WESTERN Australian barley is taking centre stage in Japanese celebrations with the grain being used to make one of the country's most popular drinks.
Growers on the recent CBH Grower Study Tour were given a valuable insight into the production process of the tradtional Japanese spirt, shochu, at the Sanwa Shurui company's production plant.
The Sanwa Shurui factory, situated in Beppu on Kyushu Island in the south of Japan, employs 360 workers, runs 320 days of the year and produces 144,000 litres of shochu a day.
Sanwa Shurui is the country's second largest producer of barley shochu and for the past 20 years it has used mostly Australian barley to produce its popular Iichiko brand.
Iichiko was first produced in 1979 and now has a 36.5 per cent share in the barley shochu industry in Japan and Sanwa Shurui currently imports 50,000 tonnes of Australian barley each year to produce the shochu.
Shochu is big business in Japan with 180,000 kilolitres of the spirit produced each year and there are 300 distillers on Kyushu Island alone.
In addition to supplying the domestic market, the company also exports its shochu to 38 countries across the globe, including some sales into Australia.
China is the company's largest export market, followed by the United States.
High quality barley is a key to producing top shochu and Sinwa Shurui Department of Production deputy manager Yuichi Mizoguchi said the specifications they looked for were hardness, a good round grain, uniform grain size, high starch content and protein levels between 9-12pc.
The company proudces three brands of Iichiko shochu, Silouhette, Frasco and the premium Special brand.
The Special brand can contain barley grown in Australia up to 10 years ago as this shochu is aged for that period in oak barrels.
Sinwa Shurui looks to use a specific protein level for whatever type of shochu is being produced.
Mr Mizoguchi said La Trobe was a preferred variety for Sanwa Shurui and it had also tested Spartacus.
"Spartacus also has good brewing aptitude but we didn't buy any Spartacus in 2017/18 because the chemical residue is outside the Japanese standards," Mr Mizoguchi said.
Quality control is a major focus for Sanwa Shurui and every morning specialist tasters will taste every type of shochu being brewed to ensure it is reaching maximum potential.
The domestic market takes the majority of the company's product with 160,000 shops gaining licenses to sell alcoholic beverages.
This includes 55,000 convenience stores in Japan and 20,000 supermarkets that stock the spirit.
Sanwa Shurui managing director Tomohisa Kadoyanagi said an area the company was keen to grow is the tourist market, particularly the snow ski resorts, which attract thousands of Australians every year.
"We would like Australians to try our shochu when they go skiing as it is made from barley grown in their country," he said.
"We are importing barley from you (Australia) and selling Iichiko all over the world."
Shackleton grower Louie Beurteaux grows La Trobe and said it was pleasing to hear that Sanwa Shurui was happy with the performance of the variety.
"I grow half La Trobe and half Spartacus in the barley program and I will stick to producing La Trobe as long as I don't have to cart it too far," he said.
In terms of the operation of the Sanwa Shurui plant, Mr Beaurteaux said it was good to see firsthand the process of converting the pearled barley into shochu.
"The cleanliness and quality control process through the whole plant was exceptional," he said.
"The chance to visit Japan and see how end users process our barley is a terrific opportunity and provides growers with some good feedback as to market requirements."
CBH government and industry relations adviser Rob Dickie said the shochu business and CBH's relatonship with Zenbakuren, which is a co-operative of grain processors, and the individual barley pearlers and shochu makers was an enduring one that had been maintained for decades.
"CBH maintains a stong market share of the shochu barley business in Japan and we put this down to working with our customers to understand their needs and provide them the varieties and the attributes that they need to be successful," Mr Dickie said.
"The overall volume of the shochu market is small when put into context of WA's annual barley production, which last year was 5.135 million tonnes, however the market does provide a premium back to growers for this niche product.
"Our customers enjoy meeting with growers and taking the opportunity to interact with them and this highlights the strength of the relationship."
- Farm Weekly's Travis King recently visited Japan & South Korea as a guest of the CBH Group.
