Ajinomoto Co., Inc.

Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Overview

Company Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan

Founded: 1909

Workforce: ~34,452

Company Working: Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (Ajinomoto) manufactures and markets various food products across the globe. The company operates through five segments: Japan food products, international food products, life support, healthcare, and others. The Japan food products segment offers household seasonings and processed foods for use in restaurants. The international food products segment provides seasonings, processed foods, and frozen foods. The healthcare segment provides amino acids for use in pharmaceuticals and food products. The life support segment offers animal nutrition products and specialty chemicals. The company also offers edible oils, sweeteners, and packaging and logistics services. The company has 123 factories and sells its products in more than 130 countries across the globe. The company provides pasta products under the Bernardi brand.

Strategy

The Ajinomoto Group is putting a three-tiered strategy into place to create sustainable development. In order to accelerate their "steady growth" and achieve the planned medium-term management indicators, they are aiming to increase the asset efficiency of the six core companies and transform them into high-value-added enterprises. The company has formulated a corporate strategy that focuses on four main pillars: Green, Healthcare, Food and wellness, and ICT. It aims to achieve sustainable growth by expanding its business globally and creating new value for its customers. The company plans to achieve this by strengthening its core businesses, such as umami seasonings, amino acids, and frozen foods, while also expanding into new areas such as health and wellness. The open innovation program of Ajinomoto promotes internal cooperation across various divisions of the business. This encourages employees to think creatively and provide fresh concepts that can be advantageous to the company. Additionally, it is steering various joint ventures, investment, and expansion in India, Malaysia, and South Korea, among others, to expand its business across the world.

Company Snapshot

$8.4M

Revenue

34,452

Employees

1909

Founded

Tokyo, Japan

Headquarters

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

High investment in production capacity
Strong brand image
Strong financial position
Strong global presence with 123 manufacturing facilities spread across 130 countries
Diverse product portfolio of pasta across multiple brands
High profitability in comparison to competitors in the industry of food processing.
Ajinomoto Co., Inc. has a great track record with consumer-driven innovation even though most businesses in the market struggle with it.

Weaknesses

Limited promotional activities
Multiple acquisition failures in the last couple of years
Focus in the seasonings industry is simply too intense.

Opportunities

Innovation in existing products
Business expansion in other regions
Market potential in European countries
Reformulating business strategy through digital transformation deployment.

Threats

Intense competition
Slowdown in overseas business activity due to fluctuations in currency exchange and interest rates
The cost of development is being caught up by rivals.

Key Developments

Date	Approach	Development
2017	Acquisition	Ajinomoto Co., Inc. acquired LABEYRIE TRAITEUR SURGELÉS S.A.S. (currently Ajinomoto Frozen Foods France S.A.S.) in France, to expand its geographical reach.
August 2019	Expansion	Ajinomoto Co., Inc. expanded its presence in Malaysia by establishing a new tech park and its subsidiary Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Berhad
2017	Acquisition	Ajinomoto Co., Inc. acquired LABEYRIE TRAITEUR SURGELÉS S.A.S. (currently Ajinomoto Frozen Foods France S.A.S.) in France to expand its geographic reach.
March 2023	Investment	Ajinomoto Co., Inc. had made an investment in SARAH Inc., a provider of gourmet community and food big data services, with the goal of co-creating food and wellness services that are closely customized to each consumer.
January 2022	Investment	Ajinomoto Co., Inc. had made an investment in Oishi Kenko Inc., a startup that provides digital services in the food and health industries. It promotes healthy eating by offering health-related menus and recipes. This collaboration will allow the two firms to provide clients with individualized meal experience journeys focused on food, health, and nutrition.
November 2020	Product Launch	In the United States, Ajinomoto Co., Inc. introduced the stevia sweetener AJISWEET RA for beverage, confectionery, and other product manufacturers.

Product Offering

Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
- Ling Ling
- Tai Pei
- Ajinomoto
- Les Surgelés
- Instant Noodles
- Pasta Market
- Noodle
- Global High Intensity Sweeteners Market

Financial Performance

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