Company Profile
Message from the Representatives
Our commitment to sweet potato production
We produce, process and sell sweet potatoes, mainly Beniharuka, in fields surrounded by beautiful scenery with a view of Mount Kaimon in the distance, in Kanoya City on the Osumi Peninsula in Kagoshima Prefecture.
In addition to the natural blessings of a mild climate and the Shirasu Plateau, we are working hard every day to provide safe and delicious sweet potatoes through repeated trial and error, including cultivation techniques from soil preparation to harvesting and ripening techniques to improve sweetness and quality.
Minamihashi Trading’s high quality has been recognized overseas, and we are also working on export business to North America and other countries, mainly in Southeast Asia.
Contributing to the local community
We also provide production guidance to our contract farmers, making use of the know-how we have cultivated up to now.
We hope that by working to improve the quality of the entire region, we can contribute in some way to the revitalization of the local economy.
A company where young people can work with enthusiasm
There are many young and energetic employees working at Minamihashi Trading.
We are truly grateful for this, as there are many producers who are struggling with a lack of workers and successors. It is these people who will create the new Japanese agriculture of the future. The company’s president, Yabata, also joined Minamihashi Trading at the age of 21 with no farming experience at all, and was trained by the current chairman, Minamihashi.
We want to nurture the next generation of agricultural producers by creating an environment where young, passionate employees can demonstrate their individuality and grow.
Minamihashi Trading will continue to expand the possibilities of agriculture through sweet potato production, while also contributing to the local community.
History
| 1976 | The current chairman, Shigeru Minamihashi, established Minamihashi Store Ltd. Mainly producing and selling sweet potatoes and potatoes for shochu and confectionery use. |
| 1988 | Factory-cum-office newly established. |
| 1992 | Minamihashi Trading Ltd. established with capital of 3 million yen. |
| 2010 | Production at the company’s own farm switched from Benisatsuma and Kogane Sengan to Beniharuka. Agricultural production corporation established. |
| 2013 | Kanoya Beniharuka certified. |
| 2015 | Certified business handling gifts in return for donations to support one’s hometown Kanoya (furusato nozei) |
| 2016 | Exporting began. Change of representative director: Ryusaku Yahata became the representative director. |
| 2017 | Capital increased to 20 million yen. |
| 2018 | Newly built 600-ton storage facility, 100-ton curing storage facility, office, and processing plant. |
| 2021 | Newly built second storage facility and curing facility. |
| 2024 | Steam heat treatment equipment installed |
Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress visited our company
On October 8th 2023, Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress, who had attended the opening ceremony of the Kagoshima National Athletic Meet the day before, visited Minamihashi Trading!
Company Profile
| Company name | Agricultural Production Corporation Minamihashi Trading Co. |
| Year established | 1992 |
| Capital stock | 20 million yen |
| Number of employees | 25 employees |
| Business activities | Sweet potato production, processing and sales (wholesale and retail) |
| Cultivated area | In-house production: approx. 6 hectares, contract cultivation: approx. 120 hectares |
| Procurement of sweet potatoes. | Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures |
| Annual handling volume. | Approx. 4,600 tons (FY2023) |
Introduction to Facilities and Equipment
Plastic greenhouses for raising seedlings
Seedlings are extremely important for maintaining the quality of sweet potatoes and preventing disease. We owns plastic greenhouses dedicated to raising seedlings, and grows virus-free seedlings in-house. In some of the greenhouses, environmental management such as temperature settings and opening and closing of curtains is fully automated, enabling a stable supply of seedlings.
Curing
Curing is the process of storing sweet potatoes in a high-temperature, high-humidity environment to allow a cork layer (similar to a scab) to form under the skin of the wounds that were caused during harvesting, and to heal them.
Curing allows for long-term storage, and by allowing for a longer ripening
period, the sweet potatoes become sweeter and tastier.
Steam heat treatment equipment / drying cabinet
In order to prevent the spread of sweet potato basal rot, which is becoming a problem in Japan, we have introduced steam heat treatment equipment that uses high-temperature steam to sterilize the causative bacteria. We provides steam heat-treated seed potatoes to our partner producers, helping them to grow healthy seedlings and ensuring a stable supply of high-quality products. It is also possible to dry the washed sweet potatoes.
Processing facilities
We has its own processing facilities equipped with vacuum packaging machines, quick-freezing machines, and rice cracker baking machines. The vacuum packaging machines are used to make “baked sweet potato vacuum packs”, and the rice cracker baking machines are used to make the popular “whole baked sweet potato rice crackers” and “crispy baked sweet potatoes”, which are made by hand one by one.
