Wakunaga of America, Co., Ltd., is a privately held, family-owned company dedicated to offering high-quality dietary supplements. Promoting the concept of natural therapy for individual health to the public worldwide, we seek to encourage and enable health-conscious individuals to take control of their own well-being and live their best life."We believe that helping people live healthier lives starts with commitment, knowledge and passion. The Natural Products Industry, with which we are proudly affiliated, embraces these attributes."
Wakunaga supplements were conceived in Japan during the post-World War II era by Manji Wakunaga, a banker with a unique insight and the desire to help enhance the health of his countrymen. In 1954, Mr. Wakunaga met Dr. Eugene Schnell, a German physician and former professor at Berlin University, who had immigrated to Japan in the 1930s. Dr. Schnell proposed the use of garlic to ward off infection and promote health. This ignited the imagination of Mr. Wakunaga, and the men joined forces to develop and market natural garlic-based products designed to help the Japanese people regain their physical strength and protect against post-war ailments.
In 1955, Mr. Wakunaga founded Wakunaga Pharmaceutical Company in Osaka, Japan. Soon after, Dr. Schnell developed a unique process for aging garlic that not only eliminated the herb’s strong odor, but also enhanced the compounds responsible for garlic’s health benefits. The result: a safe, highly effective Aged Garlic Extract supplement that gained wide popularity throughout Japan.
Fast forward to 1972. Mr. Wakunaga, together with his son Gisuke Wakunaga, established Wakunaga of America to bring Aged Garlic Extract’s benefits to the U.S.. Aged Garlic Extract supplements were marketed to American consumers under the brand name Kyolic®. The brand name combines the Japanese word “Kyo,” meaning strong or powerful, with garlic: Kyolic = Powerful Garlic. Since then, Wakunaga of America has become a global force in the natural products market, creating a growing number of formulas based on Kyolic® Aged Garlic Extract™, as well as additional products designed to benefit specific health needs. Two of these lines—Kyo-Dophilus® and Kyo-Green®—have become legacy brands with over 30 years of distribution.
The third generation of the Wakunaga family is closely involved in every aspect of the company today. President and CEO, Mr. Kazuhiko Nomura directs day-to-day operations and oversees our dedicated and talented staff, whom we consider a part of the Wakunaga family.
Company Highlights
Wakunaga of America is committed to offering beneficial, clinically researched supplements to health-conscious people throughout the world. We also provide educational support to consumers as well as our retail partners. We are dedicated to continuing Manji Wakunaga’s vision of safe and efficacious supplements that are truthfully marketed and supported by science. These are our enduring values.Wakunaga’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is located in Southern California. All of our products are produced according to the Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) established by the World Health Organization and Food and Drug Administration. In addition, our facilities maintain the following credentials: GMP Certified by NSF, ISO 9001:2015 by Intertek, Australian GMP License certified by the TGA, and EU Drug GMP License certified by RPT. These certifications recognize our compliance to U.S. and international quality standards and demonstrates our commitment to the Quality Management System with a focus on customers and consumers.
Wakunaga’s quality control standards are also designed to support the environment. We firmly believe that it is our responsibility to help protect the natural environment at large and in our local community. Not only is our garlic organically grown, we also use sustainable farming techniques, including crop rotation, to minimize soil degradation and foster healthier soil. Our packaging relies on recyclable plastic or glass bottles, and our labels and boxes are printed using soy-based inks. We take these extra measures because here at Wakunaga of America, we believe that to truly support a healthy body, it’s critical to also support a healthy planet.
Leadership Focus
We maintain an open-door policy in our organization and regard our business partners and team members as our “family.” We value inputs from all members and encourage proactive thinking and new approaches to our business so that we can continue to produce the best products possible. We keep our focus on the tenets of our founder, Manji Wakunaga: to be honest and truthful in our messaging, offering products that are rooted in science, and persevere to help the people of the world attain and maintain better health. We seek to instill these practices and ethos with all family members so that we can continue our mission for the next 50 years.
Company Differentiators
Since its inception in 1972, Wakunaga of America has embraced the belief that only high-quality, scientifically backed products should be presented to the marketplace. Our Aged Garlic Extract has been the subject of more than 900 scientific papers, including many peer-reviewed double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials, considered to be the “gold standard” among the scientific community.Wakunaga carries this pledge to credible research and the use of scientific evidence through to all of our products. As a result of this dedication to science and commitment to quality, consumers can be assured that the supplements we make are thoroughly vetted for safety and efficacy. It’s this unwavering commitment that forms a key cornerstone of Wakunaga’s pledge to excellence.
Recent Developments
Wakunaga of America recently launched a fresh new look for its flagship Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract (AGE) product line to meet the needs of today’s consumers. The new packaging design features a more modern look and clearly communicates each formula’s unique characteristics and benefits at a glance.Wakunaga of America also introduced a vegan-friendly version of its AGE supplement. Kyolic AGE Cardiovascular, Vegan Formula 300 contains our proprietary Aged Garlic Extract without the inclusion of non-vegan additives like whey or animal-sourced magnesium stearate.
As we continue to grow as a company in 2022 and beyond, Wakunaga of America is proud to celebrate its 50thanniversary. This is quite an accomplishment for a company to survive—let alone thrive—for half a century in the competitive natural products industry. Although the company has experienced tremendous growth over the past 50 years, we have continued to create our uniquely beneficial Aged Garlic Extract using the same traditional aging process developed more than a half a century ago. But it’s Wakunaga’s family of employees who should truly be credited with the company’s success. Their dedication and talents, along with their commitment to helping people achieve better health, have enabled Wakunaga to thrive. We look forward to the next 50 years of empowering consumers to attain and maintain good health with our quality, science-backed supplements.
Breakthroughs
Wakunaga has been making significant, yet subtle changes to its formulations in recent years, in response to consumer wants. Our first ever Kyolic capsule produced without magnesium stearate is launching this year: Kyolic Cardiovascular Formula 300 Vegan. Future product innovations will look to leverage that same approach, where “less is more.” We are in the process of removing caramel coloring from those products that have historically contained it, because consumers are asking for those changes. We have also moved towards greater sustainability in our packaging, to have a more responsible environmental footprint.We remain committed to on-going scientific research to confirm product safety and to learn more about how our products can benefit the health of our customers. Adherence to strict quality control and manufacturing processes will ensure that our products are safe and that what we claim on our labels is what is in each package we put into the marketplace. We will do this with an eye on continuing to be good stewards to our community and the environment.
