Utilization of Resources
The Kikkoman Group addresses the reduction in food loss and the development of environmentally-friendly products to effectively utilize precious resources.
As measures to reduce food loss, we pursue the reduction in wastes generated in the production and distribution processes.
Approaches in the production department (effective use of byproducts and waste)
Through measures such as enhancing yield and improving on production processes, the Kikkoman Group is working to reduce, reuse, and make effective use of byproducts such as soy sauce cake, soy sauce oil, soybean powder, fruit pulp after juicing, okara (soy pulp), and processing wastes such as sludge.
1）Effective use of soy sauce cake
“Soy sauce cake” is the byproduct remaining after pressing out raw soy sauce from moromi(fermented and aged mash made from soybeans, wheat, brine and soy sauce koji mold).
Soy sauce cake has been used as fuel, fertilizer, and animal feed. Kikkoman Corporation has been researching the usefulness of soy sauce cake as feed since 2004, and in 2007 introduced soy sauce cake bagging facilities in plants.
In the meanwhile, we developed and expanded the sales channels. In 2020, the bagging process got automated, making it possible to produce highly hygienic feed and to save labor. Soy sauce cake contains fat, Vitamin E, Vitamin K1, isoflavones (genistein, daidzein, and glycitein) and other functional ingredients delivered from soybeans, so it is ideal to feed to cattle, pigs, and poultry. Kikkoman Food Products Company offers almost all of soy sauce cake to livestock farmers through feed suppliers.
In addition, in 2000, Kikkoman Group collaborated with a paper manufacturing company to develop technology to mix soy sauce cake with non-wood paper pulp to produce paper products. Now, these paper products are used as business cards and other ways.
2）Effective use of soy sauce oil
A great amount of oil from soybeans 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, the Noda Factory of Kikkoman Food Products Company 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 planned to feed the soybean powder to pigs at the late fattening phase, and investigate its growth performance, sensory evaluation, and economic efficiency with the aim of confirming its feed value. 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）Effective use of okara
Kikkoman Soyfoods Company produces and sells soymilk products such as processed soymilk (Chosei tonyu) and unsweetened soymilk (Oishii Muchosei Tonyu).
Soymilk is produced by steaming, crushing, and pressing soybeans. The residue that remains after pressing is called “okara.”
Kikkoman Soyfoods Company dries the okara, powderizes it, and sells it as a food ingredient.
(120g in a plastic bag)
In 2018, 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 technologies to produce soymilk reducing soybean odor allowed okara to have a mild soybean flavor. Therefore, you can mix it with yogurt, smoothies, miso soup, etc. to easily take soybean nutrients every day without ruining the flavor of the dishes. Furthermore, you can make “gluten-free” menus when you use this powder as a substitute for flour to make pancake batter, thicken curry, etc.
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）Effective use of sludge
The Kikkoman Group pays full attention to prevent the pollution of rivers by treating wastewater generated during the production processes at purification facilities installed beside the plants before releasing it. The muddy sediment and floating material generated in that water purification facilities are “sludge.”
The Noda Factory of Kikkoman Food Products Compan and Nagareyama Kikkoman Co., Ltd. use all the sludge from wastewater treatment facilities and convert it into fermented fertilizer. The fertilizer is offered to farmers growing sweet potatoes and strawberries.
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 the Kamogawa Plant of Kikkoman Biochemifa is heat-compressed into slag to be used as road maintenance materials like base course.
Research & development for quality use of byproducts
The Kikkoman Group places importance on improving the quality use of byproducts. 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.
Approaches to reduce food loss
1）Conducting Food Sustainability seminars
Kikkoman held cooking seminars (live streaming on YouTube) three times from January through March in 2022. The seminars as a special event of KCC Food Culture and Cooking Workshops were themed "Delicious food for the earth and the future of food - Food sustainability we can do," where food professionals from different genres were invited. The participants learned menus inspired by the concept of "food loss reduction and resource conservation" and had an opportunity to think about the global environment through familiar "food."
2）The special website useful at home
In March 2023, Kikkoman Food Products Co. released a special website which helps reduce food waste at home, “Otoku Hakken Reizoko Mitsukete! Amarins” (Check this fridge for the uses for leftovers!）
It is said that about half of food waste in Japan comes from households. Kikkoman's research has shown that large vegetables, such as cabbage, Chinese cabbage, and daikon radish, as well as seasonings with limited uses, such as barbecue sauce and tomato ketchup, tend to remain in refrigerators at home.
The site shows recommended recipes that use up those vegetables and seasonings leftover. It provides delicious menus using parts usually thrown away, such as cabbage cores and Chinese cabbage outer leaves.
It also offers ways to preserve food to make it last longer.
Approaches in offices
1）A reduction in office paper
Starting with Noda Factory that acquired ISO 14001 certification in 1997, the principal business sites of the Kikkoman Group in Japan, 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 the goal of reducing the amount of office paper, as a part of our approaches to minimize waste. To achieve the goal, we utilize the blank side of paper, paperless purchase order forms and conference materials, in addition to avoid unnecessary printouts. If the printout is needed, we encourage our employees to use environmentally-friendly paper certified by the FSC (*1) or PEFC (*2) in principle.
- (*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)PEFC-certified paper: Paper certified by the program (Program 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）Setting up storage spaces of office supplies and basic stationery
Kikkoman's Tokyo Head Office has set up Storage Spaces of Office Supplies and Basic Stationery. The head office collectively purchases and manages basic stationery used by the Kikkoman Group companies in the building to improve operational efficiency and save costs. Additionally, the office collects the used office supplies (such as clips and clear files) in the spaces to encourage to reuse them. This has also led to reduce costs and waste.
storage spaces of office supplies and basic stationery(Kikkoman’s 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.
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 its reuse.