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ステークホルダーエンゲージメント

Stakeholder Engagement

Basic Philosophy

The Nichirei Group engages in global business activities, and as such recognizes the importance of maintaining dialogue with its diverse stakeholders. We work to promote understanding of our business through various methods of communication with stakeholders and by disclosing information. The Group works to build corporate value by reflecting the expectations and concerns of stakeholders in its business activities to establish long-term relationships of trust.

Relationship Expectations and Interests Communication Channels Outcomes Related Capital Related Material Matters
Customers Customers Customers who use the Nichirei Group’s products and services. By responding to the needs of diverse customers while providing new value, we will contribute to good eating habits and health.
  • Creation of new value
  • Provision of safe, high-quality products and servicesDetails
  • Realization of good eating habits and health
  • Provision of appropriate information
  • Sustainability initiatives
  • Day-to-day sales and business activities
  • Customer Service Center
  • Customer satisfaction surveys
  • Websites
  • Social media
Resolution of issues for customers through the promotion of innovation Social and relationship capital
  1. 1.Creating new value in food and health
  2. 2.Strengthening food processing and production technology capabilities; enhancing logistics services
Shareholders and Investors Shareholders and Investors The providers of financial capital for the Nichirei Group. Through dialogue and information disclosure, we gain their support for our sustainable growth.
  • Maintaining and improving corporate value
  • Appropriate distribution of profits
  • Timely and appropriate disclosure of information
  • ESG initiatives
  • General Meetings of Shareholders
  • Financial results briefings
  • Business information sessions, facility tours
  • Detailed interviews with individual investors in Japan and overseas
  • IR website, ESG website
  • Integrated Report
  • Shareholder Report
Improvement of long-term corporate value Financial capital
  1. 1.Creating new value in food and health
  2. 2.Strengthening food processing and production technology capabilities; enhancing logistics services
  3. 3.Realizing sustainable food procurement and a circular economy
  4. 4.Climate change initiatives
  5. 5.Securing and developing a diverse array of human resources
Business Partners Business Partners The suppliers who do business with the Nichirei Group, including suppliers of raw materials and commercial products, OEMs to which it outsources manufacturing, and third parties to which it outsources logistics services such as transportation and cargo handling. They are important partners for co-creating value, and we build long-term relationships of trust with them for mutual growth.
  • Impartial, fair, and honest transactions
  • Initiatives to improve quality
  • Formation of long-term, constructive relationships and mutual development premised on coexistence and co-prosperity
  • Realization of sustainable procurement throughout the supply chainDetails
  • Day-to-day procurement and business activities
  • Meetings and seminars for business partners
  • Implementation of Supplier Code of Conduct, Supplier Guidelines, and Supplier ESG Survey
  • Initiatives for improving quality through communication
Mutual growth with partners
Sustainable food procurement
Realization of a circular economy
Climate change initiatives
Financial capital
Natural capital
  1. 1.Creating new value in food and health
  2. 2.Strengthening food processing and production technology capabilities; enhancing logistics services
  3. 3.Realizing sustainable food procurement and a circular economy
  4. 4.Climate change initiatives
Employees Employees Nichirei Group employees are indispensable for creating value and producing safe, high-quality products and services. We respect the diversity of our employees, and strive to ensure occupational health and safety and to provide fair treatment and opportunities for personal development. We also strive to increase engagement by continuously improving the workplace to enable every employee to thrive.
  • Occupational health and safetyDetails
  • Health management
  • Improvement of work satisfaction
  • Opportunities for employees to develop and fully demonstrate their skills
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I)
  • Respect for diversity
  • Internal whistleblower hotlines
  • Employee assistance and mental health consultation center
  • Labor–management council
  • Health and safety committees
  • Symposiums involving management and employees
  • PR brochures
  • Intranet
  • Employee award system
  • Employee satisfaction survey
  • Employee stress checks
Advancement of diverse human resources Intellectual capital
Human capital
  1. 5.Securing and developing a diverse array of human resources
Local Communities Local Communities As a member of society, the Nichirei Group contributes to the development of local communities and helps resolve social issues through dialogue and by thinking and acting together with a broad range of stakeholders. In addition to creating local employment through our businesses, we consider local communities and their environment and promote coexistence.
  • Harmonious coexistence with local communitiesDetails
  • Preservation of local environments
  • Educational activities in local communities
  • Contribution to job creation and local community development
  • Consideration for the environment and sound levels, and safe operations
  • Social contribution activities
  • Participation in local events
  • Volunteer activities
  • Dietary education activities (ethical consumption)
  • Food factory and distribution warehouse tours
  • Sponsorship of sporting events
  • Website
Harmonious coexistence with local communities
Sustainable food procurement Realization of a circular economy
Climate change initiatives
Social and relationship capital
Natural capital
  1. 3.Realizing sustainable food procurement and a circular economy
  2. 4.Climate change initiatives
  3. 5.Securing and developing a diverse array of human resources
Trade Organizations, NGOs, NPOs and Related Initiatives Trade Organizations, NGOs, NPOs and Related Initiatives By actively participating in trade organization conferences and other events, the Nichirei Group collaborates with other companies to help resolve issues. We also work to solve such issues by collaborating and cooperating with various NGOs and NPOs in Japan and abroad.
  • Human rightsDetails
  • Climate change
  • Preservation of the global environment
  • Food loss and food waste
  • Sustainable food procurement
  • Resolution of industry issues through collaboration
  • TCFD Consortium
  • Japan Frozen Food Association
  • Japan Association of Refrigerated Warehouses
  • Japan Fisheries Association
  • World Wide Fund for Nature
  • Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
  • Caux Round Table Japan
  • The Consumer Goods Forum
  • The UN Global Compact
Resolution of social issues through collaboration Social and relationship capital
  1. 3.Realizing sustainable food procurement and a circular economy
  2. 4.Climate change initiatives
Nicihrei Corporation, Strategic Planning, Nichirei Corporation, Quality Assurance Division, Nichirei Corporation, Technology Management, Nichirei Corporation, Corporate Internal Audit, Nichirei Corporation, Corporate Supervise, Nichirei Corporation, Legal Affairs, Nichirei Corporation, Human Resources Strategy & General Affairs, Nichirei Corporation, Finance & Investor Relations, Nichirei Corporation, Accounting & Tax, Nichirei Corporation, Group Communication, Nichirei Foods Inc., Nichirei Fresh Inc., Nichirei Logistics Group Inc., Nichirei Biosciences Inc., Hitachi Foods & Logistics Systems,Inc., NIchirei Bisiness Partners .inc

