We spoke with six companies working on "consistency and happiness"! The happy relationship between food and health.

Eating what you want, as much as you want, brings people happiness. Even if you overeat in one meal or your nutrition gets unbalanced, it's OK! By loosely balancing it out with the meals before and after, you can practice a healthy eating lifestyle.

Under this new concept, a project called " Tsujitsuma Happiness ."

As more companies agree with the project's purpose and join, we held a roundtable discussion with the six PROJECT TOP PARTNERS. Joined by Yosuke Kitajima from Dentsu Inc., the project's secretariat, they discussed past initiatives and future prospects.

Participating Companies (in alphabetical order): Ajinomoto ／ Every ／ Kikkoman ／ J-Oil Mills ／ Nichirei Foods ／ House Foods

We want to support consumers not just as one company, but as multiple companies

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): Today, I'd like to hear from the representatives of the companies participating in the "Tujitsumasiawase" project.

First, I'd like to ask about each company's background for joining the "Tsunagimasu Awasase" project. I believe you all joined at the invitation of the lead company, Ajinomoto. What were your initial thoughts upon hearing the project's concept: "Enjoying delicious meals while effortlessly achieving nutritional balance"?

Yoshikawa (House Foods): How to enjoyably build health is now a challenge for society as a whole. I believe each company gathered here is promoting various initiatives, but a single company's efforts inevitably have limitations in their approach. In that sense, collaborating with other companies is truly reassuring, and I felt growing expectations that we could generate unprecedented social impact.

Takakura (J-Oil Mills): While our company focuses on functional foods using vegetable oils, we've been exploring questions like, "Is it enough to just promote the functionality of our products?" and "Can we also implement measures from the perspective of well-being, or living joyfully?" I felt that if multiple companies collaborated to promote the proposal of "eating happily while balancing nutrition," we could deliver a message that truly resonates with consumers.

Kurihara (Every): Through operating the recipe video media "Delish Kitchen," we also sense the growing social need for "wanting to eat deliciously and be healthy." However, we also feel the difficulty in communicating this effectively. Topics about health and nutrition can come across as stiff, high-barrier, or even pushy. In that sense, the approach of saying "It's okay not to push yourself" rather than "Think about nutritional balance at every meal" felt very contemporary and much more likely to be accepted by consumers.

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): Each company faces its own challenges, and you saw "Tsujitsumasiawase" as a potential solution. Precisely because it's a concept that resonates with today's times, it can reach many consumers. Collaboration among the companies can amplify its impact even further.

Nakajima (Kikkoman): In our busy daily lives, achieving perfect nutritional balance at every meal is incredibly difficult. I think it's wonderful that companies involved in Japanese food are joining forces to lower the barriers to practicing healthy eating habits – it's a truly consumer-centric approach.

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): Another crucial aspect of "Tsujitsumasiawase" is that it's not just a loose concept; it's grounded in solid scientific evidence. We developed a new system for evaluating the nutritional balance and quality of meals called the "JANPS (Japan Nutrient Profiling System)" – a nutritional profiling system. This system also establishes benchmarks for achieving nutritional balance.

Saito (Nichirei Foods): A key point is that Ajinomoto, the lead company, was the first in Japan to introduce its own nutritional profiling system. Going forward, such "industry-wide common metrics" will be essential for solving domestic nutrition challenges, so we also want to learn from this.

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): As the lead company, Ajinomoto has driven this project. Could you share the significance of collaboration among companies and your current impressions?

Koyama (Ajinomoto): We believe that expanding our activities together, not just adding but multiplying our efforts, is the first step toward making this initiative a societal cause. Consumers naturally don't live on products from just one specific manufacturer; they utilize products and recipes from various companies. Therefore, we aim to increase touchpoints that enhance consumers' well-being by collaborating with everyone.

Each company implements new approaches, focusing on how to propose "recipes"!

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): Could you tell us what specific initiatives each company is undertaking?

Nakajima (Kikkoman): We're starting new initiatives centered around "products" and "recipes" as touchpoints with consumers. For example, we added a category called "Supplemental Side Dishes" to the recipes on our site, designed to help supplement nutrients often lacking in daily meals. We're also enhancing nutrition-focused articles and adding features to our recipe app, like graphs showing the calorie intake and nutritional balance of meal plans.

Takakura (J-Oil Mills): We also communicate with consumers primarily through "products" and "recipes." We see participation in "Tsujitsumasiawase" as an opportunity to propose menus from a fresh perspective. We'd be delighted to see new developments, such as collaborating with participating companies to develop menus.

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): If companies develop many healthy and delicious menus using their diverse ingredients, it will increase the variety of "Tsujitsumasiawase." From the perspective of recipe development and proposal, we would appreciate hearing your thoughts, Every.

Kurihara (Every): Even before joining the project, we always had the desire to "clearly compile and share information consumers want to know, creating a space to consider food and health." Therefore, coinciding with our project participation, we started displaying key nutritional information for free on all recipes featured on "Delish Kitchen." This makes information like calories, carbohydrates, fats, protein, sugar, and salt easily accessible to anyone. We aim to continue providing opportunities for people to adopt healthier eating habits.

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): Every, you were also involved in the site design for "Tsujitsumasiawase," right?

Kurihara (Every): Yes. Leveraging our expertise in operating the Delish Kitchen recipe media, we provided comprehensive support for the site's planning, development, design, and operation. Beyond UI/UX design focused on user experience, we helped standardize recipe terminology inconsistencies. Is it "eggplant" or "nasu"? "Spaghetti" or "pasta"? We unified each company's terminology to make recipes easier to find.

