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ITO EN
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R&D
Tea has been our core business since our foundation, and our involvement in it has developed into a vertically integrated business spanning a wide range of research and development efforts and every stage of the manufacturing process, from the development of raw materials (tea farms) to final products and the recycling of the used tea leaves discharged in the manufacturing process. We have developed a unique business model that is not found among our competitors.
APPROACH TO R&D
By working with our diverse stakeholders, ITO EN continues to create and provide significant health-promoting value aligned with the changes in people's lifestyles.
Under its management principle, “Always putting the customer first,” ITO EN worked with a variety of partners to successfully develop the world’s first canned oolong and canned green teas. Since then, ITO EN has utilized its network of diverse stakeholders, including partner companies and experts, to quickly innovate in response to customer needs as they arise, as it continues to create new value in the form of products.
ITO EN’s Research and Development Division is engaged in both basic and applied research based on the concept of developing products that are natural, healthy, safe, well-designed and delicious. In addition to providing additional health value to customers through its collaborations with diverse stakeholders, ITO EN also conducts socially and environmentally conscious research through the development of new containers and filling methods for beverages, and through the systematization of effective methods for utilizing the used tea leaves discharged in the manufacturing process, working to commercialize these innovations.
As both a leading tea manufacturer and a comprehensive beverage company, we have persistently studied and developed technology related to issues such as flavor and the environment, in addition to the health-promoting properties of foods, continuing to provide proposals for healthy and fulfilling lifestyles to customers.
ITO EN’s long-term vision is to be a Global Tea Company that delivers the value of tea—in everything from its traditions to its cutting-edge technologies—to customers around the world as part of its lifestyle proposals. We will work to leverage the technical capabilities we have cultivated over many years as we continue to take on challenges in new fields of research while pursuing sustainable growth.
R&D TOWARD THE
ERA OF THE 100-YEAR LIFESPAN
For many years, the Central Research Institute has conducted basic research including research into the evaluation of the functionality of tea and other food ingredients and the elucidation of the mechanisms of these functions and it has also worked on applied research to demonstrate the effectiveness of food intake. As our social environment continues to change, the diversity of customers’ health awareness and lifestyles is expected to increase. With an eye toward an era where people can be expected to live 100 years or longer, we work on research and development and the provision of products and services through industry-academia partnerships to solve the health problems of all generations of people and increase the healthy life expectancy.
PROMOTING WASTE REDUCTION AND RESOURCE RECYCLING
For the realization of a sustainable society, ITO EN reduces waste and promotes the effective use of
resources and the upcycling of used tea leaves into various products.
USED TEA LEAVES
RECYCLING SYSTEM
ITO EN recycles the tea leaves generated in its production of Oi Ocha and other tea beverages as fertilizer and animal feed. Further, ITO EN has developed a unique Used Tea Leaves Recycling System which it has been implementing since 2000. In this system we use a portion of the used tea leaves as components of various products, including paper products, building materials and resins, which are manufactured into a variety of products and distributed by our partner companies. Through these efforts, we are conserving resources by reducing the amount of raw materials used and developing new products that take advantage of the characteristics of tea, such as its aroma and deodorizing and antibacterial effects. In addition, used tea leaves are blended with materials such as paper without dehydrating them. This means that they do not go through a drying process, which would involve the consumption of oil resources and the emission of CO2. This initiative has three environmental benefits: resource conservation, the reduction of CO2 emissions and recycling.