Sugimoto Tea

Project Description

Sugimoto is a Japanese company serving markets across the world. I studied how their teams work across cultures and create innovative processes to serve customers worldwide.

Problem

Sugimoto makes fine teas that are available in markets with varying understanding and willingness to pay for high quality tea. How can the company work across cultures and elevate a category that doesn’t yet have widespread appreciation?

Insights

Coffee and wine are examples of products that grew in cultural understanding and appreciation in the US, which didn’t have a strong history with either category.

Solutions

To create a new category for a high quality product that people are already familiar with, experimentation is extremely important. It’s vital to build a culture where employee curiosity is nurtured and their ideas can be fairly evaluated.