Initiatives

Contributions through Use of Company Resources

Chichijima, Ogasawara Islands

The Nitto Ice Manufacturing Company set up an ice-making plant on Chichijima one of the Ogasawara islands. It survived the confiscation of Ogasawara by the US military after World War II ended and, when the island was returned to Japan in 1968, the land and buildings were registered as the property of Nichirei. Chichijima had several flourishing activities at the time, including the production of crafts made using Pandanus boninensis leaves, and hula dancing by local groups. The Nichirei Group wanted its facilities to be used for those pursuits, so it demolished the buildings and planted grass, for which it cared.

小笠原諸島父島

Urabandai

Food and Logistics Education Making Use of Business Characteristics

Nichirei Foods’ Food Education Activities

Nichirei Foods conducts various food education programs to promote a healthy future for all children. Food is indispensable and intricately connected to our everyday life. Good eating habits nurture a healthy spirit and healthy body. In order that children may grow up healthy, it is important that they understand the importance of food and are able to choose it properly. Nichirei Foods conducts various initiatives designed to enable people to learn and think about food, and do related hands-on work with children.

Food Development Center “KidZania Tokyo,” “KidZania Koshien”
Children on a Factory Tour

The concepts are See! Learn! Enjoy!, and Nichirei Foods employees are the teachers. They use videos and PowerPoint slides to explain the frozen food manufacturing process to elementary school students, including the production of frozen food products, Honkaku-Itamae Cha-Han (fried rice) and Imagawayaki. The program, which allows children to have fun while learning, is full of frozen food quizzes and videos that they otherwise would never see, even on an actual tour. In that way, the program teaches the students about Nichirei Foods’ careful approach to manufacturing and the merits of frozen food. In FY2020, the Group held 52 factory tours with 1,700 children participating. Sometimes they were watching videos while smiling, and sometimes they had intent expressions.

Five Flavors Identification Test

In this food education program, participants took a taste test in which they tried to identify the five tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Employees gave talks on how the tastes felt and what makes a frozen food. In FY2020, this event was held eleven times with more than 400 people participating.
* Not available to the public.

FamilyApps

With FamilyApps, a smartphone app that families can enjoy together, Nichirei Foods has distributed an app called “Let's Make a Delicious Nichirei Lunch!” that enables users to make lunches using Nichirei Foods’ frozen products. The content, which allows kids to have fun while making lunch, helps deepen their interest in, and concern regarding, food. In FY2020, this event was held 11 times with 4,400 people participating.

