Calbee
Encyclopedia
Calbee Foods Co. is a major Japanese snack food maker. It was founded on April 30, 1949. It launched operations at a new plant in the United States for making its mainstay products "Kappa Ebisen
" shrimp chips and "Saya-endo" snow pea crisps on Sept 18, 2007. Its snacks are hugely popular in Asia, and are well known in the States. Its headquarters is located in the Marunouchi Trust Tower Main in Marunouchi
, Chiyoda
, Tokyo
.
Calbee sponsored the Tyrrell Racing
F1 team from 1990 to 1994, when Japanese drivers Satoru Nakajima
and then Ukyo Katayama
drove for the team.
Kappa Ebisen
is a Japanese snack food produced by Calbee of Japan. It is a crunchy, shrimp-flavored snack resembling french fries that is very popular in Japan....
" shrimp chips and "Saya-endo" snow pea crisps on Sept 18, 2007. Its snacks are hugely popular in Asia, and are well known in the States. Its headquarters is located in the Marunouchi Trust Tower Main in Marunouchi
Marunouchi
Marunouchi is a commercial district of Tokyo located in Chiyoda between Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace. The name, meaning "inside the circle", derives from its location within the palace's outer moat...
, Chiyoda
Chiyoda, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards in central Tokyo, Japan. In English, it is called Chiyoda ward. As of October 2007, the ward has an estimated population of 45,543 and a population density of 3,912 people per km², making it by far the least populated of the special wards...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
History
| 1949 | Matsuo Food Processing Co., Ltd. was incorporated in |
| to succeed Matsuo Food Industry, in Hiroshima. | |
| 1955 | Name changed to Calbee Foods and Confectionery Co., Ltd. |
| Developed technology for producing Arare crackers from wheat flour. | |
| Introduced Kappa Arare crackers, adopting the mythical kappa character chosen by Kon Shimizu as the product symbol. | |
| 1957 | Opened the Fukuoka, Nagoya, and Tokyo sales offices. |
| 1964 | Introduced Kappa Ebisen shrimp-flavored crackers. Kappa Ebisen |
| 1968 | Began operating the Utsunomiya Factory (Tochigi). |
| Opened the Osaka and Sapporo sales offices. | |
| 1969 | Began operating the Chitose Factory (Hokkaido). |
| 1970 | Established Calbee America, Inc. (U.S.) |
| 1971 | Introduced Masked Rider Snack, a successful product. Masked Rider Snack |
| 1972 | Introduced Sapporo Potato, a packaged potato snack. |
| Established Calbee Shokuhin Co., Inc. Sapporo Potato | |
| 1973 | Moved head office to Tokyo. Name changed to Calbee Foods Co., Ltd. |
| 1974 | Opened the Hokkaido Division and built four potato storehouses at three Hokkaido locations. |
| 1975 | Began operating the Kagoshima Factory (Kagoshima) |
| and Shimotsuma Factory (Ibaraki). | |
| Introduced Potato Chips. Potato Chips | |
| 1976 | Began operating the Second Utsunomiya Factory (Tochigi) and Shiga Factory (Shiga). |
| 1977 | Began potato chip production at the Kagoshima Factory. |
| 1978 | Began potato chip production at the Chitose Factory. |
| 1980 | Materials Division became independent as Calbee Potato, Inc. |
| Established Calbee Tanawat Co., Ltd. (Thailand) | |
| 1982 | Made Tokyo Snack Food Co., Ltd. to a subsidiary company. |
| 1983 | Began operating the Kakamigahara Factory (Gifu). |
| 1986 | Began operating the Hiroshima-Nishi Factory (Hiroshima). |
| 1988 | Began marketing cereal products in the Nagoya region. cereal products |
| 1989 | Began operating the Kiyohara Factory (Tochigi) to produce cereals. |
| Expanded cereals marketing throughout Japan. | |
| 1990 | Established Snack Food Service Co., Ltd. |
| 1991 | Established Food Engineering Institute, Ltd. (dissoluved in 2006) |
| Established NIJYUICHI Co.,Ltd. | |
| Opened the Tokyo Research and Development Center. | |
| 1992 | Established Calbee International, Ltd. (Hong Kong) |
| 1993 | Established Calbee Four Seas Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong) |
| 1994 | Completed new head office building in Kita, Tokyo. |
| 1995 | Began operating the Shin-Utsunomiya Factory (Tochigi). |
| Introduced Jagarico potato snack. | |
| Established Qingdao Calbee Foods Co., Ltd. (China) | |
| Established Shenyang Calbee Foods Co., Ltd | |
| Ltd. (China) Jagarico | |
| 1996 | Established Garden Bakery, Inc. |
| Established Yantai Calbee Food Co., Ltd. (China) | |
| 1999 | Began operating the Ayabe Factory (Kyoto). |
| 2000 | Established Calnac Co., Ltd. |
| Completed the Fruit Granola Building at the Kiyohara Factory (Tochigi). | |
| 2001 | Renovated the Chitose Factory (Hokkaido). |
| 2002 | Established Calbee Four Seas (Shantou) Co., Ltd. (China) |
| 2004 | Established Oisia Co., Ltd. |
| Established Snack Salad Marketing&Technologies, Inc. (U.S.) | |
| Established the R&DDE Center for research and development. | |
| 2005 | Established Calbee Konan Co., Ltd. (Shiga) |
| 2006 | Moved and renovated the Hiroshima Factory(Hiroshima) . |
| Introduced Jagabee potato snack. | |
Sponsorship
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...
F1 team from 1990 to 1994, when Japanese drivers Satoru Nakajima
Satoru Nakajima
Satoru Nakajima is a former racing driver from Japan.-Career:Nakajima was born into a farming family living just outside Okazaki, Japan. He began driving cars in his early teens in the family's garden with his older brother giving him tips, careful that they were not caught by their father...
and then Ukyo Katayama
Ukyo Katayama
is a Japanese racing driver, most notable for competing six years in Formula One. Despite struggling with under-funded teams throughout his career, Katayama's performances impressed on several occasions, and was popular in the F1 paddock for his unshakeably sunny disposition and self-deprecating...
drove for the team.