CCCMK Holdings Co., Ltd.
[Event Report] Symposium: Sustainable Food – Thinking about ethical consumption from food –
Kyodo News Co., Ltd. and T Card Everyone’s Ethical Food Lab jointly held ……
CCCMK Holdings Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Yoshinori Takahashi, hereinafter referred to as “CCCMKHD”) is working on the co-creation platform “T Card Everyone’s Ethical Food Lab” in collaboration with Kyodo News Co., Ltd. “Symposium
Sustainable Food – Thinking about ethical consumption from food” was held on Friday, November 24th.
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Symposium: Sustainable food – Thinking about ethical consumption from food – Keynote speech: Kenji Yamamoto, agricultural and livestock products distribution consultant and visiting professor at Nitobe Bunka Junior College
In the keynote speech at the beginning of the event, Mr. Kenji Yamamoto, agricultural and livestock products distribution consultant and visiting professor at Nitobe Bunka Junior College, gave a lecture entitled “The Future of Ethical Food in Japan,” which covered everything from the definition of the word ethical to the progress made in Europe, the United States, and Japan. He introduced case studies, explained why ethical consumption has lagged behind in Japan, and explained how ethical consumption will expand in Japan in the future.
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Kenji Yamamoto, agricultural and livestock products distribution consultant and visiting professor at Nitobe Bunka Junior College Excerpt from Mr. Yamamoto’s comment:
Ethical consumption is a term that refers to a consumption style that is ethically and morally considerate, but the idea of ethicality varies greatly depending on the individual and country. Currently, ethical rules are being created under the leadership of Europe and the United States, but the current situation is that the environment surrounding ethical issues in Japan is lagging behind. In the future, as Japan aims to develop as a country that is more open to people from overseas, including inbound tourists, I think it is necessary to first consider what ethics should be in Japan and Asia, based on ethics in Europe and America.
On the other hand, even in the UK, an ethically developed country, it is the “Sometimes Ethical” people, who account for 60 to 70% of the total, that are creating a significant economic effect in the ethical market. I think ethical consumption will become more commonplace in Japan in the future as Generation Z, who have received SDG education, becomes the main consumer group. To this end, we need to consider a system that ensures proper social distribution so that young people can fully engage in consumption activities.
In addition, regarding the problem of “ethical acts not being made visible,” T Point is currently flagging products that meet certain ethical standards, and by providing regular feedback on how much ethical consumption has been done. We are preparing an initiative to visualize the degree of ethicality.
Special Performance 1.: Mr. Yoshiya Kimura, Managing Director, Japan Food and Agriculture Cooperation Organization
As a special lecture, Mr. Yoshiya Kimura, Managing Director of the Japan Food and Agricultural Cooperation Organization, gave a lecture entitled “Efforts towards sustainable food”, including an example of gaining a market for substandard summer strawberries in supermarkets, and a story about the pig farming industry. They introduced their efforts towards building an advanced sustainable food system. [Image 3
Yoshiya Kimura, Managing Director, Japan Food and Agriculture Collaboration Organization
Excerpt from Mr. Kimura’s comment:
Businesses play a role in providing ethical products as consumption options. The motives for providing this service vary, but the economic value that enables business continuity is combined with ethical social value. On the other hand, consumers’ consumption behavior itself plays the role of an engine (actor) that drives the circulation of social value and economic value, and consumers’ intentions and choices are the key to circulating both values. Masu. In addition, in order for ethics to become more widespread in the future, consumers must ensure that their individual consumption behavior supports the businesses’ “will to realize a sustainable society” that is embedded in their products. It is important to be aware of this. I also believe that it is necessary for each person to bear the costs of realizing social value to the extent possible in order to increase the sustainability of the initiative, while demanding that businesses provide the value desired by society. Masu.
On the other hand, the current situation is that businesses, especially when it comes to fresh food, are less likely to be asked for strong ethical needs from consumers than they are in Europe and the United States. Among them, I hope that they will play a greater role in leading ethical consumption in their own growth strategies and play an even greater role in creating a sustainable society. Special Performance 2: Ai Hirose, Senior Researcher, Food Science Unit, Agriculture and Food Group, Yano Research Institute, Inc. As a special lecture, Ms. Ai Hirose, Senior Researcher, Food Science Unit, Agricultural Food Group, Yano Research Institute, Inc. gave a talk titled “A Future of Sustainable Food Realized through Food Tech.” Alternative proteins, which are attracting attention due to population growth and food shortages, were introduced, including the current state of the surrounding market and specific examples from domestic and overseas manufacturers and retailers.
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Ai Hirose, Senior Researcher, Food Science Unit, Agriculture and Food Group, Yano Research Institute, Inc.
Excerpt from Mr. Hirose’s comment:
As the population continues to grow, the world’s demand for food will also increase. In addition, as incomes increase and dietary habits change, mainly in emerging countries, the demand for protein will increase, and there are concerns that a “protein crisis” will occur in the future, where it will be difficult to supply meat with the current amount of meat, and by 2025. Some say that it will become more obvious from around the corner.
