Kawaji’s Rich Woodall talks can art, Hatsune Miku success and future plans

Rich, can you give us some insight into the history of Kawaji? What was the spark that got you started?
A first career in logistics came to an end just before lockdown and a side project selling licensed merch developed, following a lockdown ‘pivot’. This turned into an opportunity to supply trendy-looking imported food and drinks into a UK retailer. While that endeavour did not last, I saw the potential of harnessing licences to create unique food and drink products that were also highly collectible. We discovered a technique to create ‘HD’ artwork on cans, so that’s where we saw the window of opportunity to start!

And the name ‘Kawaji’?
As we were inspired, and continue to be, by Japanese-related pop culture, we wanted a company name to pay homage to Japan, while also establishing us as a UK-based brand. When researching potential names, we were very aware that Japanese words often have several meanings, so we were very careful not to end up with anything inappropriate!

“Hatsune Miku is by far our bestseller but is also the least well-known – but her fans really are fanatical.”

Kawaji stems from Kawaii – Japanese for cute – and Kaiju, which is Japanese for monster, so Kawaji stands for ‘Cute Monster’. Hence we have one as a mascot, his name is Juji!

Your product portfolio is skewed to brands like Sonic the Hedgehog, Transformers and Dragonball Z. Why is licensing important to your business and what makes a good license for Kawaji?
Establishing a brand like Kawaji is very difficult without some very deep pockets and lots of luck. By associating ourselves with household names like Sonic and Dragon Ball, we have instant access to millions of readymade fans. The aim is for fans to buy into their favourite characters, but then associate a small part of it with Kawaji. It’s working as we are now recognised more and more and are always being asked “What are Kawaji doing next?”

Your portfolio also includes brands like Hatsune Miku. What is your ‘state of the nation’ assessment on how UK retailers and consumers are engaging with anime and manga properties at the moment?
Hatsune Miku is by far our bestseller but is also the least well-known – but her fans really are fanatical. She is a virtual pop star that has recently done a sellout world tour, including Wembley… But I speak to very few buyers who even know the brand! When retail try it, they sell out and are shocked. So while consumers are getting more and more into anime and other imported media, UK retail in general is still very slow to adopt. There is a massive market that is simply being ignored.

The changing world politics in 2025 seem to have made this past year one of retail stagnation, with buyers fearful of making a wrong move. 2026 will really see the build-up of fan pressure being released. Someone in retail will hit the jackpot and I hope Kawaji will be part of it!

Product-wise, you specialise in confectionery and soda. How do you track trends in these categories?
Trends are very fast moving, with lots of failures along the way. I used to import products with weird and wonderful flavours from Japan and China that simply did not suit UK tastes. With this in mind – and having previously seen other fads being quickly abandoned – we base our range on core flavours. Apple and Orange sodas will always be popular, but then we add some different ones like Blueberry and Cherry Vanilla – these are different enough to keep people interested, but we know are not flavours that will put people off. As we grow, we plan to do more limited-edition can designs and limited-edition flavours are part of that too.

Our main focus is having really nice-tasting, good quality products where design is the real star. Buy some awesome can art and get a free drink!

Design-wise, how do you work with rights holders? And how does your approach to design deliver fan appeal?
Different rights holders have different levels of opinions. Some let us get on with it and some have not got on board with our ideas and we’ve had to go back to the drawing board. We are still learning what works and, with the can printing, what we are able to achieve. Some designs work really well when you are holding them but when they go on a shelf they can look too busy and get lost in the crowd.

We have our branding prominent on the can, but only from one angle, on what is effectively a 360 degree canvas. We are selling cans that fans want to look at – they don’t want our brand all over it.

What would you change about the product development and approvals processes in licensing?
Speed! Some licensor approval systems are painful to use but the slowest point in the process is waiting for a reply! It’s frustrating when a single space missing in a trademark can result in another four-week wait for a response! It would be great to have the ability to get on a call and go through these things in one go and get sign off there and then.

We have also done lots of work only to be told they would prefer if we used different asset styles. There is a lot less freedom to design, even within guidelines, than I ever realised!

Where are your products sold? And how does retailer feedback influence your choice of licenses and products?
To date we have mainly sold through distributors who normally specialise in imported products. Although we are home grown, we often find ourselves alongside American Candy or Japanese drinks and snacks. We have been listed directly with TK Maxx as well.

We have now started to sell D2C on platforms like Temu where we are one of the fastest growing brands on the platform. We have also just done our first deal in food service and will now be sold in restaurant chain Yakinori. They saw the concept as a fantastic opportunity alongside their usual soft drink range.

“Some licensor approval systems are painful to use but the slowest point in the process is waiting for a reply!”

We are only a small team so we get much less face time with customers than we would like, but a combination of old fashioned relationship building and the use of messaging technology we manage to keep most updated.

And we get lots of feedback but it’s not always easy to follow up – like “Could you just do Pokémon?” We have asked, but we are not on their radar just yet! Some brands have not got an established licensing program, so it is hard to get in front of them to pitch our ideas. A big request this year has been K-Pop Demon Hunters, we have some great ideas, but just not the opportunity… Yet!

And on the flipside, you must get pitched a lot of rights by IP owners and agents. What makes a good pitch in your eyes?
We have certainly been pitched lots and I would love to do them all, but we have to have a realistic plan. Who is going to buy it? Who is going to stock it? While we can do short production runs of the actual cans, to make a drink it is a relatively high MOQ so we need to be confident it will sell through. We are too small to make a mistake!

What’s next for Kawaji?
Our focus has been drinks, but we have other products in the pipeline. We have made Hatsune Miku Gummies which we are revisiting along with other snacking products like popcorn. We had developed a chocolate range but a manufacturing price hike and import/export issues make it a difficult one. More licences are definitely on the cards, along with our own Juji range.

Limited-edition versions of the existing drinks are also on the way to increase the collectability factor. Perhaps the most unique plan is a crossover between our physical products and an incoming digital portal. This ‘phygital’ plan gives fans a virtual showroom to collect and share the range and it will also have an interactive playground featuring a range of collectible Jujis. Watch this space!

Finally, thinking about soda can art, beyond your own products is there a favourite soda product and can art that you would flag up – past or present?
There is a brand from Taiwan called Ocean Bomb. I imported their Pokémon drinks during lockdown. They are simple but effective designs which work with the traditional basic print process normally used for cans. However they really opened my eyes to the desire of fans to collect anything with their favourite character on it! If I had to pick one, they did a limited edition Pokeball design which looks amazing.