Utilization of Resources

The Kikkoman group addresses a reduction in food loss and a lineup of environmentally-friendly products to effectively utilize precious resources. As measures against food loss, we pursue a reduction in wastes generated in the processes of production and distribution.

Approaches in production departments (recycling of wastes and byproducts)

Through measures such as enhancing yield and improving producing processes, the Kikkoman group pursues a reduction in byproducts such as soy sauce cake, soy sauce oil, fruit pulp after juicing, okara (bean curd refuse), and processing residues and wastes such as sludge. We also pursue recycling and effective utilization of these.

1)Use of soy sauce cake

“Soy sauce cake” (soy sauce lee) is the byproduct remaining after pressing out raw soy sauce from moromi.
Soy sauce cake has been used as fuel, fertilizer, and animal feed. At Kikkoman Corporation, our research on its usefulness as feed began in 2004. Then the dryer for soy sauce cake was installed in the factory in 2006 followed by the introduction of packaging equipment in 2007. In the meanwhile, we developed and expanded the sales channels. Soy sauce cake contains fat, Vitamin E, Vitamin K1, isoflavones (genistein, daidzein, and glycitein) and other functional ingredients from soybeans which are good to feed to cattle, pigs, and poultry. We upgraded our facilities and equipment to save labor by the automating bagging system, and to make the feed production with higher hygiene. Kikkoman Food Products Company offers almost all of soy sauce cake generated in the soy sauce producing process to livestock farmers through feed producing companies.

Livestock feed made of soy sauce cake
Livestock feed made of soy sauce cake
Business cards on paper mixed with soy sauce cake
Business cards on paper mixed with soy sauce cake

In addition, Kikkoman collaborated with a paper manufacturing company to develop technology to mix soy sauce cake with non-wood paper pulp to produce paper products in 2000. Now, these paper products are used as business cards, etc.

2)Use of soy sauce oil

Boiler driven specifically by soy sauce oil
Boiler driven specifically by soy sauce oil

A great amount of oil from soybeans (soy sauce oil) is contained in raw soy sauce immediately after pressing. When it is stored in a clean tank, the oil comes floating to the upper part of the soy sauce tank forming an oil layer. This “soy sauce oil” had been used as fuel (“lamp oil” in the Edo era), a material for soap, and machine oil.

Kikkoman Food Products Company has reduced its consumption of fossil fuel since 1994 by using most of the soy sauce oil generated in the soy sauce producing process as carbon-neutral fuel.

3)Utilization of soybean powder

In June 2022, Kikkoman Food Products Company’s Noda Factory offered 220kg of soybean powder generated in the soy sauce producing process to Chiba Prefectural Agricultural College to support their research on “the value of unused resources as livestock feed.” The college has a plan to feed the soybean powder to pigs at the second half of the fattening phase, check their growth and senses, and investigate the cost efficiency and the value as livestock feed. Soybean powder has been disposed as industrial wastes until now. If it turns out to be valuable as livestock feed, this research will contribute not only to the livestock agriculture but also to environmental conservation such as a reduction in CO2 emissions generated from disposing of industrial wastes.

4)Use of okara

Raw food ingredient Okara Powder
Raw food ingredient Okara Powder

Kikkoman Soyfoods Company produces and sells soymilk products such as Chosei Tonyu and Oishii Muchosei Tonyu.
Soymilk is produced by steaming, crushing, and pressing soybeans. The residue that remains after pressing is “okara.”

Kikkoman Soyfoods Company dries the byproduct, okara, powderizes it, and sells it as a raw food ingredient.

“Kikkoman Tonyu Okara Powder”
(120g in a plastic bag)

In FY2018, we started selling the okara product “Kikkoman Tonyu Okara Powder” for household use.
This “Kikkoman Tonyu Okara Powder” is rich in soybean nutrients such as dietary fiber and vegetable protein. Only a tablespoon of the powder contains dietary fiber equivalent to what appx. 1/2 of a head of lettuce contains. It has a creamy-smooth texture and is easy to be mixed with water, so it melts in your mouth. In addition, because the Kikkoman Soyfoods Company’s unique “process of producing soymilk reduces the soybean odor,” the byproduct (okara) generated in this producing process and used as its ingredient has a subtle soybean flavor. Therefore, you can mix it with yogurt, smoothies, miso soup, etc. to easily take soybean nutrients everyday without ruining the flavor of the food. Furthermore, you can make “gluten-free” menus when you use this powder as a substitute for flour to make pancake batter, thicken curry, etc.

The 25th Tasukarimashita Award (Prizes in the food and beverage category)
The 25th Tasukarimashita Award (Prizes in the food and beverage category)

This “Kikkoman Tonyu Okara Powder” was highly evaluated and received the 25th Tasukarimashita Award (one of ten prizes in the food and beverage category) by the SANKEI LIVING SHIMBUN Inc. for its ease of use in cooking.

5)Use of wastewater sludge residue

Fermented fertilizer made from sludge
Fermented fertilizer made from sludge

The Kikkoman group pays full attention to the prevention of the pollution of rivers by purifying and processing wastewater discharged from factories in the wastewater treatment facilities at the factories before the wastewater is released into them. The muddy sediment and floating material generated in the wastewater processing facilities are “sludge.”

Kikkoman Food Products Company’s Noda Factory and Nagareyama Kikkoman Co., Ltd. put all the sludge from their wastewater treatment facilities into the hands of treatment contractors to convert it into fermented fertilizer. The fertilizer is offered to farmers growing sweet potatoes and strawberries.

