For decades, volunteers at Montavilla’s Konko Spirit church have gathered together to make mochi to celebrate the Japanese New Year. Word of the mochi’s superior quality spread, and in the early 80’s, Portland’s legendary Japanese market Anzen began offering ‘Bachan’s Mochi’ to the public at large. After Anzen closed in 2014, Konko Spirit signed a contract with pan-Asian grocery powerhouse Uwajimaya, and has been growing ever since. These days, they make over 2000 lbs of mochi every December to meet the demands of Portland’s Japanese community, and we’ll be offering a limited amount of fresh mochi for sale at Wellspent this New Year’s.