Ajinomoto : ASV Report (Integrated Report) 2023 (A3-size)

Ajinomoto Group

ASV Report 2023

Integrated Report

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Ajinomoto Co., Inc.

15-1, Kyobashi 1-chome,Chuo-ku, Tokyo

104-8315, Japan

Global Communications Department

E-mail: [e-mail]

URL: https://www.ajinomoto.com

Investor Relations, Global Finance Department

E-mail: [e-mail]

URL: https://https://www.ajinomoto.co.jp/company/en/ir/

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Unauthorized copying or reproduction of this document is prohibited. ©Ajinomoto Co., Inc. 2023

Ajinomoto	Ajinomoto Group
Group
ASV Report 2023
ASV
Report 2023	Integrated Report
Integrated Report

Picture of the 2030

Ajinomoto Group

We will achieve "Eat Well, Live Well."

by going beyond resolving food and health issues, and contributing to the well-being of all human beings, our society, and our planet with "AminoScience."

Corporate Slogan

Eat Well,Live Well.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 01

Introduction

Advanced Ajinomoto Group Purpose	004
What is "AminoScience"?	006
The Story of our Founding	008
What ASV means to me	010
All about the Ajinomoto Group	012
What the Ajinomoto Group will be in 2030	016
CHAPTER 02

Ajinomoto Group ASV Report 2023 Integrated Report

Picture of the 2030 Ajinomoto Group

CHAPTER 05

Intangible assets

Intangible assets	060
Human assets	062
Customer assets	070
Technology assets	072
CHAPTER		06
Sustainability

Purpose

ASV

Ajinomoto Group

Creating Shared Value

Purpose

Contributing to the well- being of all human beings, our society and our planet with "AminoScience"

ASV Initiatives

Co-creation of social and economic value through our business

Message from
the President and CEO
Using "AminoScience" to accelerate our growth and
progressing from structural reform to growth	020
CHAPTER			03
Materiality
Important issues (Materiality) for the Ajinomoto Group	030
CHAPTER			04

Sustainability		074
CHAPTER			07
Financial capital strategy
Financial capital strategy	084
CHAPTER			08
Corporate governance
Corporate governance	088
Auditing systems	090

AGW	Values
Create new value, Pioneer
Ajinomoto Group Way	spirit, Social contribution,
	Value people

"AminoScience" in action
"AminoScience" in action	032
CIO dialogue
The strength of the Ajinomoto Group based on
"AminoScience" and establishing sustainable growth
through innovation in the four growth areas	034
Connecting the core businesses to the four growth areas	038

Business execution	093
Initiatives to stimulate discussion at the Board of
Directors	094
Compensation	098
Sustainability and Risk Management	100
Internal control system / compliance / principal risks	101
Directors and executive officers	102

• Editorial policy

The Ajinomoto Group has advanced its Purpose and announced the Purpose-Driven Management by Medium-Term ASV Initiatives 2030 Roadmap in 2023. This ASV Report is intended to convey information in a way that will encourage reading, from the readers' viewpoint. The contents are centered on "AminoScience," which is our unique strength and the basis of value creation through ASV, as we seek to sustainably improving corporate value aimed at 2030 and beyond. We hope that this report will encourage dialogue and will help our shareholders, investors, and all other stakeholders to better understand and have empathy for our purpose.

• Organizational scope

This report covers the activities of the Group, comprising, unless otherwise noted, Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (the Company) and its consolidated subsidiaries and equity-method affiliates (as of March 31, 2023). When comprehensive Group information is not available, the data parameters are explicitly defined.

• Period covered by this report
  Fiscal 2022 (April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023)
  Past circumstances, data, and recent cases outside of this time period are presented when appropriate.
• Precautions related to forward-looking statements
  Business performance forecasts and other forward-looking statements presented in this report are based on management estimates, assumptions, and projections at the time of publication. The Company does not guarantee that the forward-looking statements will be fulfilled. Various factors could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations.

