Japanese Sake Maker May Buy U.S. Firms to Set Sales Records

The new boss of Takara Holdings Inc., Japan’s biggest sake supplier to overseas markets, wants to make the rice-based alcohol as popular as wine.

Mutsumi Kimura, 55, who became the third-youngest president in Takara’s 93-year history in June, plans to expand the company’s network in the U.S., its biggest export market. That may include acquiring local distributors as an option, Kimura said in an interview. The firm is also targeting a 5 percent to 6 percent per year increase in output at its Berkeley sake plant, using locally-grown rice, he said.