Keywords such as minimal skincare and eco-friendly beauty are mentioned as trends in the Korean skincare market. With the recent expansion of the concept of eco-friendly consumption, it is gradually simplifying and using steps other than various existing skincare steps. In addition, as global economic difficulties arise due to COVID-19 and the Russian War, minimalism is showing a further expansion trend due to reduced consumption. In Korea, when using skincare products, the routine was to apply skin (toner), essence, ampoule, lotion, moisture cream, or nutritional cream, and to apply a dedicated eye cream in the middle, and people used it. These days, this step is often boldly omitted. However, there are people who habitually apply more than four steps due to moisturizing problems, and beauty companies also use fewer skincare products, but they make and sell products using eco-friendly and absorbent ingredients and formulas. In the Korean beauty market, the word eco-friendly is becoming important. Recently, as various environmental problems have become a big issue around the world, it is better to use cosmetics that are used every day that are not environmentally burdensome, and chemical ingredients prefer eco-friendly products because they may have side effects when accumulated in the human body.  In recent years, interest in ingredients has become the focus of attention on important marketing factors and consumers in Korea. In the past, if the performance is good, it was just used, but now performance is important, but more and more consumers are checking what ingredients make up cosmetics. In particular, interest in products using natural ingredients has increased, and in particular, various keywords such as gluten-free, vegan, and additive-free are emphasized, and products using natural ingredients instead of chemical ingredients have become a trend. In addition, it is now difficult to satisfy consumers by emphasizing simple functions or promoting them only with brand names. Instead, emotional elements and storytelling are becoming more and more important. Brands that deliver stories that consumers can sympathize with in various aspects, such as raw materials, manufacturing processes, and brand stories, are gaining popularity. Recently, more and more companies are conducting such marketing to gain popularity and create a brand’s fan base. In addition, skin care products are expected to be released in a more convenient form.

(Source from Reuters/Alamy)

For example, it is expected that there will be more convenient products such as disposable packs, pen types, or trouble-care shots. These products are a good option for consumers because they can be easily used in busy daily lives, so more and more consumers are purchasing even if the price is a little high. In addition, as described above, more people value ingredients, more people buy cosmetics online, and more people use websites or apps that can check reviews of cosmetics ingredients and users because products from various new brands are more quickly and easily accessible online.  Other trends include healing beauty and clean beauty. Consumers are looking for products that can heal their bodies and minds at the same time while using cosmetics. Clean beauty refers to a product that excludes chemical components as much as possible, and consumers want a product that does not have side effects on the skin. In particular, products that exclude harmful ingredients such as parabens, artificial pigments, and artificial perfumes from the product and use alternative natural ingredients are gaining popularity, while healing beauty refers to products that can heal not only the skin but also the mind and body. For example, various products such as aroma products that reduce stress and lighting and music used with skincare are being released.  In addition, healing beauty is related to changes in consumers’ lifestyles. Consumers tend to seek healing and stability due to regular schedules and constant stress, and the healing beauty market is expected to expand further accordingly.  Customized cosmetics are also a trend.  Customized cosmetics and products tailored to skin types are gaining popularity.. Previously, popular products were popular, but products that reflect personal factors are attracting attention. Smart devices and services related to skin beauty are gaining popularity in the beauty market.Products using smart skin care devices and applications are already being released worldwide, and these technologies will be further developed. In addition, services that diagnose skin conditions and provide information on skin care will be further developed, people believe. Although they want to take care of their skin more systematically, devices that help them take care of themselves when they have time are gaining popularity as they feel confident about going to dermatologists or care shops as they continue their daily lives.  The Korean beauty market, which gets the most popular trend, will continue to develop in the direction that consumers want.

Sophia Kim

ASIA JOURNAL

Healthcare Trend is changing from Medical to Healthcare. Trend is changing from supplier-centered to consumer-centered, from treatment-centered to prevention management-centered.

Recently, medical companies under hospitals, medical foundations, and general trading companies in Japan have also changed their overseas expansion, and I will introduce specific changes to those companies. (In particular, while telemedicine services are attracting attention due to the recent spread of COVID-19, the medical, digital, and mobility industries are working to develop healthcare mobility services that have upgraded existing telemedicine services to the next level.)

