Climate Change Data

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Environment
• Social
• Governance

Environmental Achievements

• Promote energy saving
• Strengthen our efforts to reduce the amount of energy used for production by introducing the facility using less energy or an equivalent
• Strengthen our efforts to reduce the greenhouse gasses generated by logistics or transportation by encouraging the transport modal shift, etc.
• Promote an initiative to reduce waste by using lightweight wrapping and packaging materials
• Promote a 3R strategy—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle—for wrapping and packaging materials
• Promote the recycling of food waste into livestock feed or manure
• Promote the adoption of environment-friendly wrapping and packaging materials
• Conserve and maintain wastewater treatment facilities
• Promote environmental conservation through an activity to forest hills or mountains

Social Achievements

• Strengthen the management of personnel training programs with a focus on diverse values and specialties
• Promote the work style reform
• Promote diversity and launch an initiative to enhance opportunities for women
• Promote an initiative aimed for health management
• Enhance a system that provides stress checkups and monitors mental health conditions

Governance Achievements

• Strengthen our corporate governance system by establishing the Risk Management Committee, the Corporate Ethics Committee, the Compliance Committee, and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.
• Establish the Marudai counseling line (a whistleblowing system)
• Introduce a new system to visualize data

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Intensified sales competition from structural changes in Japan’s consumption system caused by its dwindling and aging population
• A rise in costs for human resources, logistics, etc. against a backdrop of a chronic labor shortage
• Increase in raw material prices for meat driven by animal epidemics in Japan and abroad
• Worsening situations of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Concerns over the second wave of infection
• Reduction in sales of the products mainly for the restaurant industry and convenience stores in urban areas
• Concerns over the impact of reduced imports caused by the suspension of production at overseas suppliers and over price fluctuations

Mitigation Strategies

• Started our 3-Year Medium-Term Plan in April 2020 to resolve our management issues
• Strategy for gaining an advantage in product competition
• Reform in earnings structure
• Strategy for diversification
• Developing human resources and implementing the work style reform
• Strategy for improving our corporate value
• Thoroughly comply with bans or self-restraint requests
• Measures to prevent infection
• Measures for work styles
• Postponement of a press conference on financial results

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Promote the operations aimed at mutually sustainable business development with suppliers

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Awards & Recognition

• Excellent Blockbuster Award at the 38th Food Products Blockbuster Award

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Environment
• Social
• Governance

Environmental Achievements

• Developed environment-friendly packaging materials
• Promoted a 3R strategy—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle—for wrapping and packaging materials
• Promoted the recycling of food waste into livestock feed or manure
• Promoted the adoption of environment-friendly wrapping and packaging materials
• Introduced a cogeneration system
• Engaged in environmental conservation activity in Hokkaido
• Engaged in an activity making the environment more beautiful
• Set the Environmental Policy to further reduce the environmental impact by promoting the activities to preserve the environment and introducing the facility using less energy, among other measures
• Strengthened our efforts to reduce the greenhouse gases generated by logistics or transportation by encouraging the transport modal shift, etc.

Social Achievements

• Obtained the 2021 Health and Productivity Management certification under the large enterprise category from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
• Expanded the provision of support for employees with children so that they can continue to work while raising children, and obtained the certification under the Regulation for Enforcement of the Act to Advance Measures to Support Next-Generation Child-Rearing, or the Kurumin certification program.
• Enhanced a system that provides stress checkups and monitors mental health conditions
• Provided support for children’s cafeterias (by supplying food products)
• Developed products using meat substitutes (soy meat product “Daizu Life,” literally meaning “soy life”)
• Engaged in social contribution activities with the theme of Better Diet
• Held various sports programs (such as those for volleyball, footraces, and soccer)
• Carried out training program of FutureActive Athletes

Governance Achievements

• Established committees to enhance objectivity and transparency concerning corporate management: The Compliance Committee (chaired by an Independent Outside Director), the Nomination and Remuneration Committee (with a majority of Independent Outside Directors)
• Made all the employees of the Marudai Food Group thoroughly understand the Marudai Food Group’s Code of Conduct, and carry out a compliance training program every month for all the employees.
• Strengthened our corporate governance system by establishing the Risk Management Committee, the Corporate Ethics Committee, the Compliance Committee, and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.
• Established the Marudai counseling line (a whistleblowing system)