Potatoes grown with fertilizer made from fermented sludge (Ibaraki Prefecture in 2019)
Potatoes grown with fertilizer made from fermented sludge (Ibaraki Prefecture in 2019)
Strawberries grown with fertilizer made from fermented sludge (Ibaraki Prefecture in 2015)
Strawberries grown with fertilizer made from fermented sludge (Ibaraki Prefecture in 2015)

This fertilizer made from fermented sludge and other ingredients contains great amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus which are helpful in growing such produce.

In addition, some part of wastewater sludge from Kikkoman Biochemifa Company’s Kamogawa Plant is heat-compressed into slag to be used as a base course material and other road maintenance materials.

Research & development to improve the quality of byproducts

The Kikkoman group places importance on improvements in the quality of byproducts for reuse. For that purpose, we conduct R&D activities.

One example is an R&D study on the use of soy sauce oil as fish feed. The Kikkoman Research & Development Division discovered the effectiveness of soy sauce oil consisting of fatty acid ethyl ester (appx. 59%), containing linoleic acid and oleic acid from soybeans, and free fatty acids (15%) as a substitute for conventional fish feed made of “sardine oil.” The R&D Division also found other functions such as antioxidant activity and antibacterial activity against fish disease bacteria. This study on the development of the new use of the byproduct was highly evaluated by specialists. The Kikkoman R&D Division received the Award for 2003 by the Director of the Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Grape seeds discharged from the winery at Manns Wines Co., Ltd. during wine producing process had been used as fertilizer. Then the joint research group of Kikkoman and Manns Wines found that the polyphenols (proanthocyanidins) contained in grape seeds had strong antioxidant action, and developed a unique method to efficiently extract this ingredient. The result was highly evaluated by specialists, and was given the Award for Achievement in Technological Research by the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry in FY1999.
In addition, tomato peel removed in the process of making tomato juice at the Nippon Del Monte Corporation’s Nagano Factory in Chikuma City, Nagano Prefecture, had been reused by treatment contractors as animal feed. Then Kikkoman found through an R&D study with the Mibyo Medical Research Center that the tomato peel containing polyphenol (naringenin chalcone) had strong anti-allergy activity that is helpful to relieve symptoms of pollen allergy.

Proanthocyanidins (grape seed polyphenols)
Proanthocyanidins (grape seed polyphenols)
Naringenin chalcone (tomato peel polyphenol)
Naringenin chalcone (tomato peel polyphenol)

Approaches in offices

1)A reduction in office paper

Starting with Noda Plant that acquired ISO 14001 certification in 1997, the main domestic business sites in the Kikkoman group such as Noda Head Office, Tokyo Head Office, and all sites of Kikkoman Food Products Company, Nippon Del Monte Corporation, and Manns Wines Co., Ltd. have set our goal of reducing the amount of office paper used as part of our approaches to minimize waste. To achieve the goal, we utilize the blank side of paper, create paperless documents such as purchase order forms and conference materials, and avoid unnecessary printouts. If we still need office paper, our employees are encouraged to purchase environmentally-friendly paper certified by the FSC (*1) or PEFC (*2) in principle.

  1. (*1)FSC-certified paper: Paper certified under a global standard (FSC: Forest Stewardship Council) that verifies materials provided from properly managed forests in terms of environmental and social sustainability have been delivered to consumers through appropriate processing and distribution.
  2. (*2)PEFC-certified paper: Paper certified by the program (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Scheme), which mutually authorize the certification systems of multiple countries with general European industrial guidelines as the basis.

2)Setup of office supply shelves for reuse

In April 2018, Kikkoman Tokyo Head Office newly set up “office supply shelves for reuse” at the multipurpose auditorium on the third floor to reduce wastes and costs and launched the management. Tokyo General Affairs Section collects unnecessary office supplies such as paper clips and plastic folders from each department, cleans them unless they are not reusable due to damage and stains, sorts them by item and size, and stores them on the “office supply shelves for reuse” at the multipurpose auditorium to promote reuse of them. Before each department purchases new office supplies, they check for supplies on the shelves to reduce costs and wastes.

Office supply shelves for reuse (The multipurpose auditorium on the third floor of Kikkoman Tokyo Head Office)
Office supply shelves for reuse
(The multipurpose auditorium on the third floor of Kikkoman Tokyo Head Office)
Office supply shelves for reuse (The multipurpose auditorium on the third floor of Kikkoman Tokyo Head Office)

3)Reestablishment and thorough application of “document control rules”

In FY2015, Kikkoman Kinki Region Office was relocated to the fifth floor of Namba Parks, an office and shopping complex directly connected to Namba Station on Nankai Railway, in Osaka City.
The Kinki Region Office formed a document control team in an effort to aim at “a new way of working” at the time of relocation. With support from an external consultant of document and information control, “document control rules” that suited the situation were reestablished and all employees pursued them with a goal of a 60% reduction in the amount of paper documents. This activity in the new office resulted in improvements in efficiency of searching for documents and materials as well as a significant reduction in the amount of paper used for business operations.

Namba Parks
Namba Parks
The 29th Nikkei New Office Promotion Award by Nippon Keizai Shimbun Co., Ltd. (in the Kinki Area)
The 29th Nikkei New Office Promotion Award by Nippon Keizai Shimbun Co., Ltd. (in the Kinki Area)

This activity was highly evaluated and the Kinki Region Office received the 29th Nikkei New Office Promotion Award in the Kinki Area for “its good management and control of the intellectual asset and information,” “its high capability of intellectual production utilizing information technology (IT),” “its establishment of comfort and convenient working environment,” and “its high contribution to natural environment and local society.”

The Kikkoman group keeps pursuing even more reduction in wastes and reuse of them.