OYAOYA Founding Story

Jan 12, 2022

I want to be like a greengrocer, connecting farmers with you, the consumers.

The brand name OYAOYA , which adds the Kyoto-style "O" to "greengrocer" and also hints at the presence of "vegetables," embodies this sentiment. Nice to meet you, I'm Rei Kojima, the representative of OYAOYA .

OYAOYA is a new dried vegetable brand from Kyoto that aims to reduce food waste and ensure the survival of agriculture by adding value to vegetables that have nowhere to go.

An encounter with non-standard vegetables

Born and raised in Kyoto, I studied agriculture at university, focusing on organic mandarin orange farmers in Ehime Prefecture. I launched OYAOYA while I was still a student. I have loved vegetables since I was a child. My favorite is Manganji chili peppers. It was the Manganji chili peppers lovingly grown by a farmer in Fukuchiyama, in the northern area of Kyoto, who taught me the deliciousness and reality of these vegetables that don't see the light of day, and it was the Manganji chili peppers that I learned about and the business concept for the brand.

Manganji pepper

However, even if you try to commercialize non-standard vegetables, the more you get to know the agricultural field, the more challenges you face. Before visiting the farm in Fukuchiyama, I had heard from my best friend's grandfather, who farms in Kyotango, that vegetables that are irregular in shape or size or have scratches are perceived as being cheap because they are defective, so they are negotiated for a lower price, and there is a price war at the direct sales store, making it difficult to make a profit from them.

It's hard to make a profit on non-standard vegetables, so it's a relief to have them purchased. However, I'd like them to be purchased at a fair price, without being pushed down just because they're non-standard.

My best friend's grandfather told me this wish that had never come true until now.

OYAOYA's Promise

That's why OYAOYA values a win-win relationship with farmers. We basically buy non-standard vegetables that are turned into dried vegetables at whatever price the farmer asks. Even if they are non-standard, the production costs are the same, and the amount of time and effort varies from farmer to farmer, so I believe it is right to buy them at a fair price based on the price the farmer normally ships them at, rather than a flat rate.

Although it is a business, the win-win relationship I want to cherish is not just financial. I listen to the voices of those on the ground who lament that although many people are interested in agriculture, many of them quit soon after, and I want OYAOYA to continue to be a business that can maintain long-term relationships with farmers.

Ethie Agriculture

And by consuming OYAOYA's dried vegetables in a way that allows you to see the faces of the farmers, we hope to cultivate delicious food together with everyone and work to ensure the survival of agriculture. The agricultural workplace, which is often thought of as dark and difficult, is actually a very bright and wonderful world.

If we are to do business, I want them to promise that it will be a mutually beneficial, good relationship. I have always kept in my heart the words entrusted to me by my best friend's grandfather, who has been a farmer for many years.