Reduction of Food Loss and Waste and Upcycling
Sustainability Management
Material ESG Issues
Environmentally Responsible
MONOZUKURI
Sustainability Areas
Priority Actions
Issue recognition
There are growing concerns over future food supply, resulting from global population growth, climate change, and biodiversity loss. Meanwhile, the unfair distribution of food resources is a major global issue, with some countries generating huge amounts of food loss and waste.
As a manufacturer of food ingredients and in light of these issues, the Fuji Oil Group recognizes that the efficient use of limited food resources is an important responsibility. We are addressing this challenge through helping end consumers to reduce food waste and upcycling by-products from our food manufacturing processes.
Risk management initiatives
At our R&D Division, we are working on the following initiatives in order to keep up with ever-changing social needs and address issues:
- Offer customers product concepts and recipe ideas that help solve social issues as a single package
Metrics and targets
: At least 90% complete, : At least 60% complete, : Less than 60% complete
| FY2025 Goals | FY2025 Results | Self-assessment |
|---|---|---|
| [Reducing food waste] Develop technologies and products to maintain food quality longer and extend best-before dates |
Developed products such as blending cream to improve the shelf life and handling of fresh cream. These products are being adopted, mainly by customers in the food service sector | |
| [Upcycling] Seek new functions and value through proactive and effective use of by-products |
Made progress in developing new applications for soybean fiber and soy polysaccharides. These multi-functional ingredients are well-received and are being adopted by customers |
Analysis
In terms of reducing food waste, we have developed a new cream product containing functional oils and fats to help extend best-before dates of customers’ products, which has been adopted by several companies.
Regarding upcycling, we are developing applications for SOYACELL, a new product made through novel use of okara (soy pulp), which has been adopted for multiple purposes in food applications. In non-food applications, newly discovered uses of soy whey are expanding the market for SoyBio MA.
Next steps
We will focus our efforts on developing ingredients and technologies that maintain the “freshly made” quality of foods. We will also search for ways to make good use of what is typically discarded as waste. Building on our efforts in FY2025, we will continue working on the following goals in FY2026:
- Develop technologies and products to maintain food quality longer and extend best-before dates
- Seek new functions and value through proactive and effective use of by-products
Specific initiatives
Developing ingredients that sustain food quality, helping to reduce food waste
Extending the best-before dates of products is globally one of the key measures promoted to reduce food waste. By providing technologies and materials that maintain quality, Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. makes retort pouch foods and other non-perishable food products more delicious and varied, which also helps reduce food waste.
Nowadays, from the perspective of preventing food waste, there is growing demand for ingredients that maintain food quality for longer after cooking or when products are displayed.
In response to this demand, in FY2025 we developed Mileasy, a cream product that can be blended with fresh cream to prevent it from drying out and losing its flavor over time, thus preserving the deliciousness of freshly whipped cream for longer.
Our proprietary functional oils and fats used in Mileasy enable shelf life to be extended by preventing degradation in quality caused by showcase lighting and so on.
We will continue working on advanced technologies to maintain food quality, helping to reduce food waste.
Mileasy
Expanding the use of upcycled product SOYACELL in the food sector
Okara, or soy pulp, is a by-product produced in the manufacturing process of soy protein products. Focusing on its properties and application potential, Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. is making effective use of okara as SOYACELL, a soybean-derived dietary fiber ingredient made using our own processing technology.
By making full use of the raw material without wasting anything, this ingredient reduces environmental impact and achieves circular use of resources.
SOYACELL is rich in dietary fiber, and boasts high water retention and good stability against heat, acid and salt. Thanks to these qualities, it can be used in bread and baked goods to enhance the softness and pliability of dough, making products more freezable and creating a more chewable texture. It is used in a wide range of applications in the food sector, mainly for confectionery and bakery products.
In addition to these existing uses, SOYACELL has the potential for further applications, creating new value.
We will continue to develop ingredients based on the concept of upcycling, helping reduce food loss and achieve circular use of resources in the food sector.
SOYACELL
Expanding the use of upcycled product SoyBio MA to treat polluted soil
Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. has been providing nutritious food ingredients like soy proteins and soy peptides for many years. The processing of these food ingredients produces soy whey as a by-product, which is rich in natural nutrients and produced after separating and heat-concentrating the proteins from soybeans. We have upcycled this soy whey to produce and market SoyBio MA, a resource-recycling bioremediation* agent for detoxifying polluted soils (Distributor: Shoei Yakuhin Co., Ltd.). SoyBio MA works by serving as a source of nutrition for microorganisms that break down toxic substances. The product is especially effective in bioremediation of industrial brownfield sites that have been polluted by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oil. Recent research has revealed that it also has a detoxifying effect by reducing and insolubilizing harmful hexavalent chromium, raising expectations for expansion into new markets alongside its existing applications.
- * Bioremediation: A process of harnessing the natural activity of microorganisms to remediate polluted soil
SoyBio MA