MOCHI-MAKING EMPIRE PRODUCES PROFITS AND DELIGHT

Kaori Becker

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Updated: November 19th, 2023

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Kaori Becker, a Japanese-American woman from Bay Area, California, is the owner and founder of Kaori’s Kitchen.

Kaori runs this business with her mother, Yuki, and both are passionate about bringing forth Japanese culture & culinary experience to the forefront.

The founder studied to be an English teacher, but while in college, she started teaching her ramen skills which she acquired from her mother and grandmother, the owner of a ramen shop in Japan. Her love for Asian cuisine & her passion for teaching later inspired her to start her own business.

Kaori’s Kitchen started with Kaori and her mother giving mochi-making classes to the local people in the Bay Area. She later pivoted this business to sell mochi donuts in Columbus, Ohio, where she currently resides.

Before the pandemic, the founder used to offer physical classes for her mochi-making sessions. During the pandemic, she shifted the courses online, which resulted in a growth in the number of students.

She used the Verlocal platform to get the word out about her cooking classes, and in less than two months, her weekend classes were full.

Primarily, Kaori used to charge $35 per person for her mochi tutorial classes but later, word-of-mouth marketing, more than 200 positive reviews on Verlocal and her growing reputation allowed her to increase her rate to $75 per person.

Their classes are booked through Airbnb Experiences, Kari’s website, and Verlocal. Plus, they sell mochi donuts from their Ohio store and visit the local farmers market two to three times a month, where they sell around 350 donuts a day.

Currently, the company generates about $90,000 in revenue annually, of which $24,000 comes from Airbnb Experiences, making it a significant partner.