	Healthcare
Strengths in the healthcare area	040
The AJIPHASE® breakthrough	042
Strength of the Ajinomoto Group in culture media for
regenerative medicine	044
	Food & Wellness
Current strengths in the Food & Wellness area	046
D2C platform innovations that deliver the joy of
personalized cuisine	048
From "Food" to "Meals" _ A new business model
based on the FaaS concept	050
	ICT
ABF: The semiconductor insulator film that has
become a global standard	052
An image of the future in the ICT area	054
	Green
"AminoScience" that leads the "with Earth" Era	056

CHAPTER	09
Performance and
corporate information
Review of financial results by segment	106
Ten-year summary of financial data	108
Performance data	110
Global network	112
Corporate data / stock information / stock
performance	114
External evaluations / key communication materlals	115

COVER STORY

"AminoScience" is the source of the Ajinomoto Group's unique strengths and competitiveness. Using an illustration inspired by "AminoScience" as a motif, we tried to express a world that co-creates greater social value and economic value.

Unauthorized copying or reproduction of this document is prohibited. ©Ajinomoto Co., inc. 2023 ASV REPORT 2023 003

CHAPTER 01 Introduction Advanced Ajinomoto Group Purpose

Advanced Ajinomoto Group Purpose

⁜Contributing to the

"Health and happiness" for a more prosperous future

well-being of all human beings, our society, and our planet with "AminoScience"

The Ajinomoto Group has advanced its purpose from "Unlocking the power of amino acids to resolve the food and health issues" to "contributing to the well-being of all human beings, society, and our planet with 'AminoScience'."

We consider well-being to mean health and happiness." Our advanced purpose therefore represents our commitment to achieving two outcomes by 2030 which are connected by food systems: to reduce our environmental impact by 50% and to help extend the healthy life expectancy of 1 billion people.

50%	1 people
	billion
Reduce	Help extend
our environmental	the healthy life
impact	expectancy

Food Systems

Fulfilling the Ajinomoto Group's corporate slogan of "Eat Well, Live Well." requires that we work with others to co- create social value and economic value through our business. We believe we can provide health and happiness for all human beings, our society, and our planet and create a more prosperous future by repeating a cycle of "honing our co-creation capabilities, realizing well-being from the consumer's perspective, and returning the value we create with our business activities."

To achieve that, our employees each must take a leading

role with the driving forces being our employees' passion for our Purpose and our stakeholders understanding of our mission. It's essential that we have a corporate culture that is continually working to realize our vision of what we want to be. The Ajinomoto Group will continue its constant pursuit of the co-creation of social value and economic value as we look beyond resolving food and health issues and contribute to the well-being of all human beings, our society, and our planet with "AminoScience."

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CHAPTER 01 Introduction What is "AminoScience"?

What is "AminoScience"?

The Ajinomoto Group has been researching and applying the functions of amino acids for over 100 years and has created a vast variety of new materials, functions, technologies, and services. We have developed a unique scientific approach to maximizing our resources and to resolving social issues and contributing to people's well-being.

The Ajinomoto Group refers to this overall scientific approach as "AminoScience."

The infinite potential in amino acids

Business development based on "AminoScience"

Functions of	Value Creation
amino acids	Ajinomoto Group's
Flavoring function	business activities
Create delicious meals	Food products business
			Businesses that apply
Nutrition function
"AminoScience" to Seasonings
	Deliver nutrition	and Foods and Frozen Foods.
		(e.g., Deliciousness
				Technologies)
Physiological function
Support physical health		AminoScience
				business
	Reactivity
	Businesses that apply
Create new functions		"AminoScience" to
			Healthcare and Others

	Risk screening	Nutritional care
	service	foods
Supplements	Health function		Medical foods
assessment	Nutritional ingredients
	(Cancer, metabolic
	and formulations

Protein is the most important nutrient in forming the bodies of not just humans but all living organisms, and amino acids are the smallest components in protein. The Ajinomoto Group has been rigorously researching amino acids since its founding with a focus on the four functions of amino acids: 1) the flavoring function making foods delicious,

1. the nutrition function delivering nutrition to the body,
2. the physiological function promoting a healthy physical condition, and 4) the reactivity which leads to creating new functions. The value we have created from these functions

and developed into products and services range from food and medical products to electronic materials.