Japanese medical institutions support early stabilization of inpatients and return to society by promoting ‘smart hospital’ in cooperation with digital companies to strengthen predictability and accuracy. (Smart Hospital: It refers to a hospital operated by a fully automatic system that identifies and treats patients’ conditions using AI and IoT.) Since 2017, NEC, a large Japanese company, has been working with KNI Medical Group (Kitahara International Hospital Group) to develop a system to detect inpatients’ anxiety behavior or risk of misleading pneumonia. They analyzed electronic medical record information and vital data with AI and detected 71% accuracy about 40 minutes before inpatients’ insecurity behavior, enabling preemptive response by medical staff. As a result of KNI’s AI analysis, about 34% of elderly inpatients showed anxiety behavior, and in this case, discharge was extended by about 19 days compared to ordinary patients. In addition, they determined 87% accuracy of high-risk patients with misleading pneumonia, which frequently occurs in elderly or stroke inpatients, and nurses were able to focus on preventive management from the beginning of hospitalization. As a result of KNI’s analysis, misleading pneumonia occurs in about 10% of inpatients, and 70% of inpatients lead to long-term hospitalization for more than 1 month. In addition, they developed a system that analyzes nurse’s voice input data with AI, labels them based on nursing knowledge, and automatically classifies and stores them. As a result, 58% of the nursing record work (one hour per day per nurse) was reduced, and the effect of replacing the face-to-face handover work (30 minutes) was obtained. In addition, Japan’s Kitahara International Hospital focuses on treatment of chronic diseases centered on diabetes and rehabilitation, and has entered China to provide healthcare services. They offer low-sugar menus in hospital restaurants, along with healthy food ingredients, food, and healthcare products.

Japanese general trading companies, which focused on resource projects, are discovering and expanding healthcare businesses. In the past, bio-investment by large companies began in the 1980s, but technology limitations and markets were immature, and in the 1990s, starting with the detoxification of the human genome, they were activated as universities, research institutes, and ventures, but profits were low even after 10 years. In the 2000s, due to the breakthrough in biotechnology and the government’s deregulation of regenerated drugs, approval of drugs was also made easier. Japanese general trading companies have experienced the risks of resource businesses that rely on the market, and since then, they have found their main profitable businesses in bio-healthcare, a non-resource business.

Mitsubishi Corporation, a leading general trading company in Japan, directly participated in the operation of Tokyo Komagome Hospital until 2028 as a PFI business. Komagome Provincial Hospital (800 beds) is a hospital that had strengths in cancer and infectious diseases among Tokyo Provincial Hospitals, and Mitsubishi Corporation participated in the bidding for 186 billion yen, including a large remodeling of the hospital, securing the right to operate the hospital for 20 years from 2008. Japan promoted the PFI (Development of social capital by utilizing private funds) project for the purpose of improving the management of local hospitals, and in addition to design companies, construction companies, and IT companies, ASO groups operating large-scale hospitals in Fukuoka participated in the Komagome hospital project.

Mitsubishi Corporation has also entered the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector by taking advantage of the strengths of general trading companies in addition to hospitals and medical devices. Mitsubishi Corporation, along with Fuji Film, established FDBK and FDBT, biopharmaceutical joint ventures in the UK and the United States, respectively. Originally, Fuji Film acquired a biopharmaceutical CMO company from Merck in the U.S. in June 2011, and transferred shares to utilize Mitsubishi Corporation’s business experience in the bio sector. (Fuji Film makes up 80% of shares and Mitsubishi Corporation makes up 20% of shares.)

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Corporation established the Bio Business Development Department in April 2000 when Bio Medical was selected as a new business area in its mid-term management plan. Currently, it is the healthcare department under the Life and Distribution Headquarters and is in charge of domestic and Asian businesses. (Headquarters for Living Distribution includes the Food Distribution Department, Paper and Packaging Department, Healthcare Department, and Asia Healthcare Business Development Office.)

A key subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation’s bio-health business is ‘MC Healthcare’, a business outsourcing and medical material distribution company of hospitals under the Ministry of Healthcare.

