The couple had been serving up their own sauces for almost as long as they ran Kiri, with many regulars taking a bottle or jar home with them.
“We used to sell the sauces in a takeaway section, but we didn’t produce much and our customers kept asking us to make more,” Noriko says.
And they kept asking when the couple decided to call time after 15 years in the business.
“It was very long hours and it was getting very hard finding staff after Covid,” Noriko says. “Our kids got older and we thought ‘maybe we can stop now’. It was quite good timing.”
It also turned out to be good timing for their growing band of sauce lovers. Although the couple went to work for other people, they were often asked to cater for special occasions, or to create sushi platters for former Kiri customers. And the requests for the sauces kept coming.
“We started thinking maybe we can do the sauces and the catering together, that was the beginning of KOKO Catering,” Noriko says.
They already knew people loved the taste of their sauces: “There is no bad stuff, no MSG, it’s clean and full of flavour,” Noriko says proudly. They just needed to get the range – a teriyaki sauce, ponzu dipping sauce, miso paste, and a salad dressing – out to more people. So they started taking them to Subi Farmers Market, as well as Perth City Farm.
Inspired by her daughter, Noriko also sent out emails to bakeries. “She loves to put miso paste on bread with avocado; she loved that for her breakfast,” she says. “I thought I could ask bakeries if they’d like to keep some miso sauce or teriyaki sauce on their shelves so others can try it with bread.”
KOKO sauces can now be found in a handful of outlets, including Miller + Baker in Northbridge, Kirkwood Deli in Swanbourne, and the vegan W.H.I.P Patisserie in Inglewood.
Growing the business
But like all good business owners, Noriko and Taka are keen to get their sauces into more places. At Subi Farmers Market, another customer suggested they take a stall at Meet the Buyer™.
The annual trade show, run by Buy West Eat Best, is WA’s biggest showcase of local food and beverage businesses. Noriko hopes it will put KOKO Catering in front of the right people and help increase their production.
“We are very small but if we become bigger, that’s nice. At the moment, we have to rent a commercial kitchen,” she says. “But if we need to make more, we can have a factory and Taka can have his own kitchen – that will make him happy!”
Taka, who comes from Niigata, has more than 30 years as a chef under his belt. He trained at a kaiseki restaurant (known for a series of small, intricate dishes similar to a degustation) in Kyoto before the couple came to Australia with their two small children 23 years ago.
Kyoto-raised Noriko has seen Australian palates evolve, along with local interest in Japanese cuisine, over that time.
“Teriyaki sauce is our most popular because it is easy to use and goes with any protein or just on top of white rice and add some chopped avocado,” she says.
“But not many people knew about ponzu 20 years ago; now lots of people know about it because they go to Japan and have ponzu with dumplings or hotpot.”
Or you can pick up some authentic KOKO sauces from the farmers market or your nearest stockist to take home. Having done the shelf test, Noriko says they will last a year – if you can resist them for that long.
Meet the Buyer™ is at Crown Perth on Tuesday 21 October 2025. The exhibition floor is sold out, but chefs (and other buyers) still have time to snap up tickets to see what’s on offer.
Please note: Meet the Buyer™ is a trade and industry event only, but you can show your support by looking out for local produce like KOKO wherever you shop.