Our research and development in recent years has discovered that the capabilities of amino acids are far greater than we ever imagined and reach into such fields as medicine and semiconductors. The Ajinomoto Group's strength is its ability to harness the functions of amino acids. The Group is proud to be a leader in amino acids, and we are committed to "AminoScience" and pursuing the expanding potential of amino acids.

			syndrome, brain function)		Nutrition function
		Functional materials and
				assessment
			formulations
					(Humans, animals,
		Sensitive rapid			and plants)
Flavor			analysis						Ajinomoto
seasonings		Support			Deliver			Build-up Film®
							(Electronic materials)
			physical health		Polymerization and
			nutrition
	Improvement of	(Physiological		filming
	(Nutrition function)
	ingredient properties	function)			Evaluation of
	Deliciousness							physical properties
	design							and functionality
	Evaluation of taste		Assemble	amino	Create new	Hybrid	CDMO
Umami	and palatability	deliciousness	features		manufacturing
		process
seasonings		(Taste, texture, flavor)	acids	(Reactivity)

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CHAPTER 01 Introduction The Story of our Founding

The Story of our Founding

Eat Well, Live Well.

The world now recognizes umami as the fifth fundamental taste. Umami was the result of the efforts of one scientist who aspired to improve the nutrition of Japanese people and one business person who bet on that aspiration.

Dr. Kikunae Ikeda discovered in 1908 that glutamic acid is the component that gives the savory flavor (umami) to Japanese kombu dashi broth made from kelp. Dr. Ikeda's original research was actually not food. His area of specialty was catalysts. But when he was in Germany doing research on catalysis, he was intrigued by the strong physical qualities and good nutrition of the German people, which inspired him to find a way to improve the nutrition on Japanese people.

In 1907, he had returned to Japan and was conducting research as a professor at Tokyo Imperial University. One day, he noticed that the boiled tofu in kombu dashi had a deliciousness and realized the potential of researching seasonings that appeal to the palate. While continuing his research activities for the university, he set up a home laboratory and began researching seasonings. Through trial and error, in February of the following year he successfully crystallized the amino acids in kombu dashi. His initial efforts were able to extract just 30 grams of the amino acid from 12 kilograms of kelp.

Having ascertained that the amino acid was glutamic acid, Dr. Ikeda developed a manufacturing method using it as a raw material to create umami seasoning, which he patented in July. He had learned the importance of putting inventions into practical use from his teacher, Dr. Ostwald, who was his mentor while he was studying in Germany.

At the time, Saburosuke Suzuki II, who would later become the founder of the Ajinomoto Group, had fallen into debt when his business failed and was trying to make money in the rice market. His mother had started a business extracting iodine from kajime seaweed, and he was also helping her steadily grow the business. After he had reestablished his businesses and was exploring new business ventures,

he made the acquaintance with Dr. Ikeda, who was still researching umami. They likely had an affinity for each other's research because kajime and kombu are both made from the same seaweed.

Suzuki understood and shared Dr. Ikeda's desire to use umami seasoning to increase the deliciousness of basic meals and improve the nutrition of Japanese people. In May 1909, Suzuki launched a business venture to begin selling AJI-NO-MOTO®, the world's first umami seasoning. The history of the Ajinomoto Group began as a collaboration of industry and academia. The Ajinomoto Group considers May 20, 1909 as the day of its founding because that's the day the first AJI-NO-MOTO®, was presented to the world. For over a century, the Group has been following its founding aspiration of "Eat Well, Live Well." by utilizing the functions of amino acids to pursue deliciousness and well-being, such as delicious salt reduction.

Discoverer of the umami taste

Dr. Kikunae Ikeda

Kikunae Ikeda (1864-1936). Doctor of Science. Professor, Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tokyo Imperial University. In 1985, the Japanese government selected him as one of the Ten Japanese Great Inventors.

Ajinomoto Group founder

In 2000, nearly a century after Dr. Ikeda discovered the source of umami in his home research lab, it was scientifically proven that the tongue's taste buds have specific receptors for glutamate.

Saburosuke Suzuki II

Saburosuke Suzuki II (1868- 1931). Business person. Posthumously awarded the Junior Fifth Grade Fourth Order of Merit by the Japanese government.

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