Origami Sake

Floor Speech

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Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the entrepreneurial creativity of Ben Bell and Matt Bell, who recently founded Origami Sake in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Although they are unrelated, these two Bells share the same last name and the same passion for sake.

The pair met in 2016 after Ben returned to Arkansas from a trip to Japan, where he became interested in the art of making sake after living in that country for two years.

After years of collaboration, Ben and Matt joined forces to begin brewing sake in Arkansas, which led to the opening of their business.

Arkansas is the largest grower of rice in the United States and the Isbell farm has spent decades perfecting the proper rice to be used for sushi and now the proper rice that is needed for making high quality sake.

Additionally, the magnificent water from the famous Hot Springs National Park has the perfect quality for sake brewing. Ben and Matt are taking advantage of these resources in Arkansas make Sake even more popular and distribute it home grown in Arkansas across the United States.

I recently led a delegation to meet with leaders in Japan, where our members had the opportunity to present Arkansas brewed Sake to former Prime Minister Suga and Deputy Cabinet Secretary Seiji, along with key members of the Japanese Diet. We also entertained our great Ambassador, Ron Emmanuel, with his own taste of 1000 crane sake brewed in Arkansas.

I applaud Ben and Matt for their originality, their entrepreneurship, and I commend them for leading in America in the brewing of sake.

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