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Decreases in Japan’s total population and working-age population, its declining birthrate and rapidly aging population
• Saturated processed food market in terms of volume, or rather a shrinking trend of the market
• Increases in dual-income households and the ratio of women in the working-age population
• Expansion of e-commerce, rapidly advancing drug stores
• Animal epidemics both in Japan and abroad, U.S.-China trade friction
• A rise in the raw material prices for meat production, and unstable market prices
• worsening COVID-19 pandemic
• concerns remain over how these factors may affect our economy overall
• Intensifying sales competition caused by structural changes in Japan’s consumption from its dwindling and aging population
• A rise in costs for human resources, logistics, and others against a backdrop of a chronic labor shortage
• A rise in raw material prices for meat driven by animal epidemics in Japan and abroad

Mitigation Strategies

• Formulated a revised 3-Year Medium-Term Management Plan for a period from April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2024 after recalculating and reviewing numerical targets.
• Strategy for gaining an advantage in product competition: differentiate and centralize our products and reduce costs
• Reform in earnings structure: improve productivity and cost competitiveness in all departments
• Strategy for diversification: examine the possibility of developing new businesses
• Developing human resources and implementing the work style reform
• Strategy for improving our corporate value: strengthen corporate governance and risk management, improve product quality by obtaining more FSSC 22000 and ISO 22000 certifications
• Initiatives to address ESG issues and achieve SDGs
• Strengthen the management of personnel training programs with a focus on diverse values and specialties
• Promote the work style reform
• Promote diversity and launch an initiative to enhance opportunities for women
• Strengthen our efforts to secure safety and improve product quality as well as to prevent the occurrence of products of poor quality or defects
• Comply with all applicable laws and regulations
• Establish a system to thoroughly comply with relevant laws and regulations
• Strengthen our capabilities to swiftly respond to the market needs
• Implement appropriate methods, from the consumer perspective, for supplying products, providing services, and communicating information
• Comply with relevant laws and regulations and promote fair trading and business practices
• Promote the operations aimed at mutually sustainable business development with suppliers
• Improve manufacturing methods so that they will contribute to reducing food waste in the manufacturing process
• Make the shelf life of products longer to reduce the food loss resulting from discarding food products before they reach consumers, decrease defective products returned from retailers or consumers
• Reduce environmental footprint by promoting energy saving
• Strengthen our efforts to reduce the amount of energy used for production by introducing the facility using less energy or an equivalent
• Strengthen our efforts to reduce the greenhouse gasses generated by logistics or transportation by encouraging the transport modal shift, etc.
• Promote an initiative to reduce waste by using lightweight wrapping and packaging materials
• Promote a 3R strategy—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle—for wrapping and packaging materials
• Promote the recycling of food waste into livestock feed or manure
• Promote the adoption of environment-friendly wrapping and packaging materials
• Conserve and maintain wastewater treatment facilities
• Promote environmental conservation through an activity to forest hills or mountains
• Strengthen the management of personnel training programs with a focus on diverse values and specialties
• Promote the work style reform
• Promote diversity and launch an initiative to enhance opportunities for women
• Educate all the employees of the Marudai Food Group about the Marudai Food Group’s Code of Conduct to make them thoroughly understand it
• Strengthen our corporate governance system
• Establish the Marudai counseling line (a whistleblowing system)
• Strengthen the information security by formulating IT management and operation rules
• Manage intellectual property risk
• Promote an initiative aimed for health management
• Enhance a system that provides stress checkups and monitors mental health conditions
• Diversify raw material procurement channels and take other measures to procure raw materials stably
• Work to develop highly value-added products
• Reduce risk by importing part of products on a yen basis and, for foreign-currency trade, using foreign exchange futures contracts
• Establish an appropriate management system to prevent infection or its expansion
• Work further to improve a system for disaster prevention and mitigation, and risk management, aiming to minimize the damage and casualties caused by natural disasters
• As an asset owner of a corporate pension, we monitor how assets are managed, as needed, by deploying appropriate personnel to a corporate pension fund
• Reduced risk by transferring part of the defined-benefit pension plans to a defined-contribution pension plan

