Yumbini is the brainchild of Certified Food Scientist, Jan Matsuno; the culmination of a lifetime of food fascination and a 40-year food industry career. Jan is joined by Aki, her husband and Yumbini taster, who expertly handles sales.

Prior to launching Yumbini, Jan held senior product development positions at Del Monte, Safeway, Mindful Food Consulting, and CCD Innovation, creating thousands of new food products for the US and countries around the world.

From an early age, Jan had imagined inventing a food to solve world hunger. She loved to experiment in her home kitchen, developing foods with health benefits. Eventually, her years of experience enabled her to create the perfect quick meal: Yumbini 6-minute beans and rice! Delicious, healthy, plant-based, shelf stable, gentle on the planet, affordable, and ready in a hurry.

Jan realized it was time to give back. If there were ever going to be convenient, shelf stable, healthy meals for folks on a budget, she was going to have to launch them herself. In 2022, Yumbini was born!

Jan is a proud graduate of Oregon State University, a member of the “inaugural class” of Certified Food Scientists credentialed by the Institute of Food Technologists, and appeared in Morgan Spurlock’s movie Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken as the laughing food scientist.

Shortly after launch in 2022, Jan’s husband, Aki, seeing the potential for Yumbini, came out of retirement to manage sales. This was a huge boost for the business because Aki’s 40-year career in food sales and marketing complements Jan’s background perfectly. Even better, he has a salesman’s ability to quickly calculate margins and profits in his head!

Aki has held senior sales and marketing positions at Kikkoman, Nissho Iwai American Corp. and Mizkan Americas in both Asia and the US. He has managed accounts and developed business in Japan, Singapore, all of North and South America and even Russia.  He has extensive experience selling and promoting a variety of food products from wine, soy sauce, vinegar, and salad dressing to organic products, food ingredients – and now quick beans and rice!

Aki has a degree in Agricultural Economics from Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan with special training at the Institute of International Study and Trade in Shizuoka, Japan. He keeps saying he is going to retire again, but he’s obviously having too much fun.

CA Small Business Certification #2029755