Kikkoman originated in Japan in the early 17th century. Until World War II, the main consumers of soy sauce were Asians and Asian-Americans. For some time, Kikkoman shipped soybeans and wheat from the U.S. back to Japan, where it was brewed, and then shipped the soy sauce back here. By the early '70s, that no longer made any sense, and so the Wisconsin plant was conceived. We took it to another level by using it in things like meatloaf and stews and using it to season braising liquids.
Soy sauce gives recipes a 'meatiness' that people are looking for.
When the stir-fry craze hit, sales of soy sauce really took off, Beatson said. The fact is, the company makes its lite soy sauce by extracting sodium from its regular brewed soy sauce, Beatson said. So the lite version goes through an extra step in processing. The reason for doing it this way is to preserve the original flavor. Along with pure soy sauce, Kikkoman makes 15 other sauce products with primarily a soy sauce base.