Ensuring Food Safety and Quality

Relevance to our business

As a food ingredient manufacturer, the Fuji Oil Group recognizes its potential impact on food safety. We believe that it is important for us to ensure food safety and quality in full consideration of all processes, from product design, through raw material procurement, manufacturing, and shipping, to consumers’ consumption of our products.

Basic approach

For the Fuji Oil Group, providing safe and secure products to society is a prerequisite for its business activities as a food manufacturer. The Group established the Basic Policy of Quality in order to provide safe products, which customers can use with peace of mind. Through this policy, we aim to produce products using a customer-oriented approach in all processes, from product design to delivery to customers. We believe that we can contribute to comprehensive food safety and quality by enhancing our quality and food safety management based on the Quality Assurance Regulations and continuing to promote activities to raise employees’ quality awareness.

Management system

The Chief “ESG” Officer (C“ESG”O) oversees initiatives in this area. The ESG Committee,^*1 an advisory body to the board of directors, has been monitoring the progress and results of initiatives as a material ESG issue.^*2 The ESG Committee reports insights to the board of directors for review.
The Fuji Oil Group’s sales divisions and customer service desks receive customer grievances, complaints, and inquiries related to quality. These are evaluated by the Quality Assurance Department or the department in charge of quality assurance at each Group company, and then verified and investigated by the relevant departments. After that, responses are confirmed by the department in charge and relayed to the sales divisions, which communicate with the customers.
In addition, each Group company collects and analyzes data on grievances and complaints filed to them by customers. Fuji Oil Holdings Inc. compiles and analyzes those data, reports the results to the Management Committee, and shares the information to all Group companies.

• *1 Follow the link below to learn more about the ESG Committee.

  https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainabiity/approach/

• *2 Follow the link below to learn more about material ESG issues.

  https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/materiality/

Goals / Results

Analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the burden on management at each Group company with the need to implement infection control measures among employees and deal with labor shortages. As a result of the efforts made by each company to maintain hygiene at production sites through continuous corrective actions and preventive measures, there were no serious quality-related complaints (recalls). Moreover, we were able to facilitate the development of a quality-related information sharing platform as the level of demand for quality assurance rose, since managers in charge at each company recognized the importance of sharing information among Group companies.

Next step

To ensure food safety and quality, it is essential to reduce quality-related complaints and improve the level of quality assurance in Group companies. To address these issues, we set the following goals for FY2021.

• Raise quality awareness of employees in order to achieve zero serious quality-related complaints
• Encourage use of the quality-related information platform, which is directly accessible to quality control managers, and strengthen relationships between quality control managers

Risk management and countermeasures

Quality management system

Each Fuji Oil Group company has a quality management system to ensure that the Fuji Oil Group Basic Policy of Safety, Quality and Environment is applied to its business activities. In addition, the Group established the Quality Assurance Regulations in order to monitor the management status of each Group company based on these regulations through safety, quality and environmental audits. Furthermore, we share activities, best practices and management know-how within the Group.

Acquisition of Management Certifications

Follow the link below to learn more about Group companies’ management certification status.

• https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/authen/

Establishing a network among quality control managers

We are working to establish a network that allows resources (experience-based know-how, regulatory trends unique to each region, etc.) possessed by each Group company to be shared among the Group companies. The objectives are to reduce or eliminate potential risks and to solve problems quickly through mutual cooperation. These risks include failures to share the experience and knowledge of other Group companies, or to share the latest information on food regulations in other countries and international food trends. Specifically, our goal is to promote information sharing among quality control managers involved in quality assurance, in order to enhance our quality assurance system.

Risk management methods for food safety

Fuji Oil Group companies and their relevant organizational units manage and respond to food safety risks as part of the Group’s overall risk management system.^*

• * Follow the link below to learn more about the risk management system.

  https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/governance/risk/

Food safety-related risks and countermeasures

In FY2020, the risk assessment for the entire Fuji Oil Group once again identified food safety-related risks, including contamination with foreign matter, allergens and inappropriate raw materials. We have been working to reduce these risks by acquiring certifications on food safety and quality management, conducting focused evaluations, providing guidance and implementing improvements on these risks through internal audits, and intensifying the implementation of 3S and 5S methodologies.

Education

The Fuji Oil Group provides education to employees to raise quality awareness. Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. supports activities at each plant conducted in accordance with the action guidelines and holds lectures on hygiene and other matters. In FY2020, the annual hygiene lecture was canceled due to COVID-19. Instead, we carried out educational and awareness programs through e-learning.
In addition, every November we participate in Quality Month, which is organized by the Quality Month Committee, a Japanese industry organization. During Quality Month, we conduct various activities focusing on predefined themes to raise awareness on quality among our employees.
We have also continued providing Group companies outside Japan with technical guidance on newly introduced analytical equipment to improve the overall quality management level of our Group. We will continue promoting technological exchange among Group companies to enable wider use of the Group’s advanced analytical techniques, and to provide safer and more reliable products to our customers worldwide.

Product labeling

Information indicated on labels of Fuji Oil Group products varies considerably depending on the country where the product is sold. The Quality Assurance Department or the department in charge of quality assurance at each Group company collects information to ensure that product labels comply with the laws and regulations of each country and region.
At Fuji Oil Co., Ltd., the Quality Assurance Department collects information daily on relevant laws and regulations, and issues updates on any revisions to the relevant departments via the regularly distributed “Food Safety Information,” in order to ensure that these revisions are promptly and accurately reflected in product labels. We also have a system in place to ensure that the staff in the development, production and quality assurance departments check the content of product labels before printing to avoid any errors that would violate laws or regulations. We strive to enhance transparency by disclosing information to our customers in a timely fashion through product specifications and the Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. website.
In FY2020, no serious labeling violations occurred at Group companies in or outside Japan.

Recalls and other incidents

In FY2020, the Fuji Oil Group did not recall any products.