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): House Foods and Nichirei Foods have just joined. Do you have any aspirations for the activities you'd like to pursue?

Yoshikawa (House Foods): Our company has always developed diverse products tailored to various lifestyles to meet consumers' needs. We've also actively shared seasonal recipes and other information. Going forward, we hope to use "JANPS" to visualize the health benefits of our proprietary products and proposed recipes.

Saito (Nichirei Foods): Our core business is frozen foods. While frozen foods offer convenience, they are not often perceived as healthy. To encourage consumers to choose frozen foods as one way to easily achieve nutritional balance while enjoying delicious meals, we plan to focus on developing recipes centered around the four fundamental nutrients/ingredients for balanced meals. We also intend to actively share information themed around health and nutritional balance.

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): As the project leader, Ajinomoto, what activities do you plan to focus on?

Koyama (Ajinomoto): We will continue refining the JANPS system that everyone uses. Additionally, we plan to focus on promotions using owned media like TikTok. If we can develop content that appeals not only to our main target of homemakers but also to a wider, more diverse audience, it could broaden the base of people who resonate with this project. First, we will implement this ourselves, then provide feedback on the results to participating companies, and then each company expands into new activities. That would be ideal.

Connecting all areas related to food and creating activities rooted in people's lives!

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): Finally, I'd like to ask about the future you envision through this project. What ideas do you all have?

Saito (Nichirei Foods): Long-term, we want to reach people who don't cook for themselves or aren't conscious of health issues. The concept of "Tsujitsuma Happiness" is definitely something everyone can embrace. So limiting it just to home cooking would be a waste. I'd be thrilled if this grew into an initiative where we harmonize "tsujitsuma" across home cooking, prepared meals, and eating out.

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): That's a wonderful idea! I also believe "Tsujitsuma Happiness" holds the potential to expand into all areas related to food.

Kurihara (Every): The food-related field is truly vast. At our "Delish Kitchen," we collaborate not only with food manufacturers but also with food retailers, government ministries, and various other parties. So, there should still be plenty of areas where we can work together to advance activities. Moving forward, we also want to be mindful of how we can position ourselves to expand the project.

Nakajima (Kikkoman): First, I think it's important to create at least one successful case, even if it's small-scale. Our company is also working on initiatives to improve the food environment through industry-government-academia collaboration, and as part of our food education activities, we're developing content focused on the theme of "nutritional balance." It would be great if we could link these activities to "Tsujitsumasiawase."

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): Creating a success story is crucial. It can also serve as a catalyst for the project.

Takakura (J-Oil Mills): For instance, we could involve distributors and retailers to create dedicated "Tsujitsumasiawase" sales areas. Laying out the space using the "Tsujitsumasiawase" logo... Ultimately, it would be great if this boosted the project's visibility.

Yoshikawa (House Foods): Ultimately, the ideal society is one where everyone thinks about food and health for themselves, makes choices, and enjoys eating while feeling happy. Considering health and nutrition isn't difficult or special. We hope smiles spread through food.

Kitajima (Dentsu Inc.): We've received many wonderful opinions from everyone. As the project secretariat, we hope each company will cooperate to energize "Tsujitsumasiawase." Finally, could we hear from Ajinomoto about your future aspirations?

Koyama (Ajinomoto): It would be wonderful if this project became part of each individual's daily life. Enjoying balanced, delicious meals should naturally lead to greater well-being.

We also live in an era of information overload. Sometimes, misinformation can spread rapidly. Companies like ours, involved in food, want consumers to achieve a better life through food. Therefore, we hope that many companies will collaborate to disseminate accurate messages going forward.

We will continue our activities, aiming to reliably convey accurate information to consumers and help many people lead lives where they can continue to eat happily and deliciously.

※Ajinomoto
Ajinomoto, the project's lead company. Its purpose is "Contributing to the well-being of people, society, and the planet through amino science." It is also working to standardize nutritional value indicators for food, such as introducing its unique nutritional profiling system ANPS (an index that quantifies the nutritional quality of food based on scientific evidence). and is also committed to standardizing nutritional value indicators for foods.

※Every
Every, whose mission is "To deliver positive inspiration into everyone's daily life," operates the recipe video media platform "Delish Kitchen," boasting over 56 million monthly users. Its concept is "recipes anyone can easily make deliciously." are all supervised by food professionals such as registered dietitians.

※Kikkoman
Kikkoman, which owns brands including "Del Monte," "Manjou," and "Manz Wine," is known for products like soy sauce, Japanese seasonings, mirin, and cooking sake. With the slogan "We want to create delicious memories," and continues its "Food and Health" initiatives with the hope that "through experiences related to food, people's hearts and bodies will become healthier."

※J-Oil Mills
As a means to realize its corporate vision "Joy for Life - Bringing Joy to the Future Through Food," J-Oil Mills promotes "Deliciousness × Health × Low Burden." It manufactures and sells household oils under the "AJINOMOTO brand," commercial oils boasting approximately 40% domestic market share, starch, and margarine. It also actively engages in developing recipes using vegetable oils.

※Nichirei Foods
A frontier company in frozen foods, guided by the mission "Contributing to a healthy and prosperous society by focusing on people's lives and through food" and the brand statement "FoodJoy Equity: A world where deliciousness and health can be shared." The company focuses its business on frozen foods, retort pouch foods, and wellness foods.

※House Foods
House Foods manufactures and sells a wide range of products, including seasonings and prepared foods like curry and stew, as well as desserts, snacks, and ramen. Guided by the corporate philosophy "Through food, we contribute to the happiness of families," the company defines eating as "not just about nutrition, but also enriching the heart."