MC Healthcare is a company founded in April 2010 by integrating three companies : Hospital Service (established in 1995; supply of medical equipment), Apprecia (established in 2001, procurement and repair services of medical devices) and MC Medical (established in 1989; import and sale of medical devices). They achieved Japan’s largest sales of about 243 billion yen in 2017 by aggregating the functions of the three companies, including the JIT system of salespeople, to respond to the advanced demands of medical institutions. In April 2019, MC Healthcare consolidated its three food-related subsidiaries to seek further business diversification. (Three food-related subsidiaries: MC Food Specialties Inc. (Manufacture and export/import, sale of sweeteners, condiments, confectionery and baking ingredients), MC Foodtech Co., Ltd. (Manufacturing and selling glucose, fruit products, marine products, additives), KOHJIN Life Sciences Co., Ltd. (Manufacture and sale of yeast, food, feed, fertilizer, and medicines)

Mitsubishi Corporation established Good Life Design in 2002 in collaboration with TOYOTA Motors, and started Aichi-Ken’s local healthcare business. Good Life Design supports management improvement and mutual linkage of local medical institutions as an outsourcing project. In addition, it is a company that provides healthcare products and services to patients and local residents, and consists of 51% of TOYOTA Motors and 49% of Mitsubishi Corporation. Medical services for patients are handled by local base hospitals, and Good Life Design provides testing agencies, IT work support, joint purchase of medicines for local hospitals and pharmacies, and nursing facilities for discharged patients, rental and sales of care products, and renovation of homes for the elderly.

The Japanese pharmaceutical industry is pushing for the development of digital treatments, breaking away from the simple business model of selling drugs to medical institutions. (Digital Therapy: Advanced software medical devices that provide therapeutic intervention to patients to prevent, manage, and treat diseases or disorders. Mobile applications, games, virtual reality, chatbots, artificial intelligence, etc.) Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. has developed a digital pill for the treatment of schizophrenia/bipolar disorder, and it has a built-in special sensor that responds to stomach acid, allowing users to identify medication information and dosage patterns through wearable devices and mobile apps. Eisai Co., Ltd. is developing a preventive medical app by analyzing data accumulated as dementia treatment drugs with AI. SHIONOGI & CO., LTD. is developing a video game for treating childhood ADHD (AKL-T01) and a video game for treating autism spectrum disorder (AKL-T02). Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited is developing medical devices to treat digestive problems.

Japanese startups are leading the way, developing telemedicine systems and providing mobile-based services to improve user convenience. Japan’s Nipro began selling “NIPRO Heart Line” in 2018, and remote doctors diagnose mild COVID-19 infections in self-isolation, and hospitals (which can monitor body temperature and blood oxygen concentration data) provide online prescriptions to pharmacies. Japan’s Medley operates an app that enables Second Opinion consultation with 18 medical professionals at Tokyo University Hospital through the “CLINICS” online platform, and is affiliated with about 800 medical institutions nationwide.

Focusing on large Japanese companies, it is promoting ‘healthcare mobility service’ that combines telemedicine and next-generation mobility service (MaaS). (MaaS (Mobility as a Service): A service that combines the operation information of various means of transportation, such as railways, buses, and taxis, and suggests an optimal route for users.) Toyota Motor Corporation and SoftBank Group Corp. established MONET Technologies in February 2019 to provide various mobility-linked services such as logistics, medical care, and finance in cooperation with companies and local governments to promote the MaaS business. Philips Japan is working with MONET Technologies to promote “delivery of healthcare” through a “mobile clinic” service that has upgraded telemedicine services to the next level. (Philips Japan is a healthcare total solution company that sells products and services for each process of healthcare such as prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and home care for a healthy life.) In December 2019, Philips Japan tested the commercial Van (9seats) called HiAce of TOYOTA in Nagano-Ken, Ina-City, equipped with a monitor capable of remote diagnosis, a vital data meter such as blood pressure, body temperature, weight, and blood sugar, and an automatic heart shock device (AED). The “mobile clinic” provides remote and face-to-face treatment services regardless of physical location by moving mobility to where patients want it. It is a system in which a nurse visits a patient with a healthcare facility, a doctor in a hospital treats the patient through a video call, and then the nurse examines and prescribes the patient under the doctor’s direction. This is what the ‘mobile clinic’ provides by synthesizing the three concepts of ‘remote treatment + home treatment + mobility’.

