ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it had developed the protein drink Tanpaku Charge (hereinafter “the product”) through the cross-organizational collaborative platform Virtual Office ^*1 (internal side business system) and that it goes on sale on Tuesday, June 3, 2025 at about 16,300 FamilyMart stores across Japan.

Virtual Office was officially introduced in FY2023 as an internal side business system where employees can form teams across boundaries between departments and engage with online projects cross-organizationally. 16 new cross-organizational projects in FY2023 and 14 in FY2024 were created by employees with great passion and enthusiasm.

Recently, decreasing protein consumption has been highlighted as a health issue among Japanese people. Due to excessive dieting and tendencies toward unbalanced eating, Japanese protein consumption has dropped from its peak in 1995 to the same level as in 1950, so that the average consumption per day lies far below the reference value.^*2 Taking note of this, junior to mid-career employees at ITOCHU's Food Company, Energy & Chemicals Company, and Headquarters Human Resources & General Affairs Division proposed and promoted the “Future Generation Protein Brand Development Project” (hereinafter “the project”) as a way to help promote protein consumption and health among Japanese people, resulting in product development in a short time.

The project took the theme “a protein drink everyone can drink from day to day” and conducted a consumer survey of about 1,000 men and women in the ages 20s through 60s, which indicated the need for a protein drink with a flavor and shape that is refreshing and easy to drink. The product is easy to drink and facilitates quick protein absorption through a combination of the special raw materials ^*3 of the whey protein (milk-derived protein) from the Food Company and functional ingredients (vitamins, collagen) from the Energy & Chemicals Company.

ITOCHU has put forth the management policy “The Brand-new Deal – Profit opportunities are shifting downstream –” and is developing our business areas by tracking needs as they diversify with social changes and by pioneering and evolving downstream businesses that are closer to the consumers.