Kikkoman Foods, the U.S. subsidiary of Japanese soy sauce maker Kikkoman Corporation, recently celebrated the grand opening of its new production facility in Jefferson, Wisconsin.
Based in Walworth, Wisconsin, Kikkoman Foods (KFI) broke ground on the project in April 2024. The production plant is the company's third in the U.S., and shipments from the facility are expected to begin soon.
On Friday, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers joined Kikkoman Chairman and honorary CEO Yuzaburo Mogi, along with local leaders and stakeholders, to celebrate the grand opening.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers joins Yuzaburo Mogi, Kikkoman chairman and honorary CEO, and Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Shigeo Yamada.Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC)
The Jefferson facility represents an investment of some $560 million over 10 years. With the addition of this new manufacturing plant, and alongside the company’s Walworth facilities, KFI is investing more than $800 million to create more than 80 jobs in Southeastern Wisconsin.
Soy sauce brewing operations started in May 2026; shipments are scheduled to start in October.
Since 1973, Kikkoman has also operated out of its U.S. headquarters in Walworth, Wisconsin. The company also has a plant in Folsom, California, which has been open since 1998. The Jefferson facility will be Kikkoman Group's ninth soy sauce production base outside Japan.
Kikkoman says its North American soy sauce business has continued to grow, with shipments increasing steadily. The Jefferson plant will help meet growing soy sauce demand while producing a range of products.
The WEDC has committed up to $15.5 million in performance-based tax credits to fuel job creation and capital investment benchmarks. The amount of credits the company receives is contingent on the amount of capital invested and the number of jobs created. KFI is also working with regional workforce development and technical education partners to support hiring and training for advanced food manufacturing careers.
The new facility will produce a range of Kikkoman products, including soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and non-soy sauce-related seasonings for retail, foodservice and food manufacturing customers. The 240,000-square-foot building is a state-of-the-art facility with a flexible manufacturing layout capable of handling multiple products, viscosities and packaging formats, including glass, BPA-free plastic, industrial and bulk sizing.
The facility also incorporates advanced digital manufacturing tools that enable paperless operations, real-time data visualization and enhanced traceability. These measures support KFI’s goal of reducing CO2 emissions by more than 50 percent, reducing water consumption per unit by more than 30 percent and achieving a 100 percent recycling rate by 2030.
