ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has agreed to acquire all shares of Takaragen Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture; Koichiro Ishiguro, Chairman & Representative Director; hereinafter “Takaragen”) via ITOCHU Food Sales and Marketing Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Shuji Oe, President; hereinafter “ITOCHU Food Sales and Marketing”), making Takaragen a subsidiary. By combining Takaragen’s technological capabilities in food textures with ITOCHU Food Sales and Marketing’s raw material procurement network and approach to marketing, ITOCHU will strengthen its solution-oriented business to address increasingly diverse customer needs.

As food-related needs have become more diverse in recent years, the importance of food texture design has increased. Takaragen has contributed to the improvement of texture and the stabilization of quality by supplying preparations with gelling, thickening, stabilizing and other functions for desserts such as jellies and puddings, beverages, hams, sausages and processed seafood. ITOCHU and ITOCHU Food Sales and Marketing have meanwhile proposed solutions to improve the texture and physical properties of products, mainly in the field of modified starches for products sold at convenience stores. The two companies will incorporate Takaragen’s technologies to further expand the solutions they are able to propose regarding texture and quality improvements, and they will create new value in food together with their business partners by supporting the development of high-quality, high value-added products.

Against the backdrop of a progressively aging society, the market for nursing care foods (food for dysphagia) for the elderly and others is expected to expand.* It is essential for these foods to taste good, be easy to swallow, be storable, and have stable quality. Food stabilizer technologies such as hydrocolloids are an indispensable part of achieving this. It is expected that the nursing care food market will continue to grow. ITOCHU will utilize Takaragen’s technologies and the ITOCHU Group’s network to propose solutions in this market.

Takaragen has established an extensive track record as a dedicated manufacturer of food stabilizers focusing on hydrocolloids such as carrageenan over the more than 50 years since its establishment in 1971. Its Minami-Izu Plant, which began operating in 2019, is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment that is capable of handling high-mix, low-volume production, and the factory has strengths in the development of tailor-made formulations optimized for the individual customer’s production equipment and distribution conditions. Based on this technological platform, Takaragen is able to propose finely tuned products tailored to individual needs, such as the need to improve a food’s texture or to enable various foods, including desserts, to have specific physical properties, and it will develop solutions for foods that are designed to be easy to swallow.

ITOCHU, under its management policy “The Brand-new Deal — Profit opportunities are shifting downstream,” will continue to fulfill the increasingly diverse needs of people in line with the changes in society and continue to expand its business domains by developing and transforming downstream businesses closer to consumers.

ITOCHU Food Sales and Marketing’s mission is “Driving the Evolution of Food Together.” It will continue to contribute to society as a company that starts from the customer’s perspective when designing connections in the food industry, from production areas and processors through to consumers.