Nichirei Fresh Food Education Activities

Food education classes are organized in elementary schools and preschools in the town of Karumai using a dish the Group call Fresh Chicken Karumai. In the classes the Group presents easy-to-understand information that includes the following: Iwate Prefecture boasts the nation's third-highest production of poultry, after Miyazaki and Kagoshima Prefectures; the company’s Junwakei breed of chicken is raised on feed rice produced in Karumai; and the guano from Junwakei chickens is used as an organic fertilizer for the feed rice. In addition to teaching the children about the production cycle, they are served Junwakei chicken in their school lunch that day. The Group will always value opportunities such as these to connect with people in the region, as it continue to develop attractive business opportunities.

Logistics-related Education

Internships in the Logistics Industry

Since 2014, the Nichirei Logistics Group has been participating as an intern-accepting company in the Logistics Industry Internship program hosted by the Japan Association for Logistics and Transport. This initiative allows university students to get a broad view of, and experience in, the logistics industry. On the first day of the internship, the Group gave a presentation on the Nichirei Logistics Group’s business, followed by discussions concerning food logistics and tours of logistics centers. Students who attended told us that this opportunity had enabled them to understand the importance of food logistics, and that it increased their interest in logistics as a commercial activity to transport goods to customers. The Group will continue to participate in tertiary-level courses, to further broaden the appeal of the logistics industry.

Workplace Tours and Job Experience

Logistics Center Field Trip/Internship

The Nichirei Logistics Group continues to accept business site tours centered on elementary and junior high school students in the surrounding area at distribution centers around the world. In July 2019, at the Sendai DC of the Nichirei Logistics Tohoku Inc., we conducted a tour for a total of 29 people (parents and children living in the prefecture) who participated the event named “Join an Expedition to Explore the Port of Sendai During the Summer Holidays” sponsored by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. As part of our community contribution activities, the Sendai DC holds similar tours every year for elementary school students during the summer vacation to deepen their understanding of the companies that use Sendai Port, including the role of "the Port". On the day of the event, after explaining the outline and business contents of the center, we visited the premises of each temperature zone and conducted an experiment to freeze wet towels in the freezer. By actually experiencing the distribution center, we had them deepen their understanding of food distribution.

Activities to Reduce Food Loss and Food Waste

“Nichirei Food Loss Research Institute” Website

The Nichirei Group is working to address the social issue of food loss. Our activities include reexamining causes of food loss from both scientific and supply chain standpoints to determine effective reduction approaches. We also propose reduction methods using the cold chain function of the Nichirei Group.

  • ニチレイ食品ロス研究所
Food Bank

Since 2006, Nichirei Foods and Nichirei Logistics Group have supported the activities of NPO Second Harvest Japan. We donate a total of 20,000 cases of frozen foods annually to various welfare facilities, including foster homes, mother and child support centers, and facilities that support people with disabilities.
In addition to supplying these products, we also provide logistical support for frozen foods to ensure that the items can be consumed with peace of mind.

The Process Leading up to Delivery of Donated Food
Sampling Events at Employee Cafeterias

At employee cafeterias, Nichirei Foods holds sampling events through a unique initiative that uses products whose external packaging has been crushed or otherwise damaged in logistics or distribution but are otherwise still fully suitable for consumption. We have also endorsed the NO-FOODLOSS PROJECT of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. In support of this project, we are working to make donations that reduce food loss and to raise internal awareness.

  • ニチレイ食品ロス研究所
Kodomo Shokudo

Nichirei Foods began supporting kodomo shokudo in 2021 with the cooperation of NPO Musubie, which supports these government-sponsored drop-in centers that provide free or reduced-price meals for children and families in need across Japan.

  • 「NPO Musubie」 Logo
  • Kodomo Shokudo

Support through Business Activities

Nichirei Foods Hagukumi Forest

Nichirei Foods’ Mori factory in Hokkaido began a partnership with the town of Mori in Kayabe District, Hokkaido to perform forest maintenance on town-owned lands as part of the “Nichirei Hagukumi Forest” initiative. This initiative, ”Good for the forest!,” as part of the Group’s activities to help the forest, involves a plan to plant trees in a 1.2 hectare plot of land owned by Mori, as well as plant and nurture 400 cherry blossom (Someiyoshino) trees, the town’s plant symbol, over ten years. The employees at the Mori factory along with their families and the rest of the community participate as well, and the Group is working to help the activity take root in the region.
 The “Good for the forest!” conservation activity is spreading to other factories, with Kyurei working to restore the pine trees of the Satsuki Matsubara area in Munakata City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Nichirei Foods’ Shiroishi Factory supporting beech forestation efforts in the Zao area.

