Welcome to the 20th issue of Sake Today! With this issue we wrap up our fifth full year of publishing the best English-language sake-related content currently available. If you think sake has grown in popularity and accessibility these past few years, just wait to see what the near future holds. With sake getting more and more media attention, and with the Olympics slated for Japan next year, all indications are that sake may soon become much more of a commonplace choice for tipplers the world over.
As a result of the general population’s increased familiarity with sake, as well as its accessibility, there are a couple of nascent trends I’ve spotted. In fact, they are so nascent they may not be significant and may never take root, but I have a feeling they will.
One budding development is very expensive sake products. Breweries whose lineups otherwise consist of reasonably priced products have come out with new high-end products that are currently up to three times as expensive as their hitherto most pricey sake. This is not necessarily bad. Having very high-end products raises the image of sake for the brewers braving such price increases and for the industry as a whole. It shows that sake is indeed a premium beverage and can command such high prices–if it wants to.
There’s also that stratum of customers that don’t want to think too much about things, and circumvent that by just asking for the most expensive product on the list. Those that value exclusivity as a part of their sake experience will be rewarded as well by paying for and enjoying such products. And that’s fine; it’s yet one more valid way to enjoy sake.
Most brewers making these products don’t actually expect to sell much of them. It’s enough to simply have them at the pinnacle of their portfolio, to show that they can make sake at that price point. One well-known brewer even admitted as much to me. “The only reason we have this product,” he said, pointing a finger at their high-end if slightly overpriced product, “is to sell more of that one,” referring to their standard work-horse sake (which many people actually prefer, by the way).
While there are still a relatively small number of these expensive products available, lately I have been a bit surprised by who has been coming out with them. A couple of large brewers released sake three or four times more than their standard daiginjô, and one or two brewers I had never heard of are doing so as well. It seems to be something happening in several corners of the market at once. That alone is interesting.
In truth, I won’t be drinking much of them. I’ve long held that, for sake, the law of diminishing returns kicks in with a mighty vengeance at a relatively low price point. There’s so much reasonably priced sake out there that I don’t feel much of a need to push that envelope. Even so, sometimes I come across a sake for which that law (and most others) ceases to matter. I just want it, dammit, regardless of the cost. Forget about diminishing returns! While I don’t do this often, when I do, I always enjoy the sake and never regret it. So while some may rightly question whether these extravagantly priced products are worth it, if you end up happy and satisfied, then the answer is clearly “yes!”
The other change I sense is that regular sake products across the board are getting more expensive, too. Not significantly, just a bit more. This, too, is good. For a myriad of reasons beyond the scope of these opening words, profit margins on most sake are fairly low. This obviously makes it tough for brewers to run profitable businesses from sake sales alone. In the past few years, as much as 40 percent of the industry has slipped into the red, or is barely profitable on sake products alone. This does not bode well for the future of the industry!
What’s driving these price increases? More than personnel and raw materials such as rice, it comes down to increases in shipping costs, packaging costs, and energy costs. Electricity has always been expensive in Japan and there are no breaks for large-volume users! Brewers, thus, must raise prices to cover these increases. This is why we consumers should willingly pay more for the sake we love.
Part of the joy of sake is discovering something new, finding an unfamiliar kuramoto (brewery owner) or product that has inched its way to the edge of the spotlight. Then we can pounce with our obsession before everyone hears about it. Drama aside, simply knowing there’s so much out there we’ll never tire of is part of the fun. Why choose from fifty sakagura (breweries) when we can choose from a thousand?
We want as many breweries and brands as possible to remain active and healthy. This means profitable. We can all do our part by shaking a few extra coins from our pockets as prices inch upward. It’s bound to happen; it’s both natural and necessary.