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Strengthen the relationship with suppliers
• Establish our value chain to focus on handling our own original brands and reduce costs

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Droughts
• Floods
• Deteriorating water quality

Transition Risks

• Changes in laws and regulations
• Changes in consumer lifestyles
• Global warming

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• environment-friendly packaging materials
• microwavable product that is delicious but easy to prepare
• next generation’s meat substitutes made from vegetables
• products with reduced environmental impact
• paper trays with a reduced environmental impact
• products that are easy to prepare, convenient, and delicious
• products that have grilled or fried materials containing ham and sausages
• precooked and processed single-bowl meals
• cold chain products
• products for stockpiling
• frozen food products and top sealed products
• soy meat product “Daizu Life”

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate change
• Human capital and diversity
• Sustainable raw material procurement
• Reduction of food waste
• Strengthened corporate governance
• Strengthened health management

Environmental Achievements

• Further reduce the environmental impact by promoting the activities to preserve the environment and introducing the facility using less energy
• Promote the reduction of waste by using lightweight wrapping and packaging materials
• Promote a 3R strategy—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle—for wrapping and packaging materials
• Promote the recycling of food waste into livestock feed or manure
• Promote the adoption of environment-friendly wrapping and packaging materials
• Conserve and maintain wastewater treatment facilities at production facilities
• Engage in an environmental conservation activity in Hokkaido

Social Achievements

• Promote the work style reform
• Promote diversity and launch an initiative to enhance opportunities for women
• Expanded the provision of support for employees with children so that they can continue to work while raising children, and obtained the certification under the Regulation for Enforcement of the Act to Advance Measures to Support Next-Generation Child-Rearing, or the Kurumin certification program
• Strengthen health management
• Enhance a system that provides stress checkups and monitors mental health conditions
• Address an issue of a dwindling and aging population (the research and development of plasmalogen, a material that can support the brain function)
• Provide support for children’s cafeterias (by supplying food products)
• Develop products using meat substitutes made from vegetables (the PlantRECIPE series)

Governance Achievements

• Strengthen our corporate governance system by establishing the Risk Management Committee, the Corporate Ethics Committee, the Compliance Committee, and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.
• Establish the Marudai counseling line (a whistleblowing system)
• Establish committees to enhance objectivity and transparency concerning corporate management
• Make all the employees of the Group thoroughly understand the Marudai Food Group’s Code of Conduct, and carry out a compliance training program every month
• Obtain more certifications for FSSC 22000, one of the international food safety standards which is based on the HACCP system

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Decreases in Japan’s total population and working-age population, its declining birthrate and rapidly aging population
• Saturated processed food market in terms of volume, or rather a shrinking trend of the market
• Increases in dual-income households and the ratio of women in the working-age population
• Expansion of e-commerce, rapidly advancing drug stores
• Animal epidemics both in Japan and abroad, U.S.-China trade friction, and growing geopolitical risks
• Concerns over a limit on imports and a rise in purchasing prices when the government takes a safeguard measure
• Global changes in the supply-demand balance
• Impact of the fluctuations in crude oil prices
• Fluctuations in foreign exchange rates on local currencies
• The pandemic of a new virus or an equivalent
• Suspension of operations caused by the effects of a natural disaster, such as an earthquake or a typhoon
• A case where there is a fluctuation in the market value of plan assets or when there is a change in the assumptions, such as an investment return or discount rates, that are used to calculate retirement benefit obligations
• Possible loss of our growth opportunity due to delay in catching up with diverse values and changes in the consumer lifestyles
• Delay in responding to social and environmental issues at each stage of our supply chain
• Risk of climate change and geopolitical risk
• Depletion of food resources
• Jeopardized social credibility due to delay in taking measures to reduce food waste
• Increased production costs resulting from delay in taking measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Jeopardized social credibility due to delay in taking measures against global warming
• Increased production costs resulting from delay in taking measures to reduce waste
• Jeopardized social credibility due to delay in shifting to using environment-friendly packaging materials
• Suspension of production caused by droughts, floods, and deteriorating water quality
• Needs to acquire organizational capabilities that give us a competitive advantage
• A labor shortage and a rise in costs caused by diversified recruiting channels and intensified recruiting competition
• An increase in risks that threaten the corporate management due to a fragile governance system
• Impacts on our business continuity brought by delay in establishing a risk management system
• Confusion that affects organizational management or a reduction in operational profitability, caused by unstable political, economic, or social situations, such as a financial crisis or trade war
• Reduced competitiveness resulting from the incapability of catching up with digital transformation
• Reduced competitiveness resulting from a fragile IT management system
• Impacts on operations caused by intellectual property risk
• Jeopardized social credibility due to delay in taking measures for a health management system