Continuation of support for areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake — On-site class "Virtual Factory Tour" held at an elementary school in Ishinomaki City (Nichirei Foods)

In an effort to support communities that have been affected by the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan’s Tohoku region in 2011, Nichirei Foods Inc. has organized cooking classes in temporary housing facilities. Even after large numbers of people moved from those facilities, Nichirei Foods continued its support. Employees were sent schools to give students a virtual experience of a factory tour. Using audio-video materials showing an actual production plant, the employees gave the students easy-to-understand lessons about the processes involved in making frozen food products, Nichirei Foods’ safety and security initiatives, and its fastidious manufacturing techniques. In FY2020, cooking classes were held in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture at Futamata Elementary School and Minato Elementary School, with a total of 41 children participating.

Providing Test Drugs to Myanmar Medical Institutions (Nichirei Biosciences)

Since 2006, we, Nichirei Biosciences, have been donating our test drugs for pathological examinations, which are difficult to obtain in Myanmar, to local medical institutions through Department of Pathology, Niigata University School of Medicine. Our donations include forty-three types of antibodies for immunostaining and reagents, to First and Second Medical Universities, Sanpya Hospital, and Yankin Children Hospital to a total of six facilities, and these antibodies have been used for medical treatment like practical research and pathological diagnosis. In January 2020, Dr. Makoto Naito of Niigata University visited the Second Medical College with our products and explained the precautions, main points of quality control, as well as the importance of immunostaining in pathological diagnosis through his own experiences. We would like to continue contributing to the improvement of pathological research/diagnosis and medical education in Myanmar.

Support for Hospitality Guest House

There are over 500 incurable diseases of unknown original that affect children, and there are 200,000 children fighting these illnesses. It is impossible to calculate the financial burden and mental anguish inflicted on them and their families. The foundation A Dream A Day In Tokyo conducts activities to help give courage to children with major illnesses, reduce their family’s anguish, and create happy memories during their trip to Tokyo. As an endorsee of the foundation’s aims, the Nichirei Group provides support in the form of tours of Nichirei Foods and KidZania, and use of the Sukore Yukigaya training center for accommodations.

  • Nichirei’s training center provides lodgingsNichirei’s training center provides lodgings
  • Nichirei’s training center provides lodgings
Rollout of MIRAI MEAT to Support Young Athletes with Meat

On December 20, 2019, Nichirei Fresh began rolling out MIRAI MEAT, a new project to provide meat to support young up-and-coming athletes. In this project, we supply our Amani-no-Megumi series of specialty meat products to young athletes between the ages of 10 and 29 who are pursuing their dreams.
Athletes require a high-quality diet for fatigue recovery, physical fitness and weight control. Although top athletes often receive specialized dietary support, access to such support is limited to only some athletes.
In keeping with the important role we play in supplying high-quality animal proteins, we launched this project with a strong commitment to providing more dietary support to new athletic talent of the next generation.
Over a one-year period, up-and-coming athletes that pass Nichirei’s selection process are provided with products from the Amani-no-Megumi meat series, which are made from animals raised on feed containing ingredients derived from omega-3 fatty acid-rich linseed meal.

Participation in a Tree-Planting Initiative Aimed at Increasing Fish Stocks

Since 2013, Nichirei Fresh has participated in a tree-planting initiative led by the National Federation of Fisheries in Oumu, Hokkaido, aimed at increasing fish stocks.
Held annually, this initiative was launched to improve the return rate of salmon and trout by enriching the surrounding environment of the Horonai River, which flows by a salmon and trout hatchery in Horonai, Hokkaido. Another objective is to increase other fish species by restoring the overall marine environment.
In 2023, the 28th year of the initiative, approximately 100 people participated, including Nichirei Fresh employees and members of the local community. The participants planted 700 trees, mainly Japanese oak, bringing the total number of trees planted so far to 25,200.

  • Participation in a Tree-Planting Initiative Aimed at Increasing Fish Stocks

Supporting Sports for Healthy Living

Along with food, Nichirei supports sports as one of the pillars of health.

