Basic Approach
Our business has the potential to affect the local community from an economic, social and environmental standpoint in places where the Maruha Nichiro Group has business locations. We engage in appropriate communication and various activities that contribute to society in order to build good relationships toward the goal of co-existence and co-prosperity.
Main Initiatives
Food Education Activities
Case Study: Corporate Fish-Eating Promotion Event “Chef-Directed Parent-Child Cooking Class—How to Cook Fish at Home”
Since 2015, Maruha Nichiro Corporation has held cooking classes by chefs for parents and children nationwide to inform them about the joy and deliciousness of fish cuisine and to help them benefit by healthier diets. In FY2022, we organized two events under the theme of "Chef-directed Parent-Child Cooking Class - How to Cook Fish at Home" in July in collaboration with HIROSHIMA GAS Co., Ltd. and Keiyo Gas Corporation in November. At the outset of the event, a "fish seminar" was also held, where participants enjoyed learning about various fish trivia.
For a detailed report on the corporate events, please see our seafood promotion website.
Sakana Tabetara Fukukitaru (Japanese)
Case Study: Holding of the “For the Ocean, for Life—Fish Lunch Cooking Class for the Future”
In April 2022, Maruha Nichiro Corporation organized the "For the Ocean, for life — Fish Lunch Cooking Class for the Future" to communicate the importance of ocean and fish sustainability, in collaboration with Osaka Gas Cooking School Co., Ltd. in June 2023.
With the goal of educating people about sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, we created food using the Company's MSC certification and ASC certification products. At the fish seminar mentioned above, an explanation was given about the severe situation of marine resources amid the rising popularity of fish eating around the world. Next, the MSC Marine Eco-Label and the ASC logo was introduced as a way to identify sustainable seafood products that ensure everyone can continue to eat delicious fish.
Case Study: Broadcasting of the "Fish Kitchen," Cooking Class for Parents and Children
As a new project in FY2021, we collaborated with Tokyo Bay Network to record the "Fish Kitchen," a cooking class for parents and children.
It was broadcast in Koto-ku and Chuo-ku for two weeks from March 27, 2022, and was further broadcast on cable TV throughout Japan, reaching 1.05 million households by July.
While it was difficult to hold cooking classes throughout Japan due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company's cooking advisors introduced easy yet authentic recipes using Maruha Nichiro's canned foods to inform a larger number of people about the joy and deliciousness of fish cuisine. This program can also be viewed at "Sakana Tabetara Fukukitaru" which is seafood promotion website.
Sharing Information about Food Education
The Maruha Nichiro Group will disseminate a variety of information related to food education to our stakeholders. We disseminate information on our website for everyone to learn, enjoy and acquire knowledge our seafood promotion websites, Salmon Museum and Fish Gallery.
Environmental Activities
Case Study: Ongoing Cooperation with Tokyo Bay Restoration Eelgrass Project
The Maruha Nichiro Group has been participating in activities since 2014 to restore eelgrass beds, which improve water quality in Tokyo Bay, serve as habitats for aquatic organisms, and conserve the coastal environment. Since 2016, we have been selected as a partner company in the Tokyo Bay UMI Project (Project for everyone to love the sea and Tokyo Bay) launched by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to improve the environment of Tokyo Bay.
Eelgrass is a species of seaweed that grows naturally around sandy coastlines at a depth of one to several meters and is called the "cradle of the sea" because it serves as a nursery and spawning ground for sea creatures. In addition to cleaning the seawater through the absorption of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, recent years have seen a growing interest in "blue carbon," the carbon dioxide captured and sequestered by seaweed beds of eelgrass and other seaweeds and seagrasses. Not only does it absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and supply oxygen to the ocean, but the carbon incorporated into the sediments on the seafloor of algal beds is stored for thousands of years, and thus it has become a promising new absorber in combating climate change. The Maruha Nichiro Group has been harvesting flowering branches of eelgrass as an internal Group corporate event under the guidance of the NPO Association for Shore Environment Creation.
In FY2023, the event was scheduled to be held on Saturday, June 3, at the Yokohama Sea Park for the first time in four years, but the weather did not cooperate and the large scale event was cancelled, and instead, a small group of people collected flower branches. We also participated in small-scale collection of flowering branches at Hashirimizu, Yokosuka in May and at Kaneda Beach, in Kisarazu City, Chiba Prefecture in June.
Case Study: Participation in Yume Wakame Workshop and Planting Eelgrass (PDF: 407 KB/1 page)
Case Study: Participated in Mangrove Reforestation in Amami Oshima
On Friday, January 13 and 14, 2022 seven employees of Maruha Nichiro AQUA Amami Office and two employees of Maruha Nichiro participated in mangrove planting in Setouchi Town on Amami Oshima, where Maruha Nichiro AQUA Amami Office conducts aquaculture operations. Mangroves are a collective term for plants that grow in tropical and subtropical wetlands, tidal flats, and estuaries where seawater flows in during high tide. They are distributed along coastlines in Oceania, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the southern parts of North America, and in Japan, they can be found on the islands of Okinawa, Amami Oshima in Kagoshima, Tanegashima, Yakushima, and others.
