In my previous post, I explained why the principles for making good chaga mushroom products are simple yet difficult to keep, the personal reason we became so devoted to those principles, and our experience at nursing homes. Today, I will continue by explaining how we actually keep those principles in concrete practice, and what we have confirmed through the customers we have met over the past 22 years.
Efforts to Fully Preserve the Benefits of Chaga Mushroom
To preserve the vitality of the chaga mushroom exactly as it is, Ohkinam Chaga Mushroom keeps several principles behind the scenes.
1. We hold an exclusive contract with a pharmaceutical company certified under the local Siberian Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and ISO22000 standards, so our products are produced under pharmaceutical-level hygiene and safety standards, not in a general food factory.
2. So that heat-sensitive active compounds are not destroyed, we stick to the principle of extracting with water only at low temperatures below 65 degrees Celsius and concentrating at low temperatures.
3. We apply ultrasonic cell extraction technology that draws out the nutrients from deep within the hard tissue of the chaga mushroom.
4. For the drying process, instead of freeze-drying, which takes dozens of hours, we use a low-temperature spray method that completes drying in a matter of 15 to 30 seconds, fundamentally blocking the loss of volatile compounds and the risk of metal-powder contamination that can occur during grinding.
Even when good raw materials have been secured, good products do not make themselves. Each and every one of these processes—capturing the value of the raw materials exactly as they are, without loss—is the principle that Ohkinam Chaga Mushroom has kept over a long period of time.
Why We Have a Russian Employee Working with Us
To secure good chaga mushroom raw materials and to properly manage the many processes that take place on site in Russia, Ohkinam Chaga Mushroom has been working with a Russian employee ever since the company was first founded.
Chaga mushrooms are not cultivated by humans; they grow on their own in nature for 15 to 20 years, so even among raw materials of the same Grade 1, the difference in quality is very large. When raw materials are secured, the staff of the local pharmaceutical company and our own company's staff gather together and carry out careful selection work, checking one by one by hand the density of the tissue, the color of the flesh, the weight, and so on.
In particular, even amid the international instability that has continued over the past few years, thanks to our Russian employee who knows local conditions well, we have been able to continue our work without major disruption, from securing raw materials to production. Our long-held belief is that only when things can be checked and taken care of directly on site, without barriers of language and culture, can truly good products be made.
What 22 Years and Countless Customers Have Taught Us
Above all, what matters most is the experience of the countless customers we have met over the past 22 years. My personal mobile phone currently holds more than 37,000 customer contacts, and these are not simply numbers but a record of the precious conversations shared with each and every one of them. Through their experiences of drinking it, we have learned how to bring out the benefits of chaga mushroom as much as possible, and at the same time what the realistic limits of chaga mushroom are.
A Sense of Responsibility That Grows Heavier Because We Know the Industry Well
Having walked the single path of chaga mushrooms for more than 20 years and looked deep into our on-the-ground network in Russia, we honestly know quite well through what channels other companies procure their raw materials and what processes the products they import are made through.
Whenever we see ready-made products mass-produced from cheap raw materials, with no idea who will end up consuming them, and the poor-quality ingredients and processes hidden behind flashy marketing copy and advertising, my heart grows heavy as a chaga mushroom specialist, and I find it heartbreaking.
But rather than blaming others, I believe that providing honest products I need not be ashamed of, to the customers who trust me and come to me, is my calling and my mission.
In Closing
In the end, the secret of Ohkinam Chaga Mushroom's benefits lies nowhere special. Securing good raw materials honestly, manufacturing them according to principle immediately upon harvest, and continuing that process without wavering for 22 years. And confirming, at every moment, why those principles must be kept—in the nursing home, and in encounters with more than 37,000 customers. That is all there is to it.
Chaga mushroom is classified as a food, so I cannot directly state its efficacy against specific diseases, but I believe that if you steadily drink a product made from good raw materials and an honest process, it will become a solid companion in protecting your healthy daily life. Going forward, Ohkinam Chaga Mushroom will continue to keep this simple but not-so-easy principle. Thank you.
- Kinam Oh, kinam_oh@hanmail.net
