Sushi fusion: Uniting brands, elevating taste, powering digital growth.
Taiko Foods, founded in 1997 in West London, has grown to become the largest sushi factory outside Japan. As a leading manufacturer of Japanese and Oriental food products, Taiko now supplies major UK supermarkets and retailers under various brands including Lidl, Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, ASDA, Co-Op, and David Lloyd.
The challenge
Taiko Foods had struggled with the necessary content agility from two outdated traditional monolithic CMS WordPress websites for Taiko and Mai Taiko (Kiosks). Both were difficult to now manage, offered limited tools for control and operationally had experienced outages with constant plugin updates leading to a disjointed user experience. The overall brand aesthetic had become outdated, and the solution failed to effectively showcase their evolving core B2B offering and diverse product range.
Objectives & solutions
The primary objective was set to consolidate the two existing sites into a single, centralised solution built on a modern content management platform with the aim to streamline operations and improve content agility.
To achieve this, Ridgeway leveraged the Xperience by Kentico platform, which had recently been utilised for the launch of their group company, Wonderfield. The platform now provided a modern and performant framework, allowing for a centralised solution with the reuse and customisation of shared widgets and product-focused components. It also offered familiarity and consistency in content management for the marketing team and was able to:
- Enhance Taiko Foods' online presence and effectively communicate its position as a market leader in sushi and other food products.
- Implement a fresh look and feel that aligns with new brand guidelines.
- Increase awareness of Taiko Foods to both B2B and B2C audiences, highlighting its expertise in sushi and its broad product range.
- Showcase the size and scale of the business as a large B2B brand supplying various products to B2C brands like Glo, YO! Raku, and Taiko.
Target audience
The UX, and key user journeys were recalibrated, and the redesign focused in on two main audience segment pathways:
- Primary (B2B): Positioning Taiko Foods as a key partner in the industry, appealing to new retail brands and extending to other sectors such as airlines and food services.
- Secondary (B2C): Providing consumers with an understanding of the company, its brands, product range, and where to purchase them.
Results & impact
The new solution has successfully addressed the initial challenges and met the set objectives. They include:
- Improvement and ease of core content management - The consolidated website on the Xperience by Kentico platform simplified content management and reduced maintenance overhead.
- Enhanced brand representation - The redesign showcases Taiko as a market leader in sushi and other food products, highlighting its diverse product range and multiple brands.
- Streamlined user experience - The new website provides a more cohesive user journey for both B2B and B2C visitors, effectively communicating Taiko's offerings and partnerships.
- Increased B2B focus - The redesign emphasises Taiko’s position as a key B2B partner in the food industry, showcasing its capabilities to potential clients in retail and other sectors.
- Broader product visibility - The solution now effectively highlights Taiko's extensive product range beyond sushi, including salads and other food-to-go items.
The adaptive and flexibility of the Xperience by Kentico platform has firmly positioned the company for continued growth and success in the competitive food manufacturing industry. Their new online presence accurately reflects their status as a leading supplier of high-quality Japanese and Oriental food products to major UK retailers and food service companies.