Together with the Global Environment
Environmental policy
Under our VISION of “Change the taste of everyday life. Spread joy to the world,” our group will protect the blue sea and green earth and treasure the blessings of food that will continue into the future in order to realize a sustainable society and achieve corporate growth. To that end, we recognize that climate change, environmental pollution, resource and water depletion, and biodiversity loss are important issues both in the world and in the management of our group, and we will formulate an environmental policy and act to prevent them.
Implementing sustainable procurement through fair trade
In order to balance the realization of a sustainable society and the growth of the company, cooperation from business partners who supply ingredients is essential. Therefore, we share our procurement policy with our business partners. We explain items such as quality, safety, sustainability, and respect for human rights, and ask for their understanding and cooperation, including self-checks. We also ask new business partners to understand our procurement policy, and open our doors equally to them, aiming to achieve coexistence and prosperity between our business activities and the environment and society as a whole.
Basic Procurement Policy
At FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES, we aim to realize a sustainable society and grow as a company, and under our vision of “Let’s change the deliciousness of everyday life. Let’s spread joy to the world,” we not only comply with laws and social norms when procuring raw materials, but also continue to provide safe and secure products.
We will work with our business partners to achieve the following goals, aiming for coexistence and prosperity between our business activities and the environment and society.
(1) Procurement Ethics
We procure products with the highest priority on providing our customers with a stable supply of safe and secure food, based on the principles of fairness, impartiality and transparency.
(2) Compliance
We will comply with the laws, regulations, and social norms of applicable countries and regions.
(3) Quality and safety
In order to ensure the quality and safety of our products, we will thoroughly manage quality by complying with laws and regulations, implementing our own assessments, concluding specifications, etc. We will also ensure safety by inspecting and auditing the manufacturing process of our products as required by our company.
(4) Respect for human rights and labor
We will comply with international standards, respect the human rights of workers in our supply chain, and not be complicit in any human rights violations. We will strive to create an environment that is free of all forms of forced labor and child labor.
(5) Sustainability
We strive to make sustainable and effective use of resources, reduce food waste, improve production efficiency, and engage in procurement that takes into consideration biodiversity and the maintenance of ecosystems.
(6) Anti-corruption
We strive to prevent corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
(7) Collaboration with business partners
We ask our suppliers, as important business partners, to understand this procurement policy and cooperate with us, including by conducting self-checks, etc. We are equally open to new suppliers.
Reducing food waste and making effective use of marine biological resources
Aiming for sustainability through the establishment of a procurement base
As we aim to provide safe and secure food to customers around the world, we believe that we cannot avoid the social issue of the sustainability of marine resources. In order to ensure stable production and utilization of resources, we are promoting the strengthening of our procurement base and working to optimize the entire supply chain from upstream to downstream.
Working to reform the supply chain to achieve sustainable procurement
Our group defines the procurement of ingredients as “upstream,” the processing and transportation of ingredients as “midstream,” and sales, which are the point of contact with customers, as “downstream.” As our business requires the procurement of many ingredients, one of our major issues is working to ensure a stable supply of limited marine resources.
Accordingly, we are strengthening our upstream and midstream efforts, such as establishing a competitive advantage not only in downstream businesses but also in procurement, including aquaculture, and thoroughly cutting food waste and costs by utilizing digital transformation for procured resources. By leveraging our downstream strengths, which include an overwhelming customer base, and in cooperation with external partners, we will work to ensure the stable use of marine resources throughout the entire supply chain.
Building a procurement base for upstream businesses
Amid concerns about future major environmental changes such as climate change, there are also fears of a decline in wild catches, and the importance of procuring marine resources that do not depend on wild catches is increasing. As a response, we are investing in external businesses and cutting-edge technologies, and working to develop new technologies such as seed development and feed improvement/substitution through business partnerships. By strengthening our procurement base in the upstream business, we aim to ensure stable quality and production volume.
