History History of Nishiyama Seimen
History of Nishiyama Seimen and Sapporo Ramen
Everything started with a food stall.
A cartoon review of ... the history of Nishiyama Seimen and Sapporo ramen
Corporate history of Nishiyama Seimen Co., Ltd.
| Apr.1950 | Takayuki Nishiyama (the founding president of Nishiyama Seimen Co., Ltd.) took charge of Darumaken noodle manufacturing. |
|---|---|
| Apr.1951 | Besides household use, the commercial use division started to respond to the requests from other ramen restaurants. |
| Aug.1953 | Began operations at Nishiyama Seimensho (today known as Nishiyama Seimen Co., Ltd.) in Minami 3-jo Nishi 8-chome area of Sapporo. |
| Jan.1955 | Nishiyama Seimen developed fresh curly yellow noodles with a stretchy and firm texture. They were made with added raw egg using a manufacturing technique for mature noodles with high water absorbency. |
| Aug.1961 | Completed its second factory in Sapporo’s Minami 3-jo Nishi 8-chome area. |
| Dec.1963 | Established Nishiyama Seimen Co., Ltd. |
| Jan.1965 | Shipping of fresh Nishiyama ramen noodles to commercial markets in Japan main island Honshu region began. |
| Oct.1965 | Start selling products at Hokkaido Food Fair in Honshu region. |
| Aug.1968 | Completed its third factory in the Minami 13-jo Nishi 10-chome area of Sapporo, the main office is moved to the same location. |
| Oct.1970 | Shipping of fresh Nishiyama ramen noodles to retail stores began. |
| Oct.1973 | Manufacturing boiled noodles, fried noodles, cooked noodles, frozen gyoza Dumplings began. |
| Apr.1974 | Nishiyama Seimen Co., Ltd. is authorized as a designated factory for school lunch in Sapporo. |
| Apr.1975 | Shipping of Nishiyama ramen noodles to overseas markets began. |
| Jan.1980 | Relocated to the 16-chome, Heiwa-dori, Shiroishi-ku area of Sapporo city city and completed its fourth factory. The factory owns Japan noodle industry’s first flour storage tanks. Completely automatic hygienic factory operated by flow jet mixing system. |
| Oct.1983 | Set up non-store retailing division. Started on-line shopping and developed gift package. |
| Apr.1984 | Introduced industry’s first robot to help noodle making process. |
| Apr.1985 | Enhanced research division. |
| Nov.1986 | Built fifth factory next to fourth factory. |
| Apr.1987 | Appeared in social study textbook of 3rd grade at elementary schools in Sapporo ”Our Sapporo /Job at Ramen factory”. Picked up as study material for workshop class. (still continuing) |
| June.1987 | Set up Kanto Sales Office. |
| Aug.1987 | Start of making dried noodles. |
| Apr.1989 | Commended by the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of Japan. (Postal service category) |
| Jul.1990 | Opening of Kansai Sales Office |
| Aug.1990 | Built sixth factory next to fifth factory. |
| Oct.1990 | Start of making frozen noodles. |
| Oct.1990 | Broadcasting of FM radio program "Nishiyama Gourmet Talk" starts (Air-G) |
| Oct.1996 | Certificate from Minister of Health and Welfare (food hygiene improvement) |
| Dec.1999 | Set up a website. Started selling products over the internet. |
| Oct.2002 | Built a picking room in main office for more efficient distribution. |
| May.2006 | Established “Nishiyama Shokuhin Co., Ltd.” to chashu roasted pork |
| Apr.2007 | Letter of Gratitude from Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications (Postal Business Division) |
| Apr.2013 | To commemorate the 60th anniversary of Sapporo city foundation donated 2,000 lilac seeds to city schools and community center. |
| Sep.2013 | Letter of appreciation from Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare (food hygiene improvement) |
| Oct.2013 | Establishment of ”SAPPORO NISHIYAMA EUROPE GmbH” in Düsseldorf, Germany to strengthen the sales activity in Europe. |
| Mar.2014 | Sapporo City Letter of Appreciation (School Education). |
| July.2014 | Nishiyama non-alcohol non egg ramen noodles receive the Halal certificate by Food Control Department of Dubai Municipality (first of Japanese ramen） |
| Oct.2014 | SAPPORO NISHIYAMA USA INC. (Holding) established in Washington DC, USA for business expansion within the United States |
| Jan.2015 | HACCP team launched in collaboration with HACCP Hokkaido |
| Mar.2015 | Letter of appreciation from the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises) |
| Mar.2016 | Frozen noodles certified by HACCP |
| Apr.2016 | NISHIYAMA RAMEN USA INC. established in New York, USA to strengthen ramen sales in the United States |
| Oct.2016 | Doughs certified by HACCP |
| Jan.2017 | PCQI obtained from U.S. FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) |
| Mar.2017 | Frozen dumplings certified by HACCP |
| May.2017 | Passed the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) investigation |
| May.2017 | School lunch noodles certified by HACCP |
| Oct.2018 | Nishiyama Foods (meat processing sector) certified by HACCP |
| Mar.2019 | FSSC 22000 acquired by raw noodles from Nishiyama Seimen's No. 1 factory |
| Feb.2020 | In February 2020, Nishiyama Seimen's second factory, frozen noodle production room, and dumpling wrapper production room acquired FSSC22000 certification, an international standard for food safety management systems. |
| Nov.2021 | Affiliated company Nishiyama Shokuhin Co.,Ltd. (Meat Processing Division) acquired JFS-B certification. |
| Jan.2022 | Expansion of the 7th factory on the adjoining site of the 6th factory |
Greetings from the President
Company introduction
Corporate history