In 1868, the port of Kobe was opened.
Since then, western culture grew fast and took root in Japan. In 1933, Tadao
Ueshima, who has founded a wholesale business that provided jam, butter and
other western food products, was amazed when he tasted his first cup of coffee.
‘Was there anything else as delicious and deep as this?’
Because there were a lot of
influences of western culture in Kobe and locals loved the lastest and
greatest, he optimized that he could sell coffee well. He set his own coffee business
well. The concept of new and modern beverage could attract locals as a place to
gather with friends.
Unfortunately, in the start of World
War II, coffee was banned to be imported so that was a very tough year for him.
In 1950, the crane of import was finally reopened and Tadao Ueshima was ready
to go on to devote his life to coffee.
Tadao Ueshima made a world
breakthrough by producing the world’s first canned coffee in 1969. This idea
came in 1968 when he was drinking a bottled coffee milk at a train station
platform. Suddenly, the train blew the whistle as a sign of boarding so he
rushed to the shop to return the bottle back without finishing it and got on
the train. He thought that was a waste and tried to start a project to develop
canned coffee beverage.The project wasn’t easy. Tadao Ueshima tried to find the
formula by reading books day and night and conducting the experiments. Artificial
sweetness was a common at the time but Tadao committed to create product from coffee,
sugar and milk only.
In April 1969, the first canned
coffee beverage was created but this new invention was still too new and locals
weren’t quite accustomed with this. Expo’70 in Osaka was a way that led him to
a successful selling. Visitors, that come to this expo, fell in love with this
new canned drink. Sales went really well and became a turning point to new way
of drinking coffee.
For his contributions in coffee
industry, in 1988 a monument was built in his hometown, Nara by International
Coffee Organization. The monument refers to Tadao as ‘the father of coffee in
Japan.
'My mission is to pass on the magic of coffee to as many people
as possible’
-Tadao Ueshima, founder of UCC Coffee Company-
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