Mitigation Strategies

• Implement a policy for improving productivity and cost competitiveness in all departments
• Diversify raw material procurement channels and take other measures to procure raw materials stably
• Work to develop highly value-added products
• Establish an appropriate management system to prevent infection or its expansion
• Work further to improve a system for disaster prevention and mitigation, and risk management, aiming to minimize the damage and casualties caused by natural disasters
• As an asset owner of a corporate pension, we monitor how assets are managed, as needed, by deploying appropriate personnel to a corporate pension fund
• Reduce risk by transferring part of the defined-benefit pension plans to a defined-contribution pension plan in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017
• Monitor their progress in achieving operational plans, as their parent company
• Reduce risk by importing part of products on a yen basis and, for foreign-currency trade, using foreign exchange futures contracts
• Obtain more certifications for FSSC 22000, one of the international food safety standards which is based on the HACCP system
• Establish a strict quality management system by the quality assurance department
• Strengthen our efforts to secure safety and improve product quality as well as to prevent the occurrence of products of poor quality or defects
• Comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including the Food Sanitation Act, the Act on Japanese Agricultural Standards (the JAS Act), and the Food Labeling Act, among others, all of which are related to food safety, in addition to the laws and regulations related to the environmental protection and recycling
• Strengthen a system to comply with relevant laws and regulations in close cooperation between the legal department and relevant departments
• Strengthen our capabilities to respond to the market needs through our food products, with the strategy to swiftly launch new products
• Implement appropriate methods, from the consumer perspective, for supplying products, providing services, and making appropriate disclosure
• Strengthen the cooperation with suppliers for more stable raw material procurement
• Establish a system to procure essential raw materials in a responsible manner by conducting human rights due diligence
• Comply with relevant laws and regulations and promote fair trading and business practices
• Promote the operations aimed at mutually sustainable business development with suppliers
• Improve manufacturing methods so that they will contribute to reducing food waste in the manufacturing process
• Make the shelf life of products longer to reduce the food loss resulting from discarding food products before they reach consumers, decrease defective products returned from retailers or consumers
• Engage in a long-term initiative aimed at carbon neutrality throughout a product life cycle
• Work on the information disclosure according to the TCFD framework
• Reduce environmental footprint by promoting energy saving
• Strengthen our efforts to reduce the amount of energy used for production by introducing the facility using less energy or an equivalent
• Strengthen our efforts to reduce the greenhouse gasses generated by logistics or transportation by encouraging the transport modal shift, etc.
• Promote an initiative to reduce waste by using lightweight wrapping and packaging materials
• Promote a 3R strategy—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle—for wrapping and packaging materials
• Promote the recycling of food waste into livestock feed or manure
• Promote the adoption of environment-friendly wrapping and packaging materials
• Strengthen the management of personnel training programs with a focus on diverse values and specialties
• Promote the work style reform
• Promote diversity and launch an initiative to enhance opportunities for women
• Expanded the provision of support for employees with children so that they can continue to work while raising children, and obtained the certification under the Regulation for Enforcement of the Act to Advance Measures to Support Next-Generation Child-Rearing, or the Kurumin certification program
• Educate all the employees of the Group about the Marudai Food Group’s Code of Conduct to make them thoroughly understand it
• Strengthen our corporate governance system by establishing the Risk Management Committee, the Corporate Ethics Committee, the Compliance Committee, and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.
• Establish the Marudai counseling line (a whistleblowing system)
• Promote swift management decision-making and more efficient operations by making the maximum use of the enterprise system
• Strengthen the information security by formulating IT management and operation rules
• Manage intellectual property risk
• Strengthen an initiative aimed for health management
• Enhance a system that provides stress checkups and monitors mental health conditions
• Address an issue of a dwindling and aging population (the research and development of plasmalogen, a material that can support the brain function)

