Christopher in his youth
Meeting with Lima Ohsawa, then 91, wife of macrobiotic teacher George Ohsawa and Aveline Kushi, then 67, wife of macrobiotic teacher Michio Kushi (11 Oct 1990)
Christopher regularly visits Clearspring suppliers in Japan, here with the team at Sendai Miso Shoyu Company and Mr.Yoshida from Mitoku
Christopher in Japan with Mr Onozaki, miso producer
Christopher at the Organic & Natural Products Show, London 2007
Special vegetarian foods prepared at the Dawson household, to celebrate the New Year
The Chairman
“By selecting and preparing the highest quality foods we can create balance and harmony, restore our health and heal our environment”.
Clearspring’s Chairman, Christopher Dawson, has dedicated his life to the study, promotion and distribution of organic
foods, produced through organic agricultural and traditional processing techniques. He first began to study the benefits of a vegetarian diet on the body, and organic agricultural techniques on the planet, at just 18. His interest brought him from New Zealand to London, where he settled, opening the East West Natural Foods Store in Old Street in 1977.
Determined to learn more about traditional dietary practices and food-processing techniques, he travelled extensively throughout Europe, America, Australia and Asia, studying Far Eastern philosophical principles and traditions at the East West Foundation in Boston, U.S.A., as well as the distribution network of the natural foods movement in America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Christopher first visited Japan in 1979, when he accompanied the President of Japan’s largest exporter of traditional and natural foods, Mitoku Co., Ltd, on a tour of natural food enterprises throughout Japan. In 1980, he moved to Japan to work full-time at Mitoku, where he studied Japanese foods and production; worked with producers to develop products to suit the needs of customers abroad; and helped producers become compliant with EU organic certification. He also travelled extensively to introduce the foods to markets worldwide, with the intention of seeing if Japanese foods could really become international foods.
In September 1993, Christopher bought the Clearspring Ltd. company, which was then a London based wholesaler with one shop. By 1998, with sufficient knowledge of traditional, top quality Japanese food, he returned to the UK to focus on marketing organic and authentic Japanese foods under the Clearspring brand.
Christopher’s lifelong commitment to, and expert knowledge of, Japan’s traditional food culture was officially recognised in May 2007, when he received the Award for Overseas Promotion of Japanese Food 2007 from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, for his distinguished contribution to the promotion of Japanese organic food worldwide. Read More
Christopher Dawson: A Life
| 1953 | Born 19th September to William Geoffrey and Joan Dawson in New Zealand. Spends his childhood in rural Opunake. |
| 1971 | Begins to study vegetarianism and organic agriculture independently. |
| 1974 | After completing tertiary education, comes to London to study. Studies at the Henry Doubleday Horticulture and Nutrition Research Centre in Braintree and the Bio Dynamic Agricultural section at the Rudolf Steiner Emerson College, Sussex. |
| 1977 | Opens the East West Natural Foods Store in Old Street, London. Develops the store in a distribution centre for traditional natural / macrobiotic foods, sourced from both local organic farms and from abroad, especially from Japan. |
| 1978 | Travels extensively throughout Europe, America, Australia and Asia, investigating the traditional dietary practices and food-processing techniques. |
| 1979 | Studies at the East West Foundation in Boston, Mass, U.S.A. about Far Eastern philosophical principles and traditions, and the distribution network of the natural foods movement in America & Europe, as well as Australia and New Zealand. |
| 1979 | Travels to Japan to visit natural food enterprises throughout Japan with Akiyoshi Kazama, President of Mitoku Co. Ltd. Begins extensive studies into the daily life and cultural and dietary practices of the Japanese people. |
| 1980 | Begins full-time employment at Mitoku Co. Ltd., the major exporter of traditional, natural Japanese foods, where he works for the next 18 years. |
| 1993 | Buys the Clearspring Ltd. company, a London wholesaler with one store and annual sales of £640,000. Runs the company whilst continuing to work at Mitoku Co. Ltd. in Japan. |
| 1998 | Moves to London to oversee the company and focus on marketing organic and authentic Japanese foods under the Clearspring brands. |
| 2007 | Receives the Award for Overseas Promotion of Japanese Food 2007 from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, for his distinguished contribution to the popularisation of Japanese organic food worldwide. Read more |
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