Large companies and startups are all speeding up the development of AI image diagnosis technology to respond to healthcare services. NTT Data demonstrated an AI image diagnosis system developed by the University of Miyazaki in 700 patients, and measured the accuracy of detecting gastrointestinal abnormalities, showing 90% accuracy in cancer diagnosis. In October 2019, it began developing an algorithm that identifies the disease name from abnormalities found by the AI image diagnosis system, and in 2020, it verified to what extent the system could reduce the burden on doctors in actual diagnostic tasks. Hitachi’s U.S. subsidiary Hitachi Consulting has signed a partnership contract with the British medical group Northern Care Alliance to realize Digital Transformation. By introducing data analysis and IoT technology for Salford Royal Hospital under Hitachi, it is seeking countermeasures to flexibly deploy beds, operating rooms, and medical devices to patients and reduce waiting time. There are also many R&D startups such as lpixel in the field of image diagnosis, and lpixel, a venture company at the University of Tokyo, developed an image diagnosis support procedure using artificial intelligence and recently unveiled a cloud-type image analysis platform called ‘IMACEL’.

Fitness Center provides healthcare services such as health data measurement and health counseling due to high customer accessibility. RIZAP Group (the No. 1 company in sales at Japan’s Fitness Center) was originally centered on diet and beauty businesses, but recently, in partnership with 183 medical institutions nationwide, doctors have started health care services (rehab and dementia prevention, depression treatment, etc.) RENAISSANCE (the fourth-largest company in Japan’s Fitness Center sales) is promoting a healthcare project for senior citizens aged 60 or older to prevent cognitive decline such as exercise guidance, meal and sleep support. In addition, Renaissance established a joint venture in Vietnam and a subsidiary operating the fitness center and swimming school. In cooperation with their own design know-how and Japanese construction companies, they reorganize the swimming pool and open a Japanese-style swimming class to conduct swimming method training and water quality management consulting projects. In addition, it sought to enter Vietnam through a step-by-step approach such as sports center construction and operation of sports centers. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Japanese companies’ healthcare services had melted into Vietnam, with more than 1,000 visitors a day despite the same high price as Japan. The Japanese food industry is releasing healthy foods such as sugar-restricted foods and menus, and selling various types of health supplements. (Sugar-restricted diet is a diet that consumes less sugar and lowers blood sugar with a diet focused on fat and protein. It has a weight-loss effect and consequently inhibits the possibility of diabetes.) Convenience store company FamilyMart has launched low-sugar foods in cooperation with sports center group RIZAP, and LAWSON has introduced low-sugar confectionery, lunch boxes, and noodles. Originally started as a medical device manufacturer that made Japan’s first scale and the world’s first body fat scale, TANITA expanded its business to the restaurant industry as a health food restaurant that provides healthcare services. TANITA expanded from the concept of measuring weight and body fat to the concept of measuring health, and it became famous throughout Japan when it provided healthy menus to employee restaurants with the aim of taking care of employees’ health first. Since then, it has published a recipe book and opened the restaurant “Marunouchi Tanita Shokudo” for the general public. It conducted free health counseling and events based on restaurants expanded nationwide, and developed a lifestyle coaching app to prevent diseases.

As such, Japanese companies are promoting links between different industries with the goal of realizing innovations that strengthen ‘convenience’, ‘accuracy’, and ‘accessibility’ of healthcare. Not only Japanese domestic companies, but also companies from neighboring Asian countries and companies from all over the world are expected to be linked in more detail to these Japanese innovations, namely, these TRENDs.