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Strengthen the cooperation with suppliers for more stable raw material procurement
• Establish a system to procure essential raw materials in a responsible manner by conducting human rights due diligence
• Comply with relevant laws and regulations and promote fair trading and business practices
• Promote the operations aimed at mutually sustainable business development with suppliers

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Increased costs for raw material prices, among others, due to higher temperatures
• A negative impact on our operations due to the flood damage or delay in logistics caused by natural disaster

Transition Risks

• Increased costs for taking measures to comply with environmental restrictions
• Increased costs for procuring raw materials due to the introduction of a carbon tax
• Increased costs for energy due to the introduction of a carbon tax
• Decreased net sales due to delay in catching up with changes in consumers’ preference
• A negative impact on fundraising and suppliers’ choice of products due to delay in taking measures against climate change

Opportunities

• Reduced costs by improving the logistics efficiency as part of our carbon reduction efforts
• More stable fundraising thanks to enhanced social reputation achieved by our measures against climate change
• New markets created through our development of meat substitutes made from vegetables, long-life products, and low-carbon footprint products

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: TCFD

Certifications: FSSC 22000

Third-party Assurance: KPMG AZSA LLC

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• PlantRECIPE series (meat substitutes made from vegetables)

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate change
• Human capital and diversity
• Corporate governance

Environmental Achievements

• Reused 91.9% of food waste (FY2023), targeting 95% by FY2031
• Greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) of 113,043 t-CO2 in FY2023, targeting 77,760 t-CO2 by FY2031

Social Achievements

• Obtained Kurumin certification for support of employees with children
• Percentage of female managers among all managers at 5.1% in FY2024, targeting 10% or more by FY2033
• Active dietary education activities

Governance Achievements

• Established the Sustainability Promotion Office (April 1, 2023)
• Established committees to enhance objectivity and transparency (Compliance Committee, Nomination and Remuneration Committee)
• Monthly compliance training for all employees

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Rising raw material prices and energy costs
• Concerns over declining consumer confidence
• Labor shortages
• Shortages of transportation capacity
• Changes in market structure due to diversified consumer values
• Social interest in food safety and health
• Climate change risks (physical and transition)
• Geopolitical risks

Mitigation Strategies

• 3-year medium-term rolling plan with five basic policies (creation of new customer value, reform in earnings structure, expansion of business domains, development of human resources, and contribution to a sustainable society)
• Restructuring announced in March 2023
• Optimizing raw material procurement and supply chain
• Diversifying raw material procurement channels
• Developing highly value-added products
• Strengthening disaster prevention and mitigation systems
• Promoting transport modal shift to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from logistics
• Initiatives to reduce food waste and promote recycling
• TCFD recommendations implementation
• Strengthening corporate governance through committees and Code of Conduct
• Measures for labor shortage (diversifying recruiting channels and reforming personnel system)
• Promoting diversity and enhancing opportunities for women
• Improving workplace environment and health management

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Sustainable procurement practices
• Human rights due diligence

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Flood damage
• Natural disasters impacting logistics

Transition Risks

• Increased costs for environmental restrictions
• Increased raw material costs due to carbon tax
• Negative impact on fundraising and supplier choices due to delays in climate action

Opportunities

• Development of vegetable-based products
• Reduced environmental footprint through energy saving
• New markets for meat substitutes, long-life products, and low-carbon footprint products

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: TCFD

Certifications: Kurumin, FSSC 22000

Third-party Assurance: KPMG AZSA LLC

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Tappuri Tsukaeru series (using environmentally friendly packaging)
• Oishii Gen-en series (reduced salt content)
• Vegetable-based meat substitutes

Awards & Recognition

• Kurumin certification