American Takii opens a new, modern and highly sophisticated facility on the outskirts of Salinas, California that gives the international seed company greatly enhanced seed processing operations.
American Takii is a key subsidiary of Takii & Company, which has been owned and operated by the same Japanese family for 180 years and has its headquarters in Kyoto, Japan.
The grand opening was was held Oct. 14. It included a welcoming by Steve Wiley, general manager and chief operating officer of American Takii, and by Denichi Takii, president of Takii & Company. He was one of several company officials who came from Japan for the special day.
“Takii’s management has a global strategic vision to create better efficiencies for distribution as we move forward into the future,” Wiley said. “We are currently shipping seed produced in the Americas to Japan for processing, only to be re-shipped to the Americas. We will now realize a faster turnaround, less handling and a reduced carbon footprint.”
Among the approximately 200 people on hand for the festive day, which included a lively presentation of traditional Japanese Taiko music by San Jose Taiko, were representatives from a wide variety of agricultural businesses, including seed companies.
The new structure, at 301 Natividad Road, includes a 22,500 square-foot warehouse, an additional 7,000 square feet featuring a conference room and a workers’ lunchroom and another 5,000 square feet that can be used for additional logistics and customer service.