MIKE CHOI

ASIA JOURNAL

I will introduce two companies, ITBook Holdings and FujiSoft, which are also active as solution development companies in Japan.
The first introducing company, ITBook Holdings, is engaged in ICT consulting, system development, software/hardware sales to public institutions/private enterprises/financial enterprises, and dispatching businesses and personnel to improve the ground. Founded in 2018, it has recently achieved annual sales of about 21.224.76 billion yen, with 2,119 employees and 37 affiliates.
Beginning in August 2020, ITBook Technology, an affiliate of ITBook Holdings, and HALEX, NTT-Data Group, provided ITBook Technology’s environmental information service “Patrolling Carrier Pigeons” with a new disaster prevention IoT service. “Patrolling Carrier Pigeons” provides real-time environmental information (wind speed, rain, heat index, etc.) at construction, civil engineering, and agricultural sites and is already being put into practical use for safety management at work sites across Japan. Recently, heavy rain damage caused by typhoons and others occurred frequently in various parts of Japan, and flood countermeasures were needed, so the Japanese government led the Japanese government to add a weather forecast function to Japan’s first Patrolling Carrier Pigeons for disaster prevention. This new disaster prevention IoT service contributed to the safety and disaster prevention of local residents by monitoring the level of rivers and reservoirs across Japan and predicting flooding.
In December 2021, ITbook XCloud, an affiliate of ITBook Holdings, began offering the cloud-type electronic contract service “DX-Sign”. In Japan, due to COVID-19, the way of working so far has changed in an instant, especially with the rapid spread of remote work, while problems such as going to work for stamping have also been revealed. Therefore, since the launch of the Digital Agency in September 2021, amid growing calls for reform of working methods and digital transformation (DX), electronic contract services are attracting more attention. DX-Sign, an electronic contract service provided by ITbook XCloud, is a cloud-type service that allows you to write agreements, sign contracts, and manage contracts online. The user simply realized a contract without using a seal and paper.
In December 2021, ITBook Technology, an affiliate of ITBook Holdings, and Saitama University of Technology signed a joint research contract to develop and develop software for the world’s first amphibious bus capable of automatic operation and operation. In this joint study, the automatic operation and operation system of amphibious buses will be established based on the joystick robot car technology and open-source automatic operation software used in Saitama University’s automatic operation bus (realization of a total of 2,970km per year in R&D in 2020).
ITBook Technology, which is noteworthy among ITBook Holdings’ affiliates, is a system solution (ERP package for manufacturing, web application, core business package, social infrastructure system, cloud infrastructure service), IoT solution (architecture).Civil IoT, environment.It is developing disaster prevention IoT, agricultural IoT, healthcare IoT solutions, IoT sensor devices, vehicle-mounted security), embedded solutions (embedded middleware, EMI/EMC simulators, embedded deep learning, real-time OS, and others).
In July 2021, ITBook Technology unveiled its lineup as a “service” for several use scenes, focusing on communication gateways and cloud applications redesigned for healthcare services based on IoT technology, which has been built on the environmental information service “Patrolling Carrier Pigeon.” This time, we introduced communication gateways and wristwatch-type vital sensors that can be used as advanced healthcare IoT solutions.
However, in early April this year, ITBook Technology signed NDA contracts with Infomining and GB Soft, respectively, a Korean small and medium-sized company that is being Incubated by the LA Times Asia Journal, and is conducting a full-fledged technology meeting for business with these small and medium-sized companies. For reference, Infomining is a company that developed a system in which AI Server analyzes biological signals of electrocardiogram, blood pressure, blood sugar, oxygen saturation, pulse, and body temperature through SmartWatch and informs AI Server of blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse, and body temperature.

