BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Section6TheFoodandConsumerServicesDivision1 Diversifying the Food and ConsumerServices DivisionDespite the downsizing Japanese domestic marketdue to population decline in the 2000s, economies weregrowing in overseas markets due to population growth,mainly in emerging countries, and that was expandingbusiness opportunities. The need to ensure a stable supplyof food resources increased, and the markets were in aconsistently expanding trend in emerging countries, inaccordance with changes in people’s affluent lifestyles. Inresponse, Toyota Tsusho expanded a variety of businessesin four sectors (grains, food, insurance, and lifestyles)and built a global value chain that facilitated provisionof safe and reliable goods and services domestically andoverseas.Toyota Tsusho then started a project to restructure itsportfolio of Consumer Products and Services Divisionbusinesses in August 2002 and had discussion afterdiscussion concerning the selection and concentrationof businesses amid significant movement in the businessenvironment.2 Expanding the Grain Business in BrazilIn May 2015, NovaAgri Infra-Estrutura deArmazenagem e Escoamento Agricola S.A. (NovaAgri),a company that operates grain warehouses, railtransshipment facilities, and export terminals in centraland northeast Brazil, became a subsidiary of ToyotaTsusho, through which Toyota Tsusho participates ingrain infrastructure projects and the grain shipmentand export business in Brazil. NovaAgri owns its ownwarehouses, particularly in central and northeast Brazil,including the Mato Grosso state of Brazil, where grainproduction thrives, and does business in transshipment byrail, export facility operations, and terminal operations atSao Luis Itaqui Harbor. By the acquisition of NovaAgri,Toyota Tsusho started a cargo collection businessoriginating at NovaAgri’s warehouses in central andnortheast Brazil, where grain production is anticipatedto increase, and worked to secure and improve a stablesupplysystemformajorgrains.3 Founding Agricultural ProductionCompanies to Cultivate Bell PeppersHaving promoted the fresh vegetables business sincethe 1990s, Toyota Tsusho Foods Corp. establishedthe agricultural production corporation VEGi-DreamKurihara Corp. in Kurihara-shi, Miyagi Prefecture in July2008, and delved into bell pepper production and sales.More than 90% of Japan’s bell pepper demand relies onimports, and it was the company’s wish to contribute toavailability of safe and reliable domestically producedvegetables that led it to form agricultural productioncorporations. In collaboration with local communitiesand local governments, Toyota Tsusho Foods attemptedto capitalize on the manufacturing expertise of the ToyotaGroup to achieve fresh and delicious, safe and reliableagricultural products that promote and contribute to thelocal community as it rolled out the first shipment of bellpeppers in June 2009.Cradle Foods Co., Ltd., of Abashiri-shi, Hokkaido,a joint venture company established by Tomen, hadbegun to implement the Toyota Production System inMay 2009. Under direction of Toyota Tsusho’s GlobalEnvironment and Production Kaizen Department,Cradle Foods Co., Ltd., aimed to improve productionefficiency while deepening cooperation with regionalagricultural organizations to accelerate the constructionNovaAgri grain elevatorBell peppers144