Aloha Shoyu
rebrands:
As soy sauce?

Aloha Shoyu is a household name in Hawaii, even in households where another brand is the shoyu of choice.

On the mainland, more than 90 percent of the people that Aloha Shoyu Co. has surveyed have no idea what shoyu is, because they call it soy sauce.

How does a brand with one recognizable and one unrecognizable word in its name ever expect to gain mainland market share?

During the past two years, the company has laid the groundwork to overcome that challenge by rebranding its products, said Blane AhQuin, sales manager.

Aloha Shoyu hired California-based Osaki Design, led by Hawaii ex-pat Kurt Osaki, to redesign packaging. World Champion figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi signed on to help launch the company's new Aloha Gold premium soy sauce in advertising and personal appearances. Part of the proceeds from those sales will pour into Yamaguchi's nonprofit Always Dream Foundation.

Aloha Shoyu has been in mainland markets for years. "It's just that we were predominantly in the Asian niche market. Our goal now is to expand further," said John Tsukada, senior vice president of Aloha Shoyu.

The mainstream market isn't the broad target, either.

"More gourmet markets," Tsukada said, where margins are higher.

Aloha Shoyu doesn't seek to be just another Asian soy sauce. "We want to be a product of Hawaii," said Tsukada.

It is a small player in a $200 million market, Tsukada said, and the company would like to gain a little bit of market share. However, there's a sleeping giant out there named Kikkoman.

"We don't want to wake them up, either. We're trying to do it in a subtle way. If we can get a few percent of the market, that's terrific," Tsukada said.

Additional products and package designs will follow. The company is looking to do more exotic soy sauces with flavor enhancements and tropically tinged glazes such as guava and pineapple.

Many Hawaii products are considered specialty items, so they must be branded and marketed in a particular way, said Noelle Baker, senior vice president of Starr Seigle Communications Inc.

It is almost easier to explain what a brand is not, she said. It is not a logo, advertising or awareness, she said.

"What a brand is, is really what you stand for.

"One of the strongest brands out there is Starbucks. What do they spend on advertising? Nothing. It's the relationship you have with the customer, the experience they have when they walk into your store and when they buy your product. It's something that we see companies paying more and more attention to today," Baker said.