Japanese seasonings are bought by two very different customers: households, through supermarkets and Japanese food shops, and restaurants, through food-service wholesalers. The same soy sauce or dashi can come in a small retail bottle or a large business-use container, with a different label, a different set of documents and different shipping risks. An importer that orders without separating the two ends up with the wrong pack for the channel, or with a business-use product whose label does not carry everything the import filing needs.
This guide sets out what to decide first, how liquids and glass travel, which ingredients need a check, and what the import side will ask for.
💬 Sourcing Japanese seasonings and sauces for retail or restaurants? Sunsho Trade buys everyday Japanese food in Japan and exports it in mixed shipments. Send us your list.
Decide business-use or retail packs first
Choose between business-use and retail packs by channel before choosing products, because the pack decides the label content, the documents and the freight.
Restaurants want large containers that are cheap per litre and quick to use: big soy sauce containers, bag-in-box sauces, bulk miso, powdered or concentrated dashi. Retail shelves want small bottles and pouches with a consumer label. Many Japanese makers produce both, under different product codes.
| Point | Business-use pack | Retail pack |
|---|---|---|
| Typical buyer | Restaurants, caterers, food factories | Supermarkets, Japanese food shops, online sellers |
| Pack | Large containers, bag-in-box, bulk bags | Bottles, pouches, small jars and boxes |
| Label in Japan | Some required information may sit on the invoice or specification sheet instead of the pack | Full consumer label on the pack |
| Freight | Dense, efficient per litre | More packaging per litre; glass adds weight and risk |
| What to check | That a specification sheet covers every item the import filing needs | That the label information is complete and legible for translation |
The label point matters. Japan’s Food Labelling Standards set out the items that business-use processed foods must show, and allow some of them to be given on the invoice, delivery note or specification sheet rather than on the container itself (Articles 10 and 13). For a business-use pack, ask for the maker’s specification sheet as well as the label, or the importer may find the ingredient list is not on the container.
Pack liquids and glass for a long, hot journey
Treat every bottle and liquid container as a leak risk, and agree inner packing and position in the load before the goods are bought.
Soy sauce, sauces, vinegars, dressings and liquid concentrates are the heaviest and most damage-prone lines in a mixed Japanese food shipment. A single broken bottle can stain a pallet of snacks.
- Glass bottles. Ask whether the outer carton has dividers, and whether the product is also available in plastic for your channel.
- Large containers. Check cap seals and whether the container is designed to be stacked.
- Position in the load. Liquids at the bottom, separated from paper-packed dry goods; never above noodles or snacks.
- Temperature. Read the storage method on the label. Some products, such as certain miso, dressings or fresh-type sauces, ask to be kept cool, and some must be refrigerated after opening. Japan’s Food Labelling Standards require the storage method on packaged processed foods (Article 3(1)), so the label is the first place to look.
- Swelling and fermentation. Ask the supplier whether a product, especially a live or unpasteurised fermented one, is suitable for a long ambient transit in your climate.
Products that need chilling should go in a refrigerated container or a separate shipment, not in a dry mixed load.
Check ingredients of animal origin and alcohol
Read the ingredient list for fish, shellfish and meat extracts, and for alcohol, because these are where some importing countries add a check.
Many Japanese seasonings carry animal-derived ingredients that are not obvious from the product type. Dashi and dashi-based sauces often use dried bonito or other fish, and sometimes kelp only. Noodle soup bases may combine fish and soy. Curry roux, stew roux and some soup bases may contain beef, pork or chicken extract, or animal fats. Some cooking seasonings contain alcohol.
Some importing countries ask for more on these: a permit or a veterinary or health certificate for animal-derived content, or separate rules for products containing alcohol. They differ by country, by ingredient and by product, and they change. The importer confirms the current rule in its country before ordering.
From the Japanese side, the Animal Quarantine Service notes that the importing country’s acceptance conditions can vary with the animal species, the content of meat-derived material and the degree of processing, and advises confirming them with the importing government for each export. Where an importing government requires a Japanese inspection certificate, Japan’s animal quarantine offices carry out export inspection. If your authority asks for such a certificate, tell us before ordering so we can check whether it can be issued for that product.
