How a Holiday Tradition Traveled Further

A founder continuing what came before

Justin Gill did not begin with a newly invented formula. The founder and CEO of Bachan's received the Bachan's Japanese Barbecue Sauce recipe that his family had handed onward for generations, and the name honors its starting point: Bachan means grandma.

Justin Gill with his Bachan, Judy Yokoyama

For Justin Gill, Bachan was Judy Yokoyama. Judy Yokoyama's recorded journey starts with her 1936 birth in Sebastopol, CA and includes a two-year displacement in a Japanese internment camp. Judy also shared the Japanese barbecue sauce recipe with Justin and his parents.

Judy Yokoyama packing bottles of the family sauce

Justin did not have to travel far to learn from Judy; his Bachan lived on the property, and meals with her and his grandfather were common. Food became the vehicle through which she carried Japanese-American culture and family traditions to him.

A Bachan's family cooking memory

Before the sauce reached store shelves, Justin encountered its audience while working for the family's landscape company as a child. Holiday production meant a generous batch and rounds with his father to deliver bottles to customers.

The Bachan's family making sauce together

Tradition takes the shape of Bold, Fresh, Umami Flavor™

A shared dish offers more than nostalgia in the Bachan's view. It gives one generation a way to demonstrate its traditions and another a chance to receive, practice and remember them.

Justin Gill, Judy Yokoyama, and the Bachan's family

Our Ingredients Matter®

Ingredient quality is tied directly to Justin's family formula at Bachan's. Its sauces pair high-quality, non-GMO inputs with a cold-fill production approach that removes any requirement for preservatives, additives or flavorings.

Japanese Barbecue Sauces

Green onion, ginger, and garlic
Green Onion, Ginger and Garlic
The green onion, organic garlic and ginger make up this fragrant layer.
Traditionally brewed soy sauce
Non-GMO Traditionally Brewed Soy Sauce
Bachan's premium non-GMO soy sauce comes from a brewing tradition practiced for hundreds of years.
Aged Japanese mirin
Aged Japanese Mirin
Bachan's sources real mirin in Japan through family businesses whose craft has passed down for generations.
Organic rice vinegar
Organic Rice Vinegar
US organic rice forms the base of the organic rice vinegar; traditional brewing and a month of aging complete the rice vinegar.

Japanese Dipping Sauces

Stone-ground sesame
Stone Ground Sesame
For its creamy, substantial texture, the dipping sauce relies on stone-ground roasted sesame known as Neri Goma.
Crushed sesame seeds
Crushed Sesame Seeds
Suri Goma supplies true crushed sesame to deepen the sauce with an additional sesame layer.
White miso
White Miso
The white miso, created from soybeans and fermented rice, rounds the sauce with gentle sweetness and savory depth.
Ginger
Ginger
Brightness and a lively zest arrive through the use of real ginger.