Mission of research and development
Message from the CTO
As society's interest in sustainability grows year by year, the food industry is also being scrutinized more and more in terms of raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, and many other aspects. In this context, Plant-Based Foods, which are healthy and have a low environmental impact, have been attracting attention, and the Fuji Oil Group has been developing and commercializing soy protein, an effective use of soybean meal, and adding value to vegetable oils and fats through processing technology since its early days.
We have also been working on the development of new sustainable food with the concept of deliciousness and health based on our research on oil and fats and proteins, with the aim of further developing plant-based ingredients. In other words, we are trying to create a new food field in which sustainable plant materials can express a taste no less delicious than that of animal-based food.
At the research institute for creating the future, technologies and ingredients in new fields are being developed one after another, and at ingredient development department, these materials are processed or combined to develop new food ingredients. At application development department, we are proposing new food concepts based on these ingredients. In the future, we will accelerate the speed of this process and expand into the market.
In addition, until now, our basic response has been to have our research organization in Japan take the lead in providing new technologies to our overseas group companies. However, we are now seeing examples of research developed overseas spreading to other countries, and we are also promoting the globalization of our research. We are also promoting open innovation in Japan and overseas, with the Global Innovation Center Europe in the Netherlands serving as the core of this effort.
With sustainability and globalization as two axes, we will continue to pursue health and deliciousness through food.
Message from the Research Institute for Creating the Future
We at the R&D Division for Future Creation research and develop technologies that contribute to society through delicious and healthy food. Our flavor research has resulted in the development of a new technology (the MIRACORETM technology brand) that enhances the flavor of plant-based food, which is currently a hot trend worldwide. With a strong focus on plant-based food, Fuji Oil has always carried out research on oils, fats, and protein, and this revolutionary new technology brings together Fuji Oil’s competencies to achieve the same level of flavor and satisfaction with plant-based ingredients that animal-based foods provide. We intend to roll out this technology and apply it to Japanese, Chinese, Asian and Western foods, and many other types of global cuisine.
Our society also has many issues that require solutions to safeguard our future, these include climate change, environmental destruction, and achieving a balance between food supply and demand in a world with an increasing population. The R&D Division for Future Creation focuses on the development of solutions for social issues such as societal ageing and sustainable food resources and we tackle these issues by back-casting from the perspective of the kind of society we hope to achieve by 2050.
Speed and timing are important aspects of our research activities. We shall strengthen our links with external parties and look into initiatives that go beyond conventional industry-academia partnerships to explore technological synergies with overseas startups, and will implement digital transformation to reform our research approach.
In our role as the fundamental research division at the Fuji Oil Group, a company that is constantly innovating for the future, we at the R&D Division for Future Creation will contribute to society through the continuous development of technology.