For halal or vegetarian buyers, the same ingredient list is the starting point. A Japanese product carries a halal or other certification only if the maker obtained it; check what your buyers or your country require.
💬 Need the animal-derived ingredients and alcohol content of each seasoning listed before you file? Ask us to collect them from the Japanese side.
Supply restaurants with a stable, repeatable range
For restaurant customers, fix a core list of products that can be reordered and keep the specification the same from shipment to shipment.
A Japanese restaurant abroad builds its recipes around particular seasonings. If a sauce changes, the dish changes. That makes repeatability more important than variety for the food-service channel.
How importers usually set this up:
- Agree the core list with the restaurants you supply: the soy sauce, miso, dashi, vinegar, mirin-type seasoning, sauces and curry base they use every week.
- Record the exact product for each line: Japanese name, pack size and the maker’s product code, so a reorder buys the same item.
- Track the specification sheet version. If the maker changes the recipe or the ingredient list, the importer may need to update its notification and label. Ask the supplier to flag changes.
- Order on a rhythm that keeps stock without running dates down. Large business-use packs are used fast in a busy kitchen; retail packs sit on shelves longer.
Agree shelf life and collect the import information
Agree a minimum remaining shelf life on arrival and collect a complete ingredient and specification set for each line before shipment.
Most bottled and packaged seasonings carry a best-before date (shomi kigen). Japan’s Food Labelling Standards define it as the date until which the expected qualities can be fully kept under the stated storage, adding that quality may still be kept after it (Article 2(1)(viii)). The use-by date (shohi kigen) is for foods that deteriorate quickly and marks the limit of safety (Article 2(1)(vii)). Where the period from manufacture to best-before is longer than three months, the date may be shown as year and month only (Article 3(1)); agree how such dates are counted.
The shelf life left on arrival is what remains after the Japanese supply chain, consolidation, transit and customs. Agree a minimum with that route in mind; we check each lot against it before packing. Some importing countries set their own rules on remaining shelf life or date format, which the importer confirms.
The import side, product notification or registration, the local label and inspection on arrival, is handled by the importer in the destination country. Sunsho Trade does not act as the importer or file those notifications. We collect from the Japanese side the information they depend on: the full ingredient list including additives, allergens, animal-derived ingredients by species, alcohol content where relevant, net content, storage method, manufacturer details, the HS code and the country of origin.
For Vietnam, see self-declaring an ordinary food import and the supplementary label checklist; for the Philippines, see importing Japanese food into the Philippines. Certificates of origin under Japan’s agreements with ASEAN, several ASEAN countries and RCEP are issued by the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry when the product meets the rules of origin; the export file is in export from Japan, documents and flow.
Building a mixed load with other categories? See Japanese snacks wholesale and Japanese instant noodles in bulk.
💬 Ready to price Japanese seasonings for your shops or restaurants? Send the products, the packs you want and your country. Request a quotation.
Frequently asked questions
1. Can you supply business-use packs for restaurants?
Yes, where the maker sells them. We confirm availability and ask for the specification sheet, because a business-use pack may not carry every label item on the container.
2. How do you stop bottles breaking in a mixed shipment?
By checking inner packing at receipt, loading liquids at the bottom away from dry goods, and asking about plastic alternatives for glass where your channel allows.
3. Do seasonings with fish or meat extract need extra documents?
In some countries they can. The rules differ by country and by ingredient, so your importer confirms the current rule with its authority. We supply the ingredient details and check whether any certificate it needs can be obtained.
4. Will the same product be available every time we reorder?
Everyday lines usually can be bought again. Recipes and packs do change, so we record the maker’s product code and ask suppliers to flag changes to the specification.
5. Do you handle the import procedures in our country?
No. The importer in your country handles notification, local labels and inspection. We prepare the product information, the export documents and the certificate of origin where an agreement applies.
Sources: Food Labelling Standards (Cabinet Office Ordinance No. 10 of 2015), Article 2(1)(vii) and (viii), the table in Article 3(1), Article 10 and Article 13(1)(ii), e-Gov law search; Animal Quarantine Service (MAFF), export inspection of animal products; Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, EPA certificate of origin issuing service. Checked on 24 October 2026.