CSR Vision

The Ajinomoto Group held a workshop with the participation of employees and outside experts in May 2005 to help define a unique vision of CSR for the Ajinomoto Group. Since then, employees throughout the company have been discussing what Ajinomoto's CSR vision should be. This process culminated in the establishment of the Ajinomoto Group CSR Vision and the Ajinomoto Group Vision for CSR Achievements by 2020, which sets out five targets for achievement.

Ajinomoto Group Vision for CSR Achievements by 2020

Achievement by 2020-1 < Food >

With the global expansion of the Ajinomoto Group's food business, we will have contributed to a reliable and high-quality dietary life for people around the world by promoting the development, proposal, and provision of new products that suit the regional food cultures of the world while also making the most of the special characteristics of Japanese food, as a global company with roots in Japan.

Achievement by 2020-2 < Amino acids (health and pharmaceuticals) >

We will have created new value and contributed to the lives and health of people worldwide by further improving and expanding our proprietary technologies as a leading company in the field of amino acids.

Achievement by 2020-3 < Food resources and the environment >

We will have contributed to a sustainable global environment by supporting agriculture, fisheries, and livestock farming, and establishing a recycling-based business model that minimizes the use of exhaustible resources and energy and the production of waste, with the goal of securing safe and sustainable food resources.

Achievement by 2020-4 < Human resources development >

We will have contributed to the building of better societies by fostering the high-caliber human resources needed around the world, by ensuring that our employees can make the most of their unique traits and abilities, without regard to characteristics such as nationality, ethnicity, sex, religion, and cultural background.

Achievement by 2020-5 < Partnerships >

In line with the Ajinomoto Group Principles, we will have contributed to the building of sound and vibrant societies by proactively disclosing a variety of information about our business activities to all stakeholders, and by forging honest, fair and open partnerships with them through dialogue undertaken as a sincere corporate citizen.

CSR at Ajinomoto, from the Perspective of Each Business

The Ajinomoto Group established its CSR Vision in September 2005. To gain more insight into its progress, we invited the heads of the three internal companies—the Food Products Company, Amino Acids Company, and Pharmaceutical Company—to describe how the group's CSR Vision is applied in each of their businesses.

The Road to Creating the CSR Vision

From the beginning, the Ajinomoto Group saw the concept of CSR as more than a commitment to responsible corporate conduct: the real measure of a company's dedication to CSR is not just what the company does, but how much trust it earns from society. It soon became clear that business growth and CSR go hand in hand. Profit also depends on securing trust and maintaining a good reputation, and these goals can only be achieved by developing products and services that bring tangible benefits to people's lives. The more CSR was discussed within the company, the clearer it became that the underlying principle is the same: sincere, effective efforts are rewarded by trust. In this sense, CSR is nothing new for Ajinomoto; the commitment to social responsibility was already there in the Ajinomoto Group Philosophy.
The Ajinomoto Group CSR Vision was established in September 2005 as the culmination of this process, which included workshops with the participation of employees and outside experts. The CSR Vision was then disseminated throughout the group via briefing sessions and other means of communication. In summary, the CSR Vision and the accompanying Vision for CSR Achievements by 2020 articulate more fully what it means for Ajinomoto to be true to its Group Philosophy. They succinctly spell out Ajinomoto's goals for itself as a company in terms of its unique potential to contribute to society.

CSR Vision Workshop [PDF] 282KB