakari’s sakes are also now certified preservatives-free (no sulphites), gluten-free and vegetarian. It has done so not just to improve customer confidence in their products, but according to them, also because these are qualities sakes are meant to have originally.
Sakari has so far unveiled five rebranded products – a Junmai, Daiginjo, Junmai Ginjo, Junmi Daiginjo and Yuzu Sake – with more coming in the pipeline.
Sakari is being distributed exclusively in Singapore by Inter Rice Asia.
About the Author
Dannon Har is the Managing Editor of Spill. Discovering his innate gift for drinking only at a ripe age, he spares no time trying to find more delicious drops to imbibe during his time on Earth. When he’s not minding every detail at Spill, he spends his time concocting luscious libations and sharing them with folks that visit his home bar.