Message from the President

My name is Shin Kojima, and I am the new president of Lacto Japan Co., Ltd. As a founding member, I have helped build the Company to what it is today and accumulated a track record as a sales representative of dairy ingredients. 

 

We endured many hardships at the time of our founding due to the challenge of selling dairy ingredients as a newly established and little-known company. Nevertheless, we eventually gained the trust of our customers and expanded our business by providing prompt and flexible services and leveraging our solution capabilities as a company that specializes in dairy products. Our lack of size and recognition means that we have always had a strong desire to satisfy our customers, listening carefully to their needs and striving to meet them, as we recognize that we will not win out by taking the same approach as the larger companies. We conduct our sales activities through the hard work and humble attitude of each employee, and our subordinates who work alongside have inherited the same passion and methods. 

 

Under this corporate culture, the Company has continued to broaden its business, such as through the start of production and sale of processed cheese in Southeast Asia in 2003, and is now widely recognized in the market as a specialized trading company that handles a wide range of dairy ingredients and boasts the largest market share and procurement capabilities in Japan. 

 

Upon the announcement of my appointment as president, I received a number of congratulatory messages from our domestic and overseas business partners. Many of these messages referred to our distinctive corporate culture, which made me realize once again that the commitments we have made over the years have not gone unnoticed. We will do our utmost to continue to preserve Lacto Japan’s distinctive corporate culture that has existed since its founding. 

 

Meanwhile, the business environment is changing rapidly. Each year, there is an increasing number of hurdles to overcome as a publicly traded company, and we intend to remain focused on strengthening governance and IR activities. In addition, by incorporating return on invested capital (ROIC) as a management indicator, we aim to improve profitability and capital efficiency while considering the transformation of our business portfolio. We will make management decisions by remaining open-minded without being bound by fixed concepts while assessing current trends and determine the approach we must take to “Bring health and happiness to people by connecting the world through food.”

 

With a view to sustainable growth, Lacto Japan will leverage its capabilities as both a trading company and a manufacturer to capture the demand for food that will only increase going forward. By doing so, we aim to be a complex food company that provides diverse and abundant value to stakeholders.