History of Q&B Foods, Inc.
Founded in 1982 as a sister company to Kewpie in Japan, Q&B Foods handles the American distribution of Kewpie products. Our founder, Mr. Ishikawa, believed that it was important to introduce Western-style seasonings created in Japan to the United States. This philosophy drives Q&B Foods to bring Kewpie to fans all across the United States.
Since its founding, Q&B Food has gone from a small operation that mostly provided Kewpie mayonnaise to Japanese restaurants to a full-scale company that produces many Kewpie products. Now, our goal is to make Kewpie easily accessible for all the American Kewpie fans!
1976
Kewpie assigns their first overseas representative to New York to facilitate the regular import of Kewpie mayonnaise and collect information on the US food industry.
1980
US Market Research Team launched.
1981
The team established an office in San Francisco and began researching how to bring Kewpie to the US market.
1982
Q&B Foods founded as the first overseas corporation of Kewpie.
So Q&B Foods can begin manufacturing and selling Kewpie mayonnaise, primarily to Japanese restaurants, they remodeled a 66 square meter warehouse.
1983
Steady expansion of Kewpie’s market in the commercial sector meant Q&B Foods hit an annual sales volume of 1,000 tons!
1984
Introduction of the Oriental Chef brand, mainly in Southern California. Q&B Foods initially offered four flavors: Sesame with Honey, Tangy Soy, Snappy Ginger, and Creamy Lemon.
1986
Selected as the location for a new factory, Q&B Foods moves to Irwindale, California.
The team created a dressing line called O/Chef to prepare for the brand getting a full-scale rollout. O/Chef’s bottles and labels are also redesigned.
1987
O/Chef dressings sold nationwide, after the planned rollout.
In order to gain brand recognition, Q&B Foods implemented “Buy None, Get One Free” marketing. This campaign meant customers could present a coupon and get Q&B Foods products for free. The marketing tactic made Q&B Foods’s expansion skyrocket.
1989
Q&B Foods launched their product department.
The product department began export of fruit products to BF and Henningsen Foods egg products to Japan.
2000
The Q&B warehouse started co-packing Ojai Cook products.
2005
Ojai cook was acquired by Q&B Foods.
2013
Asian retail stores started selling Kewpie’s core line of dressings: Deep Roasted Sesame, Wafu, and Chuka.
2015
Further expansion saw other US retailers carry Deep Roasted Sesame, Wafu, and Chuka.
2017
Partnering with Costco, Q&B Foods sold Deep Roasted Sesame in stores across the US.
2018
Kewpie brand mayonnaise launched at major US retailers, making it widely available in many places.
2019
Once again working with Costco, Q&B Foods made Kewpie mayonnaise available at their stores across the US.