Sensei junki yoshida biography

The founder of Yoshida’s Original Gourmet sauce talks about how he started the company and why he bought it back from Heinz.

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I was originally a karate instructor.

I was coming in to teach at the MAC Club, at Portland State and PCC, and also I was a head instructor for defense tactics for the Oregon police academy. It was a great job.

Sensei junki yoshida biography

There’s only one job in the world where you get to beat up a cop every day and they pay you to do this — awesome job. 

In 1982 there was a severe recession in the United States. Oregon was the worst state. My teaching business decreased.

People gave me Christmas gifts, and you usually return something, right?

But in 1982, 1983, we were broke. So what should we do for returning Christmas gifts?

Yoshida sauce

My wife, Linda, said, “Why don’t you make your mother’s secret steak sauce? Make that and give it away.” 

We give it away and people love it. After Christmas they come back and say, “Sensei, that sauce was awesome.” They say,