Nichirei Group Social Contribution Activities

Nichirei Group Social Contribution Activities (five Years)
Donations to Support Disaster-hit Areas

In FY2012, Nichirei decided to donate 10 million yen per year for five years, for a total of 150 million yen, to each of the three prefectures—Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima—hardest hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011. At Nichirei Ladies, the official Ladies Professional Golfers’ Association of Japan tour held in June 2011, all entrance fees were donated to the city and prefecture of Chiba.
In addition, after the Kumamoto earthquake in 2016, in addition to donating 10 million yen to Kumamoto Prefecture, we responded to requests from the prefecture and provided 9,000 Restaurant Use Only beef curry meals to the Uki City Hall.
In response to support the early recovery of devastated area, we offered some donations through the Japanese Red Cross Society and also by the Nichirei Fureai Fund, in which the company matches contributions made by employees, we donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society to assist with initial restoration efforts in areas heavily damaged by the disaster.

Fureai Fund Donations

The Nichirei Group’s social contributions include fund-raising activities and donations. Through endorsement contributions from employees and donations made by the company itself, the Nichirei Fureai Fund, set up in 1993, provides financial support for social welfare, disaster and medical relief, and donations to disaster areas affected by natural disasters and other events.
Through the Central Community Chest of Japan and the Tokyo Good Will Bank, we provide support via graduation congratulatory money to help support the independence of children in social care, as well as via “children’s cafeterias” to aid those in difficult circumstances and victims of bullying, etc. Nichirei also provides support for preparation expenses for disaster relief to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

In FY2019, we contributed 310 million yen as the total amount of group social contributions(donations, etc.).

Support for the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund

Nichirei endorses the spirit of the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund, to which it has been donating since 1994. The fund supports nature conservation activities primarily in the developing areas of the Asia-Pacific region, as well as conservation activities and the sustainable use of natural resources in order to maintain the preservation of Japan’s splendid natural environment.

Eco-caps

At all workplaces of the Nichirei Group plastic bottle caps from PET bottles are collected to support the activities of NPOs that sell them as plastic raw materials to recycling companies, thereby raising money to fund vaccines for children in developing countries. The sale of 800 caps brings in roughly 20 yen, which pays for a polio vaccine for one person. By contrast, were the caps burned as garbage, 3,150 grams of CO₂ would be released per 400 caps, so recycling the caps also helps reduce CO₂ emissions.

Participation in Table for Two

The Nichirei Group participates in Table for Two, an employee-participation social contribution activity that starts in the employee cafeteria. The project involves adding 20 yen—the cost of a school lunch for one child in a developing country—to the cost of the cafeteria food to make a food-support donation. Moreover, the foods that can provide this donation are limited to healthy, low-calorie items, so that the program also plays a role in improving employee health. The program is currently conducted at two workplaces, the Nichirei Higashi Ginza Building and the Technology Development Center.

Establishment of the Nichirei MIRAIterrace Foundation

In August 2022, we established the Nichirei MIRAIterrace Foundation with the aim of tackling social issues related to food and health from a long-term perspective.
Based on our strong desire to deliver fresh foods in a stable supply to people suffering from postwar food shortages, we have been working to solve various social issues since our establishment as a company that supports the Japanese diet through food production and cold storage logistics business.
In recent years, there have been major changes in the environment surrounding food and health, such as the diversification of lifestyles and the increase in households with small numbers of people, and there are concerns about the lifelong impact on health resulting from unbalanced nutritional intake in the daily diet.
We have established this foundation because we believe that in order to resolve these issues, we need to engage in broad dialogue, think together, and act together with all concerned members of society.
The foundation provides grants and other support to social welfare organizations, including Kodomo Shokudo (“children’s cafeterias”). We will help support good eating habits and health so that we can provide true satisfaction to as many people as possible.

Nicihrei Corporation, Strategic Planning, Nichirei Corporation, Quality Assurance Division, Nichirei Corporation, Technology Management, Nichirei Corporation, Corporate Internal Audit, Nichirei Corporation, Corporate Supervise, Nichirei Corporation, Legal Affairs, Nichirei Corporation, Human Resources Strategy & General Affairs, Nichirei Corporation, Finance & Investor Relations, Nichirei Corporation, Accounting & Tax, Nichirei Corporation, Group Communication, Nichirei Foods Inc., Nichirei Fresh Inc., Nichirei Logistics Group Inc., Nichirei Biosciences Inc., Hitachi Foods & Logistics Systems,Inc., NIchirei Bisiness Partners .inc