■Pharma Foods' Growth Strategy ＜2929＞
3. Creating new markets
New market creation includes brand strengthening, overseas market development (US market development, Chinese market development through cross-border EC, Southeast Asian market development through halal certification), deepening mail-order business in the domestic market (development of new products and services utilizing D2C platforms with over 1 million people), and business model transformation from BtoB to BtoC (to major drug stores and convenience store distribution networks for the company's brand products We will promote development), SDGs initiatives (creation of an upcycled market for unused resources), and expansion into the health support device and medical device fields (health equipment, facial equipment, measuring devices, hearing aids), etc.
Of these, for US market development, we aim to obtain GARS (Pharma Gaba (R)) certification by the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) for “Pharma Gaba (R)”. Since targets expand from current supplement targets to general foods and beverages due to FDA GARS acquisition, it is expected that the US market will expand rapidly, leading to adoption by major food and beverage manufacturers in the United States. Regarding the development of the Southeast Asian market, a memorandum of understanding was signed to establish a joint venture in Vietnam, and a health food manufacturing plant is planned. It seems that they are considering expanding into Southeast Asia other than Vietnam in the future.
Regarding the creation of an upcycled market for unused resources, we aim to create markets in the fields of “fibers,” “battery materials,” and “biostimulants” through advanced use of unused naturally derived raw materials and eggshell membranes. Through this upcycle, eggshells and eggshell membranes, which are discarded in Japan every year, are converted into high value-added products, and we aim to realize a sustainable society.
In 2023/9, three areas (hybrid fibers, new power storage device materials, agricultural biostimulant peptides) were outsourced and adopted as subsidy projects for the “Bio Manufacturing Revolution Promotion Project” project publicly solicited by NEDO. Then, in 2024/2, a formal contract was signed with NEDO for the “Bio Manufacturing Revolution Promotion Project” project, and a 5-year research and development project began. It has also been discovered that it is possible to develop materials for power storage devices with excellent electrical properties by converting eggshell membrane hydrolysates into nanofibers, and in the future, research will be over 5 billion yen over the next 5 years (a total of about 15 billion yen when including the construction of a new Meiji Pharmaceutical plant of approximately 8 billion yen) for the development and mass production of “eggshell membrane materials” with characteristics suitable for a wide range of industrial uses, such as electronic/battery materials using nanofibers as raw materials, while receiving assistance from NEDO It is planned to make development investments and capital investments.
In the field of “fiber,” the next-generation sustainable fiber “ovoveil (ovoveil),” which utilizes eggshell membranes, was adopted in the autumn/winter collection of Kyoto University's special professor Naoko Tosa in 2024/2, and was shown at New York Fashion Week (NYFW), which is one of the four major fashion weeks in the world. The characteristics of “ovoveil” are that eggshell membranes originally have beautiful skin and health functions and a smooth texture similar to cashmere. We will continue to promote business negotiations with a view to hiring major apparel manufacturers.
In the field of “battery materials,” we succeeded in preparing the world's first nanofiber membrane (film) using eggshell membranes through joint research with Shinshu University Advanced Field Fusion Research Group International Fiber Engineering Research Center (IFES) in 2023/6. In the future, a business alliance between industry and academia will be concluded with IFES, and research will proceed with the aim of applying it to the medical field, starting with biomembrane wound dressings using eggshell membrane nanofibers, and battery material fields such as supercapacitors.
In the field of “biostimulants,” a “basic agricultural nutrition plan” was formulated with Sanyo Chemical Industries in September 2021, which combines the development and technical capabilities of both companies to resolve the global agricultural crisis, and a demonstration experiment aimed at constructing a new agricultural system began in 2022 in Shintomi-cho, Miyazaki-ken. As future plans, we aim to develop high value-added crops with enhanced yield, resistance, and functionality using biostimulants that combine the technologies of both companies in 2024, sell high-performance health foods and cosmetics derived from unused parts of high value-added crops in 2025 through the company's mail-order channel, expand target crops and promote sixth industrialization and branding in 2026, and develop a sustainable agricultural system in 2030. Furthermore, in 2023/12, it took over the agricultural microbial material business containing plant endophytic yeast from Wakenbetech Co., Ltd., and sales of GABA-containing lactic acid bacteria fermented liquid “K-3” began in 2024/1 as the first biostimulant used as an agricultural material on our online shopping channel. “K-3” is a research result related to fruit and vegetable cultivation that has been carried out at more than 20 locations nationwide, and it has been confirmed that the harvest period for tomatoes and bell peppers has been shortened and the yield increased.
Furthermore, in 2022/7, ENEOS Holdings made a joint investment in ENEGGO, which manufactures liquid fertilizer derived from eggs, and a business alliance agreement was concluded with Green Techno 21 Co., Ltd. and its subsidiary ENEGGO. Thus, the largest domestic procurement of eggshells and eggshell membranes will be carried out, and chemical product fields such as eggshell membrane fibers and liquid fertilizer will be strengthened.
Actively promote M&A alliances
4. New organization creation
In creating a new organization, we will actively promote organizational, personnel, and recruitment reforms such as salary levels where people can work with peace of mind and incentives for growth, the development and strengthening of global solution teams such as overseas manufacturing/sales base construction, and implementation of M&A alliances. Regarding M&A alliances, we are considering companies with sales of 3 billion yen to 20 billion yen related to new products and new markets by utilizing cash on hand and loan facilities. In January 2023, the PF Visionary Fund Investment Business Limited Partnership was established and operations began. Accelerate innovation in antibody drug discovery and healthcare businesses by investing in startup companies.
(Author: FISCO Visiting Analyst Masashi Mizuta Exhibition)