Grassroots technical cooperation comes to fruition! How Sapporo Beer “Inca’s Door” was made by utilizing nut pomace

Grassroots technical cooperation comes to fruition! How Sapporo Beer “Inca’s Door” was made by utilizing nut pomace

The Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project is an international cooperation activity proposed by NGOs, universities, private companies, etc., and implemented in cooperation with JICA. This December marks the 20th anniversary of the program. On October 18, Sapporo Beer launched “HOPPIN’ GARAGE: The Door of Inca,” an old South American favorite called Sacha Inchi. It is a sparkling wine made from the lees of the sacha inchi, a nut that has been loved in South America for centuries. How did it come to be launched? We caught up with the story behind the product’s birth.

Meet Sacha Inchi, a Highly Nutritious, Highly Productive “Peruvian Treasure” “Sacha inchi is a Peruvian treasure. Sacha inchi is a Peruvian treasure, a ‘superfood’ rich in health and beauty benefits.

Norihisa Ohashi, president of NPO Arcoiris, has conducted three grassroots technical cooperation projects with JICA in Peru between 2008 and 2017. Sacha inchi is cultivated using agroforestry methods that combine agriculture with conservation of the natural environment. Through the production of oil from sacha inchi seeds, we have been working to improve the quality of life (QOL) of the local people, including improving their livelihoods.

Mr. Ohashi was first drawn to sacha in 2005. It was when he met Mr. Jose Anaya, a Peruvian businessman who was focusing his attention and research on sacha inchi.

Sacha inchi is a plant that has been cultivated since pre-colonial times, before 1542. At the time of my visit to Peru, it was already forgotten by those in the know, but I found it to be a fascinating crop. It produces a high quality oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E, and its pomace is also rich in protein. Moreover, it is highly productive, with a monthly harvest eight to ten months after the seeds are sown. I wanted to commercialize and industrialize it.”

JICA’s “Grassroots Technical Cooperation” Project, and the owner of “Anoda Gyoza” was asked to participate in the project. However, there was little information available on how to cultivate sacha inchi, and the development of sacha inchi products required both money and expertise. So Mr. Ohashi applied for JICA’s Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project. The project required the participation of experts in order to explore the commercialization of sacha inchi through agroforestry, which is a highly sustainable method of cultivation. JICA’s help was very important in preparing the groundwork for the project.

By the time we completed the second project, we had already started producing sacha inchi oil and its sales had begun to take off. However, the utilization of the protein-rich lees that remained after the oil was pressed was becoming an issue. In the third round of the grassroots technical cooperation project (June 2012-May 2017), Mr. Ohashi asked Yuko Anoda, a researcher of preserved food and owner of Anoda Gyoza, to participate as a food processing expert. We request her to work on improving the quality of life of the local people, including devising recipes using the dregs.

Utilizing the wisdom of Japanese preserved food in the Amazon, where refrigerators are not common “Mr. Ohashi, an old acquaintance of mine, saw my book, “Recipes without Refrigerators,” published in 2011, and approached me. He wanted to utilize the wisdom of Japanese preserved food in the Amazon, where refrigerators are not common. I didn’t know what kind of results I could achieve, but I wanted to give it a try. Mr. Anoda recalls, “I didn’t know what kind of results I could achieve, but I was willing to give it a try.

Mr. Anoda travels to Peru once a year, staying for three weeks to a month six times. To learn what kind of fruits and plants grow in what kind of climate, he visited during various seasons, including the beginning of the dry season and the middle of the rainy season. In the field, we considered preservation methods to keep a chicken alive for a week, and held a cooking contest using sacha inchi with farmers. We spent our days exploring with local project members how to process sacha inchi in a way that would be compatible with the climate, and how to propose recipes that combine sacha inchi with ingredients that can be procured locally.

I think that the Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project was a very significant opportunity for the young local agricultural technicians. It was a great experience for them, and the stable income allowed them to focus on the project.

Nuts turned into alcohol! The project bore fruit in an unexpected way. Five years have passed since the completion of the grassroots technical cooperation project in which Mr. Yolita participated. On October 18, Sapporo Beer released “HOPPIN’ GARAGE Inca Door,” a sparkling wine made from sacha inchi pomace.

After noticing Mr. Anoda’s activities in Peru, Sapporo Beer’s “HOPPIN’ GARAGE” brand asked him if he would be interested in turning his story into a new beer, and this became a reality.

In Peru, I was truly surprised to see a lifestyle and cultural style that was completely different from that of Japan. I realized that the sense of right and wrong and aesthetics that I had believed in were actually just standard equipment that had somehow become part of the social framework, and I was freed from the things that I had been trapped in until then. I think this experience had an affinity with the concept of Sapporo Beer’s brand “HOPPIN’ GARAGE,” which is to develop products that are not bound by stereotypes of beer,” says Anoda. says Mr. Anoda.

Seeing an unparalleled opportunity to promote sacha inchi, Mr. Anoda embarked on a project to commercialize the product. He suggested adding sacha inchi protein powder, which symbolizes the Peruvian experience. He also searched for ingredients to combine with the sacha inchi.

The Peruvian forest was like a medicine chest. We encountered so many fascinating plants that we wanted to use them in this product, so we first adopted cat’s claw. Then, a brewer from Sapporo Beer suggested amaranth. I actually ate it in Peru, so it overlapped with my personal story.”

The resulting “HOPPIN’ GARAGE Inca Door” has a “refreshing taste like herb tea. We recommend drinking it in different containers, such as teacups or unglazed teacups, just like herbal tea,” says Anoda.

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