Background to Mangrove Reforestation:
Setouchi Town has been working towards becoming a Zero Carbon City, and they have been studying the creation of mangroves and seaweed beds through the Aquaculture Department since last year. The employees of Maruha Nichiro AQUA Amami Office have been actively cooperating from the stage of raising seedlings last summer, which led to our participation in this reforestation event.
Mangroves store carbon as trees as they grow, and organic matter including dead branches and roots accumulates in the mud on the sea bottom and continues to store carbon, so they have higher carbon storage efficiency than forests, seaweed, and seagrasses. In Japan, this activity is only possible in subtropical regions south of the remote islands of Kagoshima Prefecture.
Case Study：Cleaning Activities around Offices throughout Japan
The Maruha Nichiro Group strives to beautify the local environment by conducting cleanup activities around its plants and offices throughout Japan. We will continue these activities in the future.
Case Study: “Make Sea Happy!” Coastal Cleanup Activity
“Make Sea Happy!” is the Group's cleanup activity taking into account the problem of marine plastics.
In these activities, in addition to simply picking up waste, the waste picked up is tabulated, recorded by the secretariat, and then provided to the Japan Environmental Action Network (JEAN Corporation) as part of its cooperation in surveys to provide information on waste.
Click here for information on "Make Sea Happy!" Cleanup Activities
Regional Contribution Activities
Case Study: Aomori Nebuta Festival
Since entering a large-scale Nebuta float in 1953, for the purpose of supporting regional development, Maruha Nichiro Corporation has participated in the Nebuta Festival* every year (except some years) for over half a century.
In 2022, it was held the first time in three years since 2019 with appropriate infection control measures in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Company also participated in the festival by creating a large-scale Nebuta (a traditional Japanese float) depicting "Gouketsu Bushou Mokotaiji," which was enjoyed by the local people and many tourists.
*Aomori Nebuta is one of the three big festivals in the Tohoku region registered as a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Asset.
Case Study: Participation in the Toyosu Mirai Project Event
As part of the "Toyosu Mirai Project," Maruha Nichiro Corporation held a "Science Experiment Class: Now Everyone Can Become a Salmon Expert: The Story of the Birth of Salmon and Secrets of the Blueprint for Life" at its Toyosu headquarters to promote science education.
*Japanese Only
Case Study: The Swan-Canning Estuary Restoration Campaign in Perth, Australia
Austral Fisheries Pty Limited supports the Swan-Canning Estuary restoration campaign which aims to restore the once abundant shellfish reefs in the mouth of the estuary that runs through the center of Perth and improve the river environment.
This project is being conducted by the international NGO, The Nature Conservancy, and aims to restore the ecology of the river.
Case Study: 29th Toyosu Festa (PDF: 312 KB/1 page)
Cultural and Educational Activities
Case Study: Activities to Support Education and Learning for Junior High School Students through Study Visits
Maruha Nichiro Corporation regularly accepts visiting junior high and high school students as part of our education and learning support program to provide students with opportunities to learn about and deepen their understanding of the Company's business and activities related to the SDGs.
In FY2022, we accepted visits from Shochi Fukaya High School, Saga Nishi High School (online), Shibaura Institute of Technology Junior High School, and Moriue Elementary School in Suzaka City (online) to introduce the Company's business activities and its efforts to achieve the SDGs through its business activities.
As interest in the SDGs grows in the whole society, the number of opportunities to learn about the SDGs as part of the school curriculum is increasing, and there are more and more inquiries from junior and senior high school students and university students about the Company's activities.
Case Study: Yayoi Sunfoods Co., Ltd. Activities to Support Cambodia Yayoi School
Cambodia's Yayoi School was donated by the former Yayoi Foods to Kontarnan Elementary School in Cambodia in 2008, in cooperation with the Japan Team of Young Human Power, as a project to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Company's founding.
In FY2022, with COVID-19 almost completely under control, we donated stationery for all students and provided financial support for the installation of fences in all windows of the school building.
A presentation ceremony was held in August 2023 for the new school building constructed last year, and the area around the school building and classroom furniture have been prepared and will be operational from next school year.
Cambodia's Yayoi School Support Activities in FY2022 (only in Japanese)
Activities Related to Donations
Case Study: Support for Food Banks / Children's Cafeterias
Since 2009, the Maruha Nichiro Group has been implementing activities to donate food products that are still edible but can no longer be sold to NPO Association engaged in food bank activities.* The Group's activities include contributing to efforts to improve social welfare as well as to reduce the food loss. In FY2022, we continued to donate frozen foods and other products to organizations such as Second Harvest Japan, Food Bank Kanagawa, and NPO Corporation Lion Heart, which conduct food bank activities.
Case Study: Donation to Food Bank Yamagata Central
Maruha Nichiro Corporation made a donation to Food Bank Yamagata Central through a food drive within the "Mogami Eco Festa 2022" held in Shinjo City, Yamagata Prefecture on Saturday, October 1 and 2, 2022.
