Vankoji Foods Ltd.

Vankoji Founder, Tonami, began selling Shiokoji in 2013 at the Nikeii Japanese culture center in Burnaby. She discovered Shio-koji while making her own koji for home made miso-paste. Shio-koji was lost to the Japanese culture for almost a century. It was once a common pantry item and used in every day cooking. It disappeared from Japanese cooking  in the early parts of the 20th century, around the same time that MSG was making a rise. It was rediscovered in Japan in 2007 and today is once again a staple in the Japanese pantry. 
After reading about Shio-koji’s popularity back in her homeland, Tonami decided to introduce it to the local Japanese market.  Since it's start in 2013, Vankoji has introduced this ingredient to 1000s of people and Vankoji has grown into a small batch producer whose products can be found in markets throughout the Vancouver area and used by customers of all nationalities in their every day cooking.