The Wasabi Company

We are watercress growers and watercress has been grown on our Dorset and Hampshire farms since the 1850s.

It was watercress that led us to wasabi. A chef visiting one of our watercress farms in May 2010 remarked how the only other crop he had seen growing in similar conditions was wasabi in Japan. That was enough to plant a seed in our minds and we began looking at what it might take to grow wasabi in the UK. We discovered a lot of similarities between the conditions required for watercress and wasabi. We also discovered plenty of warnings that wasabi was a difficult crop to grow and that it had never been successfully cultivated in Europe.

The gauntlet duly laid down we began growing wasabi in some previously abandoned watercress beds and after a good deal of trial and error we brought our first wasabi crop to maturity two years later. It has been a steep learning curve and we are still given plenty of surprises by our wasabi crops. Each year we see something different and any mistakes take a long time to put right with a two year growth curve. Harvesting a fully mature plant is always an event as it is only when you pull the whole plant you can see what you have yielded.

Wild wasabi growing alongside streams in the Japanese mountains takes advantage of nutrient rich water, with a high, dissolved oxygen content. It is accustomed to mild temperatures and summer shade provided by the leaves of large trees growing alongside the banks of the streams. It is these conditions that we recreate in our growing system using traditional Japanese cultivation techniques. Our wasabi takes advantage of naturally abundant spring water rich in minerals and nutrients, which bubbles to the surface from artesian springs at the top of our beds.

Optimum conditions for growth require the right balance of sun, shade and water flow at different times of the year; careful control of these allows us to keep our wasabi free from the use of pesticides and growing in the best possible environment.

Wasabi grown this way in flowing water is called Sawa wasabi and is considered to be the best quality in terms of both flavour and nutritional content.

Oka wasabi is the name used to refer to the plant when it is grown in soil; this is considered to be a product of lesser quality and is more commonly used for processing as opposed to fresh consumption. Soil grown wasabi is also more prone to diseaseOptimum conditions for growth require the right balance of sun, shade and water flow at different times of the year; careful control of these allows us to keep our wasabi free from the use of pesticides and growing in the best possible environment.

Wasabi grown this way in flowing water is called Sawa wasabi and is considered to be the best quality in terms of both flavour and nutritional content.

Oka wasabi is the name used to refer to the plant when it is grown in soil; this is considered to be a product of lesser quality and is more commonly used for processing as opposed to fresh consumption. Soil grown wasabi is also more prone to disease

Now the only successful growers of wasabi in the UK, The Wasabi Company offer fresh wasabi grown on their Dorset farm and an original range of their very own condiments and sauces. Inspired by top chefs using their wasabi in many wonderful ways they created their own range of condiments and sauces.

Leading the pack with the only mayonnaise and mustard in the world made with freshly grated wasabi, we are thrilled to have won 21 Gold Stars across 11 products we entered in the Great Taste awards 2019, 2020 and 2021

The whole range is made with 100% natural ingredients and packed with original flavours bursting with aroma, pungency, citrus and above all umami.

We currently only ship to the UK but of you are based in Europe and are interested in our products, you can find them in the Dutch Wasabi Ankorstore shop.