CEO Message

Over 100 years ago, the Ajinomoto Group was founded with the aspiration to help people “Eat Well, Live Well.” Today, we are a solution-providing group of companies for food and health issues, serving over 700 million consumers around the globe.

As the company’s new CEO, I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself and to share how excited I am to partner with the more than 30,000 global employees to bring value to consumers and contribute to society.

The joy of cooking and sharing a delicious meal is at the heart of what the Ajinomoto Group does. As a child, I loved cooking for my family and watching how much joy and connection those home-cooked meals brought to us. So, you could say I was fated to work here. Now, after years working around the world in countries including China, the Philippines, and Brazil, it is my immense pleasure to bring the “essence of happiness” to people around the world through the Ajinomoto Group’s products.

The Ajinomoto Group’s goal of improving nutrition in Japan, set at its founding, has evolved and broadened into our current vision: Ajinomoto Group Creating Shared Value (ASV). We pledge to contribute to society while creating economic value, which fuels what I call a “virtuous cycle of happiness.” Personally, I believe that contributing to other people’s happiness brings you happiness in return. Bringing happiness to the society is my ideal state, my “how we want to be,” as a person and for the Ajinomoto Group as a company. By creating products that bring happiness to people around the world, we can in turn feel joy and be proud of the work we are doing.

We are currently working towards this important milestone via our 2030 outcomes to improve the healthy life expectancy of 1 billion people and reduce our environmental impact by 50 percent by 2030. I am committed to seeing both goals realized through the ASV framework.

Along with our deep knowledge of amino acids we developed over 100 years, the Ajinomoto Group’s core strength comes from our intangible assets: our employees, our technology, our brands, and our products. As we continue to navigate the challenging environment around us, we must share a passion for our purpose of solving food and health issues by unlocking the power of amino acids. This shared passion, purpose and pursuit of operational excellence will allow the Ajinomoto Group to emerge, stronger and more resilient than ever.

Under my leadership, the Ajinomoto Group will innovate even more ways to support the health and well-being of our society while evolving as a global corporation.

Taro Fujie
President & Chief Executive Officer
Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
April 2022