Japan Focus: Kirin, Calbee, Aeon and more feature in our round-up
Kirin Greens Free is the latest non-alcoholic beer from the Japanese brewery giant
Japan’s Kirin Brewery will launch its latest no-alcohol beer, Kirin Greens Free, nationwide this month, the latest in a long line of booze-free innovations in the country.
It is a non-alcoholic beverage (0.00% ABV) and made from only three ingredients, wheat, hop and water.
Ataka Takashima from the corporate communication department at Kirin Holdings told FoodNavigator-Asia that Kirin Greens Free is marketed as a ‘natural beer-tasting carbonated beverage’.
Japan snack giant Calbee Snack intensifies palm oil and electricity sustainability efforts
Japanese snack firm Calbee is intensifying its sustainability activities by working on the sustainable procurement of palm oil and attempting to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30%.
This is part of its long-term vision (Vision 2030), which the company announced in its annual report.
Calbee holds a 54.7% stake in the Japanese domestic snack market in 2019, with products such as potato, flour, corn-based snacks as well as cereals.
Asia’s retail big beasts: Hypermarket giant Aeon, e-commerce pioneers JD, and convenience kings Seven & i top rankings
Japanese and Chinese retailers, Aeon, JD.com, and Seven & i were ranked as the top retailers in Asia, according to a new global report by Deloitte analysing 250 of the largest retailers worldwide.
While the top 10 retailers were mostly based in US, Europe and UK, Japan’s Aeon was ranked top in Asia at 13th position with US$71,446 million in revenue.
China’s JD.com ranked 15th with revenues of US$62,875 million, while Japan’s Seven & i Holdings was ranked 19th with US$59,101 million in revenue.
The data was based on Deloitte’s 23rd edition of Global Powers of Retailing report for FY2018.
Healthy Ageing APAC Summit: New date announced for region's premier food and nutrition event
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 health situation, FoodNavigator-Asia and NutraIngredients-Asia has rescheduled the Healthy Ageing APAC Summit from July 7-9 to November 10-12, 2020, at the Hilton hotel in Singapore.
The event, which comes from the premise that healthy ageing is a lifelong endeavour, assesses the food, beverage and nutrition opportunities created by the region’s rapidly ageing population of today, and crucially, tomorrow.
Editor-in-Chief of FoodNavigator-Asia and NutraIngredients-Asia, and Regional Head of APAC at publisher William Reed, Gary Scattergood, said: “This decision has not been taken lightly, but the health and safety of our sponsors, speakers, delegates and staff is our number one priority."
Vision 2030: Ajinomoto to shift focus to promote healthy ageing and salt reduction
Japanese food manufacturer Ajinomoto is focusing on food solutions to combat global health issues as a new growth driver for the next decade.
As part of its vision for 2030, the company will shift its focus from ‘delicious and convenient foods’ (2010 to 2019), to ‘food and health issues’ (2020 to 2029).
The company announced this strategy as part of its medium-term management plan for 2020 to 2025.
Daisuke Nakamiya, senior manager of Ajinomoto’s public communications department told NutraIngredients-Asia, the company was focusing on two global health issues: excessive salt intake and age-related functional decline.
