Companies

Starbucks Japan, Kirishima Shochu Brewery to Open Joint Store in 2026; Building in Miyazaki Pref. to be Powered by Shochu Dregs

Courtesy of Kirishima Shuzo Co.
Artist’s depiction of the completed joint Starbucks and Kirishima Shuzo store

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:01 JST, July 23, 2024

Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. and Miyazaki-based shochu brewery Kirishima Shuzo Co., known for its shochu “Kurokirishima,” will open their first joint store in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture, according to an announcement made Monday.

The building, which is slated to be constructed starting this autumn and to open in spring 2026, will include an area serving Starbucks coffee and a space selling Kirishima Shuzo products.

The one-story, 700-square-meter facility will be built on a 4,700-square-meter site adjacent to Kirishima Shuzo’s main factory and will include a botanical garden that can be enjoyed from inside the store through a glass window.

Starbucks sells alcoholic beverages at some of its stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area and elsewhere, but the new store will not offer them. The brewery will consider the product lineup going forward.

The relationship between the two companies began in 2017 when Starbucks employees visited Kirishima Shuzo as a part of their training, and they decided to work together, with “community” and “environment” as the themes of their efforts. The new store will be powered by renewable energy from the dregs of the shochu produced at the Kirishima Shuzo factory.