History of ITO EN

Established Frontier Tea Corporation, ITO EN's predecessor, in Shizuoka-shi, Shizuoka prefecture.

Changes the Company’s name to ITO EN, LTD.

Introduces a high-speed automatic packaging machine manufactured by Industrial Gesellschaft in Switzerland.

Develops vacuum packing technology to preserve the freshness of tea leaves.

Constructs Shizuoka Sagara Factory in Sagaracho, Haibara-gun, Shizuoka.

Intensifies the production system.

Opens ITO EN's first tea shop, Chajuttoku, in Yokohama, Kanagawa

Signs an agency contract with China National Native Produce and Animal By-products Import and Export Corporation to import oolong tea for the first time in Japan and starts selling oolong tea.

Develops the world's first canned oolong tea and starts selling it in select markets

Starts selling canned oolong tea across Japan

Establishes OKINAWA ITO EN, LTD.

Starts selling black tea imported directly from Sri Lanka

Develops green tea cultivation method employing organic fertilizers

Becomes the first in the tea industry to include date of manufacture and best-before date in labeling

Successfully develops canned green tea (the predecessor of Oi Ocha) after inventing the T-N (Tea and Natural) Blow process, which removes oxygen from the can to maintain the pristine quality of the green tea

Starts selling canned green tea

Hosts the first ITO EN Ladies Golf Tournament

Opens the Central Research Institute in Makinohara-shi, Shizuoka

Establishes ITO EN (USA) INC. in Hawaii

Renames its canned green tea Oi Ocha

Launches the ITO EN Oi Ocha New Haiku Contest

Goes public on the OTC market

Releases Jujitsu Yasai.

Opens a new coffee roasting and processing facility at its Shizuoka Sagara Plant

Introduces the Tea Taster System

Establishes ITO EN AUSTRALIA PTY. LIMITED in Australia where it starts a tea plantation

Establishes the joint venture, Ningbo Shunyi Tea Products Co., Ltd., in China

Goes public on the Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Launches Oi Ocha in 500 ml PET bottles

Patents the Natural Clear production method for PET-bottled green tea

Partners in the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's clinical trials with approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Stock advanced to the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Markets the industry's first beverages in heatable PET bottles

The Shizuoka Sagara Plant and Central Research Institute become ISO 14001 certified

Launches a Tea-Producing Region Development Project (new tea plantation business) in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki

Establishes the consolidated subsidiary ITO EN (North America) INC. in continental USA.

Production headquarters becomes ISO 9001 certified

Launches Oi Ocha Koiaji (Oi Ocha Dark ) and Ichinichibun no Yasai (A Day's Worth of Vegetables)

Crude tea factory gets up and running at ITO EN AUSTRALIA PTY. LIMITED (Victoria, Australia)

Commences mail order sales

Makes FoodX Globe Co., Ltd. (now Tully's Coffee Japan Co., Ltd.) and Mason Distributors, Inc consolidated subsidiaries

Launches a Tea-Producing Region Development Project (new tea plantation business) in Oita Prefecture

Corporate divisions become ISO 14001 certified

Class 1 Preferred Stock listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange

Signs an exclusive distribution agreement with the Danone Group to sell Evian in Japan

Establishes ITO EN・ITOCHU MINERAL WATERS CO., LTD.

Becomes ISO 14001 certified company-wide, an unprecedented scale in the beverage industry

Launches the TEAS' TEA black tea brand in Japan

Launches its first canned coffee under the Tully's Coffee brand

Establishes GREEN VALUE CO., LTD.

Makes Chichiyasu Company a consolidated subsidiary to strengthen the dairy product business.

Launches Futatsu no Hataraki Catechin Green Tea (certified by the Japanese government as a “food for specified health uses”), the first ready-to-drink green tea with dual health benefits

Wins the Minister of the Environment Prize at the 20th Global Environment Awards for its Used Tea Leaves Recycling System

ITO EN SANGYO, LTD. expands its tea bag production plant

Establishes ITO EN Asia Pacific Holdings Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.

Establishes ITO EN BEVERAGE (SHANGHAI), LTD. in Shanghai, China

Establishes ITO EN (Thailand) Co., Ltd. in Bangkok, Thailand

Establishes PT ITO EN ULTRAJAYA WHOLESALE, a joint venture for marketing beverages in the Indonesian market

Makes Tsuchikura Co., Ltd. a consolidated subsidiary

Opens the Saryo ITO EN café in the Haneda Airport International Terminal

Makes Distant Lands Trading Company, Inc. in the U.S. a consolidated subsidiary

Launches the global brand product, ITO EN Matcha Green Tea (tea bags)

Constructs Maccha Kobo on the site of Shizuoka Sagara Factory.

Constructs Kobe Factory in Kobe-shi, Hyogo.

Cumulative sales of Oi Ocha top 30 billion bottles

Agreement to conduct clinical trials to verify the preventive effect of Matcha on dementia
(Collaborative experiment between Shimadzu Corporation and MCBI)

"Oi Ocha" brand recognized by Guinness World Record ™
* "Largest natural healthy RTD (latest annual sales) green tea beverage" Sales Results (January to December 2018)

Develops products containing used barley tea leaves through "Mugi Chakara Recycling System"

"OI OCHA" brand recognized by Guinness World Record™ for second consecutive year
* "Largest natural healthy RTD (latest annual sales) green tea beverage" Sales Results (January to December 2019)

Establishes a new tea bag production plant in Victoria, Australia.

Tea-Producing Region Development Project (Large-Scale New Tea Farm Business) begins in the Fukuroi district of Shizuoka Prefecture.

"OI OCHA" brand recognized by Guinness World Record™ for third consecutive year
* "Largest natural healthy RTD (latest annual sales) green tea beverage" Sales Results (January to December 2020)

Eisai and Ito En Form Business Alliance for Coexistence with and Prevention of Dementia

Signs a business collaboration agreement on the implementation of bottle-to-bottle recycling

"OI OCHA" brand recognized by Guinness World Record™ for fourth consecutive year
*"Largest natural healthy RTD (latest annual sales) green tea beverage" Sales Results (January to December 2021)

AI Image Analysis Technology for Estimating Crude Tea Quality Developed

Development of Technology for Determining When to Pick Tea Leaves Using AI Image Analysis

Tea-Producing Region Development Project (Large-Scale New Tea Farm Business) Starts Full-Scale Operation in Iruma Area, Saitama Prefecture

"OI OCHA" brand recognized by Guinness World Record™ for fifth consecutive year
* "Largest natural healthy RTD (latest annual sales) green tea beverage" Sales Results (January to December 2022)