Brand Profile · Japan · Est. 1966
Ito En
The company that invented bottled unsweetened green tea — now Japan's biggest tea brand.
The story
Ito En launched in 1966 and, in 1985, invented an entire category with Oi Ocha — the first bottled unsweetened green tea. That product alone reshaped Japan's beverage culture: where Japanese consumers had bought bottled sodas, they now bought bottled tea, unsweetened, with two ingredients.
Ito En sources from multiple tea regions across Japan (Shizuoka, Kagoshima, Mie) and operates its own green-tea factories. They pioneered nitrogen-flush packaging to preserve flavor without preservatives and are arguably the most influential tea company in the modern bottled-tea market.
Known for
- Oi Ocha green tea (category-defining)
- Mugicha barley tea
- Hojicha roasted green tea
- Matcha-green blend
- Oolong tea