In Japan, the Green Food System Strategy announced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries emphasizes strengthening the competitiveness of the food industry with consideration for
decarbonization, health, and tourism, and the government also believes that alternative proteins will be an area of focus. Predicted. Furthermore, as of 2022, the global market size for alternative proteins is approximately 640 billion yen, but it is estimated that it will increase to around 4 trillion yen by 2034.
panel session
In the second half of the event, Mr. Masayuki Nagata, Manager of Brand Strategy Office and Marketing Department, Marketing Department, Nippon Ham Co., Ltd., Mr. Kenji Haruyama, Manager, Cocoa Marketing
Department, Meiji Co., Ltd., and Producer, CCC Marketing Research Institute, CCCMK Holdings Co., Ltd. “T Card Everyone’s Ethical Food Lab” A panel session entitled “Ethical Food Actions You Can Start Now” was held with leader Nozomi Takida and moderator Tetsuji Ida, Kyodo News editorial board member and editorial writer in charge of environment, development, and energy issues. .
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panel session
(Excerpt from panel session)
–What is necessary now to expand ethical food action?
Mr. Nagata of Nippon Ham Co., Ltd.:
Distributors are also worried about how to sell our alternative protein products, and in terms of price competition, they may not be able to carry our products because they are in a price range that is difficult to obtain. Although we need to continue technological development, we also believe that we should also focus on activities that help our customers and distributors deepen their understanding of social issues. I believe that the time will come when the ethical food category will be recognized explosively as a category, just like “salad chicken”. , I would like to consider ways to disseminate information to customers.
Mr. Haruyama of Meiji Co., Ltd.:
I think we need to make efforts so that customers choose our products not just because they are ethical, but also because they are delicious or because the products are good. I feel that if people know that there is an ethical story behind the products they pick up for these reasons, they will be more satisfied.
I also believe that we need to improve our understanding of our customers, including Generation Z, who will be responsible for future consumption. We also actively set up opportunities for face-to-face dialogue with our customers, such as exhibitions and presentations, in an effort to deepen their understanding. Chocolate is a food that many people are familiar with, so we will leverage its strengths to help people learn about social issues in cacao production areas, such as child labor and deforestation, and to develop an interest in ethical consumption. I hope to create an opportunity for this.
CCCMK Holdings Co., Ltd. Takita:
The Ethical Consumption Study Group, which includes people from food manufacturers, distributors, and academia, found that it is essential for consumers to understand both their own benefits and the benefits of others when purchasing ethical food. I’ve come to understand that. Benefits to oneself often include a kind of self-satisfying pleasure, such as being able to contribute to society or being of some concrete use, and in an in-depth interview, “Ethical consumption is not self-satisfying.” “I don’t even think about showing off to people.” That’s why I think the biggest problem is that people are not aware of the various efforts that companies involved in each food industry put into creating a single product. First of all, I think it is important to not only communicate information on a company-by-company basis, but also with the help of the media, to communicate everything in a unified way so that people will understand, empathize with, and buy the product. .
–What is necessary to increase the credibility of ethical food? Mr. Nagata of Nippon Ham Co., Ltd.:
In terms of providing a stable supply of protein, which we are working on with soybean meat, shrimp, and fish, I think one way to start is by presenting easy-to-understand social issues to our customers. For example, in the case of “fish fries”, it is important to provide evidence and disseminate information as a solution to the intuitively understandable problem of depletion of fish stocks, such as the decrease in mackerel catches on a daily basis. think.
In addition, we would like to explore ways to disclose information internally so that customers can clearly understand the degree to which they are contributing to society with each pack of products, in terms of the meaning of purchasing ethical food.
Mr. Haruyama of Meiji Co., Ltd.:
Ultimately, I believe that being honest as a person means that we as a company should behave in this way. Specifically, we publish numbers that can be visualized as data, such as the number of child labor monitoring cases and the number of forest farmland mapping cases, on our website. Also, solving social issues may be a lofty goal, but it is important to firmly state what you are aiming for. Even if the result of our efforts is that it is difficult to achieve a goal, we believe it is important to sincerely communicate the reasons why. We believe that continuing this attitude will lead to improved customer understanding and trust.
CCCMK Holdings Co., Ltd. Takita:
In the Ethical Food Standards, which were created based on 12 experts and the ethics scores of ethical consumers, the most important thing was evidence and transparency. We spent over 300 hours including the draft stage, and we have published the transcripts of all the conversations we had during the sessions, including any inconvenient discussions. In addition, all the scoring results of food
manufacturers who use the criteria are made publicly available. We believe it is extremely important to disclose information about ethical food so that consumers can understand in what respects it is ethical.
CCCMK Holdings works together with all stakeholders involved in food, including consumers, manufacturers, and distributors, to ensure that ethical food spreads into society even a little, and that each activity of the T Card Everyone’s Ethical Food Lab is a part of the future. We will contribute to creating a food cycle that leads to.