Brand's products KITA SANRIKU

Kita Sanriku is located in Hirono, Iwate Prefecture, Northeast Japan. It owes its name to the Sanriku Coast. Sanriku Coast is a spectacular rocky coastline of countless bays, cliffs and inlets that stretches for over 300 kilometers along Tohoku region Pacific coast, crossing Aomori, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures. Because of its natural beauty, coastline has long been a popular tourist attraction, and a considerable part of it has been designated a national park (Sanriku Recovery National Park).

Sanriku coast has periodically been hit by major tsunamis. On March 11, 2011, strongest earthquake ever recorded in Japan triggered a huge tsunami that struck northeast Japan Pacific coast of and was particularly destructive along Sanriku coast. Around 20,000 people lost their lives and tens of thousands of buildings were washed away. Many cities along Sanriku coast lost entire neighborhoods, while several towns and villages were almost completely destroyed. Reconstruction process has made good progress, but is still ongoing.

Many tourist attractions along the coast reopened just a few months after the disaster, and tourism is seen as one of the best ways of revitalizing this region and ensuring that the event is not forgotten. Sanriku coastline, with its ria, is the source of its value. On the ria, where sea and mountains are closely intertwined, rainwater that has fallen over a long period seeps deep into the earth and produces mineral-rich water in the bay. In addition, this region is one of the three most fertile fishing grounds in the world, where Oyashio and Kuroshio currents meet.

These diverse conditions make Sanriku coast an ideal environment for growing Sanriku mekabu. This seaweed absorbs sufficient nutrients in Sanriku region to become a thick, firm mekabu, very sticky and aromatic. Other seaweeds thrive here, such as kombu, funori and black bara nori. This ria is also particularly well-suited to sea urchin farming.

Kita Sanriku, sole company authorized to export sea urchins to Europe, has developed its own dried seaweeds production. These seaweeds are fished along Iwate coast, near Hirono town, in an exceptional 15 km stretch, bathed by Kuroshio and Oyashio currents. Kuroshio Current is a warm ocean current that flows northwards on North Pacific Ocean western side. Name is a Japanese word meaning “black stream”. Indeed, current is much darker than surrounding waters, which is explained by low amount of organic matter at the surface.

Kuroshio is the largest current in Western Pacific. Oyashio Current is a cold current on North Pacific western edge. It collides with Japan east coast Kuroshio Current to form North Pacific Current (or drift). Nutrient-rich Oyashio owes its name to its metaphorical role as parent that nourishes marine organisms. Oyashio current waters are the richest fishing grounds in the world, due to cold waters extremely high nutrient content and very high tides in some areas, which further increase nutrients availability. Kuroshio is important for climate, weather forecasting and fisheries management along Asia northeast coast as it carries a great deal of heat, salt and energy. Presence of these two currents is conducive to high-quality seaweed development.

KITA SANRIKU CERTIFICATIONS Sep. 2021 Completion of new factory International standard Simultaneous certifications: Food safety system certification FSSC22000 ISO22000 JFS-C (The JFS-C standard document is a standard document developed by the Japan Food Safety Management Association (JFSM) to help organizations establish, operate and improve their management systems for the manufacture of safe food products. In addition, this standardized document can also be used to have the organization's system assessed by external agencies, including certification bodies. This normative document is used by organizations striving to implement a food safety management system applicable worldwide.

December 2024: EU-HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) and MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certification.