A Family Recipe With a Long Memory

A name drawn from family

The word behind Bachan's is a family title: Bachan means grandma. The founder and CEO, Justin Gill, built the brand around Bachan's Japanese Barbecue Sauce, following a recipe his family kept for generations.

Justin Gill with his Bachan, Judy Yokoyama

Justin Gill's Bachan was Judy Yokoyama. Judy Yokoyama was born in Sebastopol, CA in 1936 and later endured a two-year displacement in a Japanese internment camp. In another chapter, Judy taught the family's Japanese barbecue sauce recipe to Justin and his parents.

Judy Yokoyama packing bottles of the family sauce

Judy lived on the same property as Justin, so time with his Bachan and grandfather often happened over food. Cooking together turned Japanese-American culture and the family's traditions into things Justin could learn by doing, tasting and sharing.

A Bachan's family cooking memory

Justin also spent his younger years helping in the family's landscaping company. Every holiday season, the family prepared sauce in a large batch; Justin then accompanied his father as they brought bottles to landscaping customers.

The Bachan's family making sauce together

Family memory served with Bold, Fresh, Umami Flavor™

Within the Bachan's story, food is a usable form of remembrance. A recipe can be prepared again, served again and discussed again, letting family traditions and memories remain in contact with new generations.

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

Our Ingredients Matter®

Bachan's uses Justin's original family recipe as its guide when choosing high-quality, non-GMO ingredients. The sauces are produced with a cold-fill method, so the process does not call for added preservatives, additives or flavorings.

Japanese Barbecue Sauces

Green onion, ginger, and garlic
Green Onion, Ginger and Garlic
The organic garlic joins ginger and green onion as the sauce's aromatic base.
Traditionally brewed soy sauce
Non-GMO Traditionally Brewed Soy Sauce
Bachan's premium non-GMO soy sauce is traditionally brewed by a method used for hundreds of years.
Aged Japanese mirin
Aged Japanese Mirin
Bachan's real, high-quality mirin comes from family-owned makers who have produced it in Japan for generations.
Organic rice vinegar
Organic Rice Vinegar
The organic rice vinegar uses selected organic rice grown in the US; the rice vinegar is traditionally brewed and aged for a month.

Japanese Dipping Sauces

Stone-ground sesame
Stone Ground Sesame
Neri Goma is stone-ground roasted sesame that gives the dipping sauce a creamy richness and thicker body.
Crushed sesame seeds
Crushed Sesame Seeds
Suri Goma contributes real crushed sesame, adding a second sesame expression and another flavor layer.
White miso
White Miso
The white miso made from fermented rice and soybeans supplies gentle sweetness, savoriness and umami.
Ginger
Ginger
The real ginger is responsible for the sauce's bright, lively zest.