Message from the CEO

Co-creating a sustainable food future
with delicious and healthy plant-based ingredients

Problems surrounding food are growing increasingly serious and complex as the world continues to grapple with a host of social challenges — like the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and human rights abuses; not to mention the threats of geopolitical risk and soaring raw material prices. Furthermore, a three-year pandemic has changed life and work as we know it. As a result, ever more people today are interested in their own health and the health of our planet, and seeking sustainable solutions that are authentic and meaningful. Within this milieu, the responsibility of food companies in pushing for more resilient and sustainable food systems has never been greater.

Last May, the Fuji Oil Group announced a new 2030 Vision: "Together with our stakeholders, we will co-create a sustainable future for food, based on plant-based ingredients that are both delicious and healthy." Guided by this vision, we at Fuji Oil have committed to working as one team to solve challenges related to food supply imbalances, wellbeing, and the environment in ways that honor local conditions and culinary cultures around the world. To achieve that, I believe it is critical that each one of us at the Group becomes more sensitive to the social issues existing along food value chains and to devise appropriate and timely solutions within our respective spheres of influence.

During “Reborn 2024,” our Medium-Term Management Plan and the first phase toward achieving the 2030 Vision, we will roll out initiatives designed to transform the Group into creators of new social value. We will enhance sustainability initiatives based on the core concept of “creating plant-based foods that support human and planetary health,” which will represent a standard for the new era. To offer more plant-based food options to a growing population of health-conscious consumers, we will accelerate the development of sustainable raw materials by applying next-generation technologies to the breeding of new plant varieties, as well as the development of technologies that open new possibilities in the enjoyment of plant-based foods. We will also advance research and development related to the health functions of foods for preventing obesity and aging conditions like frailty. Also, because procuring raw materials without negative impacts on the environment and human rights is essential for promoting sustainable production and consumption, we aim to make further progress in building a traceable supply chain while at the same time raising productivity and reducing environmental impacts at our manufacturing sites. To help realize a 1.5ºC climate future, we will build on efforts to save energy and shift toward renewable energy sources at our own factories, and to engage suppliers to reduce their own emissions. To conserve biodiversity — the foundation of all food — we will develop a new policy on biodiversity and integrate it into our operations. Each one of these initiatives will be pursued as an integrated part of our business strategy.

The success of these initiatives in such turbulent times will require stronger, co-creative partnerships with our stakeholders, as well as educating and engaging consumers to drive behavioral change. It also bears mentioning that food is local as much as it is global. We will also promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in our workplaces, to harness the strengths of the Fuji Oil Group across its 34 locations worldwide for new innovation and value creation that solves problems at the regional and local levels. We want to foster a culture of respect, where everyone can achieve their best by enjoying fair and equal opportunity, meaningful work, and the security to bring their full selves to work.

Above all, we want to create a world where everyone can taste the deeper joys of eating in 2030, the target year of the SDGs, and beyond. To make that world a reality, we will offer innovative plant-based ingredients and do our part to usher to a more sustainable future for food.

Mikio Sakai
President and CEO
Fuji Oil Holdings Inc.