Establish a joint venture with a specialist company
With the aim of procuring sustainable marine resources, in 2022 we established Marineverse Co., Ltd., a joint venture with Takuyo Co., Ltd., a major red sea bream farming company. With the aim of enabling aquaculture operators to achieve efficient fishing, we are promoting support for aquaculture businesses through the supply of seeds and feed, as well as the development of artificial seeds.
Taking on the challenge of next-generation aquaculture through technological innovation and research and development
As the environment for aquaculture changes dramatically, we are investing in and conducting joint research with university-originated start-ups that have genome editing and cutting-edge genome analysis technologies, which are attracting attention as next-generation technologies. Through this business, we are working to realize a sustainable aquaculture business by improving productivity through improved breeding and seed development that can respond to the changing environment.
Development of next-generation feed and aquaculture equipment
We plan to strengthen research and development of next-generation feed ingredients and recycling of feed ingredients, aiming to break away from reliance on natural fish meal as an ingredient, and to promote the standardization of feed. In addition to maintaining and managing costs and quality, we will strive to ensure the sustainability of feed ingredients by fulfilling our social responsibility for ingredients, such as traceability. In addition, due to population decline and rising production costs, aquaculture sites are required to improve productivity and reduce production costs through labor-saving and manpower-saving measures. We aim to procure sustainable marine resources by collaborating with aquaculture equipment manufacturers and supporting the development of next-generation aquaculture equipment.
Reducing food waste through digital transformation
We recognize that reducing food waste is an important social issue for the restaurant industry, and are further strengthening our existing efforts. In order to continue delivering high-quality, delicious products at reasonable prices, it is important to reduce food waste as much as possible. To that end, we are promoting various measures, such as digital transformation and utilizing fish throughout the group. We are also considering effectively utilizing resources and reducing waste-related costs by reusing food waste such as leftovers as feed and biomass fuel.
Reducing food waste using digital transformation and AI
Sushiro in Japan is working to reduce food waste by using AI. For example, they calculate the amount of ingredients used based on sales records, and derive appropriate order and usage quantities that reflect demand forecasts. In addition, to provide customers with delicious freshly cooked rice, they determine the amount needed based on real-time demand forecasts and cook the rice accordingly. Thanks to the learning function of AI, the accuracy of the predictions is improving day by day.
AI also contributes to the efficiency and labor saving of store operations. Based on staff schedules, sales forecasts, and past performance, AI proposes optimal staff shifts, reducing the time it takes for store managers to create shifts.
Making full use of precious marine resources
Generally, it is said that only about 40% of a fish can be used for sushi, such as the belly part, but our group purchases the whole fish and uses the remaining parts in our products. We find value in even the bones and bones of fish, and have built a scheme to use all the ingredients across the boundaries of our group’s brands. For example, parts suitable for tuna nigiri are used at Sushiro, the head is boiled by craftsmen at Kaiten Sushi Misaki, and the tuna belly, which can only be removed by hand, is served as a sake snack at Sugidama. In addition, parts that cannot be used for nigiri are used, such as the bones being used for soup stock in the ramen on Sushiro’s menu. The basis of our business is the idea that the value of the “back and belly” parts used for sushi is equal to the value of the bones and bones. Since our founding, we have inherited the Japanese cooking philosophy that “no part of a fish should be thrown away,” and our ingenuity in our menus has also led to the reduction of food waste.
In addition, when developing new products, Sushiro develops derivative products that use the same ingredients in order to reduce food waste, and developed approximately 150 derivative products in FY24.
Starting in 2023, all Sushiro stores will no longer serve sushi and other products on conveyor belts, resulting in zero food waste after the conveyor belt is released.
Achieving carbon neutrality
Response to TCFD Recommendations
As the Group uses a wide variety of marine, fishery, agricultural and forestry resources as raw materials, we view climate change as a major management risk and disclose information related to climate change in accordance with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).