FUJI OIL CO., LTD. | News Release

2000 12.06

Construction of Processed Soy Protein Foods Plant in Tsukuba, Kanto

With plans to construct a new factory for the Kanto market, Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. and Fuji Fresh Foods Co., Ltd. started construction on a protein foods plant at the Tsukuba High-tech Park Iwai, located in Ibaraki Prefecture. Completion is scheduled for June 2001.

Factory outline
Location : Tsukuba High-tech Park Iwai, Koushindaira, Iwai City, Ibaraki Prefecture
Land scale : Approx. 18,000 m2
Building scale : Approx. 5000 m2 (extended area approx. 10,000 m2)
Invested capital : 4.6 billion yen
Production capability : Approx. 6,000 tons/year
Construction starts : December 2000
Planned completion : June 2001
Number of employees : Approx. 130 employees

Presently, both Fuji Oil's and Fuji Fresh Foods' soy protein foods factories are working at full capacity and so to greatly increase sales and further develop the Kanto market, construction of this new factory was started.

The new factory will have three lines: a steam/bake line, a fry/steam line, and a fry line. The factory will also produce protein foods for both Fuji Oil and Fuji Fresh Foods.

Operating under the principles of "safety, quality, and preservation of the environment" as part of the Fuji group, the new factory is an HACCP-compatible sanitary facility and operates in accordance with ISO-9000 production standards. The new factory is able to process a wide variety of natural products such as vegetables and minced fish and is also fully equipped to deal with other foreign substances as well.

Being situated in the Kanto area, the new factory can respond to customer needs even faster and its cooperation with the Tsukuba Research and Development Center will advance the development of new products to meet the market.

Reasons behind the current success of soy protein foods are;

(1)	The advent of an aging population and the subsequent increase in concern over health issues has swollen demand.
(2)	With Health Institutes increasingly bringing to light the health benefits of soybeans, great changes are taking place in the recognition of soy protein.
(3)	Soy protein foods are much improved compared to the past, especially in taste and quality.
(4)	The American FDA's approval of soy protein in relation to heart disease has helped heighten this trend.

<Reference>

An outline of Fuji Oil Co., Ltd.
Established : October 1950
Capital : 13,208 million yen (end of March 2000)
Representative : Kichiji Yasui, President
Head Office : 1 Sumiyoshi-cho, Izumisano-shi, Osaka 598-8540
Number of employees : 1,202 (end of March 2000)
Business contents : The processing of basic vegetable oils and proteins to make plain chocolates, confectionery breads, foods, soy proteins, soymilk, soy protein foods, water-soluble soy polysaccharides, and soybean health foods, and the developing of each of them into family-products use. The soy protein food business has involved in every food market including frozen bean curd, "ganmo," fried bean curd, soy meatloaf, and other food processing and meal preparation, such as the box lunch (bento) and convenience store markets.

An outline of Fuji Fresh Foods Co., Ltd.
Established : March 1973,
Capital : 1100 million yen (end of March 2000)
Representative : Hirofumi Ando, President
Head office : Sasayama-shi, Hyogo prefecture
Number of employees : 125
Business contents : Using soy protein and minced fish as a base, and blending them with a variety of vegetables and heating by infrared for the development, production, and sales of healthy, protein dishes.