Japan Focus: Roku Gin’s SEA push, Ajinomoto’s 2030 goals, APAC-Japan partnerships, and more

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Japan Focus (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

This edition dives into Roku Gin’s SEA focus, Ajinomoto’s commitment to sustainability goals, APAC firms collaborating with major Japanese firms, and more

Roku Gin boosts reach via mixology and localised appeal

Suntory’s Roku Gin is blending mixology expertise with localised appeal to strengthen its market presence across South East Asia.

The recently renewed its unique Japan-sourced ingredients focus with the Roku Gin Sakura Bloom Edition made using freshly-picked Sakura flower blossoms that give the gin a subtly sweeter note than regular Roku Gin.

To further its reach and penetrate even more South East Asian markets, Roku Gin has embarked on a quest to utilise cocktail mixology and localised ingredients to capture wider attention in Singapore and Malaysia.

Ajinomoto reaffirms 2030 sustainability goals despite CEO shift

Ajinomoto has renewed commitment to its 2030 sustainability strategy despite a sudden change in CEO recently, reinforcing its long-term AminoScience-based green strategy

The Japanese food giant, best-known for the development of monosodium glutamate (MSG), recently experienced a major shake-up to its executive personnel after former Presendent and CEO Taro Fujie resigned for health reasons.

New Ajinomoto CEO Shigeo Nakamura reaffirmed the company’s commitment to its 2030 sustainability goals. These include halving environmental impact and extending healthy life expectancy for 1 billion people.

Leaf-powered protein: Leaft blazes new trail in APAC with Lacto Japan

New Zealand-based Leaft Foods partners with Lacto Japan to bring its leaf protein into staple categories such as bakery and dairy foods

Leaft’s Rubisco Protein Isolate is extracted from green leaves – a novel protein source positioned as both sustainable and versatile in alternative protein development.

The partnership aims to accelerate sustainable nutrition in Asia Pacific by pairing Leaft’s technology with Lacto Japan’s established presence in dairy and food manufacturing.

Bean-free coffee: Prefer partners Ajinomoto, Coffee Ferm for APAC growth

Singapore’s Prefer looks to scale its sustainable bean-free coffee across APAC with partners Ajinomoto and Coffee Ferm.

Made from food manufacturing byproducts such as rice and soy, Prefer’s bean-free coffee flavours are developed using a proprietary fermentation and roasting process.

“We chose Ajinomoto and The Coffee Ferm because our technology complements their strong distribution networks, enabling lower-cost, lower-carbon products for their customers,” said Prefer CEO Jake Berber.

“With Ajinomoto, we are co-developing sustainable coffee beverages that align with their ‘Eat Well Live Well’ mission, building on their leading position in Thailand’s coffee market.

5 food industry leadership scandals that shook the past 18 months

From corruption allegations to sexual misconduct, we explore five high-profile food industry scandals that made headlines and reshaped leadership.

Beverage giant Suntory was one of the firms that got embroiled in a misconduct scandal when CEO Takeshi Niinami resigned over a police investigation into alleged illegal drug purchases.

Niinami voluntarily resigned from his post after informing the company about the police investigation, concerning supplement products allegedly containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is the main psychoactive substance causing intoxication in cannabis.

Japan has strict cannabis laws in place, and while products with cannabidiol (CBD) are legal for medical purposes and licensed commercial hemp cultivation is permitted, items containing THC are illegal.