After purchasing Infomining’s Smart Watch, ITBook Technology tries to test the technical operating status of AI Server and also tries to test GB Soft’s AI Server for technical verification. ITBook Technology hopes to combine the technologies of Infomining and GB Soft as their healthcare IoT solutions. After all, they have recognized the value of Infomining and GB Soft technologies, and they are also moving quickly in line with the trend of companies around the world focusing on their healthcare business through COVID-19 experience.
The second company, FujiSoft, is a Japanese company that introduces business solutions, embedded, control solutions, and products.Develop services and request development through outsourcing. It is developed by receiving a request for solutions, products, or services from the financial/logistics/distribution/manufacturing/service/construction/medical/care services/education/governmental organizations. Founded in 1970, it is a large Japanese IT company with annual sales of about 220 billion yen and 14,420 employees.
From April 5 this year, FujiSoft began offering an online consultation room called “MEMTOM.” The online counseling office “MEMTOM” is a service that allows users to use counseling that requires agreement formation after enhancing mutual understanding. Today, telework has been introduced in many companies, and non-face-to-face sales using video conferencing systems are rapidly spreading. Even in the existing video conference system, a sales representative can explain a product using a screen sharing function. However, unlike face-to-face consultations, it is difficult to communicate with sales representatives because customers themselves cannot freely manipulate the data they are showing, which is a barrier to enhancing mutual understanding and promoting consensus. “MEMTOM” not only allows all counseling participants to manipulate data shared at the same time, but also allows them to freely enter data, such as uploading, downloading, and typing characters by a keyboard on the spot. Therefore, a series of procedures until signing a contract, such as filling out an application form, can be realized one-stop. In addition, the log of the entered information is automatically recorded and the data used in the consultation is kept in a FISC-compliant security environment. In addition, since it is a service using a web browser, there is no need to install applications on customers. FujiSoft unveiled its online counseling office “MEMTOM” by realizing counseling that was non-face-to-face but felt as if it had met.
From April 7 this year, FujiSoft added a Touchless reception function and a “Reception status check function” to the reception system “moreReception” that visitors can use without contacting the reception terminal. Due to the influence of COVID-19, visitors to companies or office buildings feel uneasy about the infection risk caused by the response of the receptionist and the manipulation of the reception system. In order to make visitors receive applications with confidence, it is accelerating to install a reception system, but also to make reception by a person in parallel or completely unmanned. “moreReception” is an unmanned reception system that is also used for comprehensive reception of buildings where several companies move in, so it has been receiving many requests from touchless companies. This “moreReception” adds a “Touchless reception function” and a “reception status check function” that allows visitors to safely and safely receive touchless. The “Touchless reception function” is completed by simply placing the QR code for reception sent in advance by the visiting person to “moreReception”. The “Reception Status Checking Function” indicates that the person in charge of the visit confirmed the reception by placing the QR code for the reception back to “more reception” after completing the reception procedure. FujiSoft supports the prevention of infectious diseases of visiting applications and the efficiency of reception tasks through “moreReception”.
From April 1 this year, FujiSoft developed and released a virtual education space called “FAMcampus” based on the demonstration results of the Kakken Holdings Group. The ways children learn have diversified, and online learning has become common in the educational field. However, most of the online learning environments did not have polite guidance or advice for one student during breaks before and after class, and the opportunity for questions and conversations decreased. One of the problems of online learning is that students’ learning needs and competitiveness have also decreased. FujiSoft unveiled a new virtual education space called “FAMcampus” for this problem. In “FAMCampus,” students walk around in the form of avatars in the educational space reproduced by students on virtual space. Log on to the floor already prepared according to the form of collective guidance or individual guidance, and engage in learning activities such as classes and self-study every day while feeling the presence of teachers and colleagues. Students themselves are stimulated by the presence of friends who strive for learning, leading to increased learning needs and competitiveness. In addition, you can have a conversation (video call) just by hitting your avatar, so you can communicate smoothly with your teacher or friend. FujiSoft is a technology and development power in the ICT field and is strengthening and expanding its business by accelerating DX (Digital Transformation) in the education field.
Since 2018, FujiSoft has been paying attention to and developing telemedicine diagnosis. Using the technology and suggestive power accumulated as an SI company, medical devices and medical systems were developed, and diagnostic devices such as medical imaging devices, medical recorders, X-ray diagnostic devices, and ultrasonic diagnostic devices are cited. In addition, medical device software was developed in accordance with IEC International Standard “IEC 62304″ (Software Lifecycle Process Standard), and IOMT was developed by cloud technology capable of responding to Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services (AWS) and security system development technology necessary for handling medical information. In particular, due to COVID-19, the Japanese government has temporarily eased regulations on the first visit of online medical treatment, one of the IoMT, making great progress in the Internet and cloud of the Japanese medical industry. For example, it is a healthcare management system in which doctors and managers check their health by uploading the data from a patient’s electrocardiogram to the cloud. The development of IoMT has been carried out by mounting a communication function in devices such as an electrocardiogram or a thermometer.
In this situation, LA Times Asia Journal introduced AI solutions of Infomining and GB Soft, which are Korean SMEs, to FujiSoft, and FujiSoft recognizes the technical value of Infomining and GBSoft and is discussing internally how to conduct business by incorporating them into their solutions.
It is natural for Japan’s leading solution companies, ITbook and FujiSoft, to focus on medical and healthcare businesses at this point, and the fact that they are paying attention to Korean SMEs to supplement their technologies is expected to contribute significantly to revitalizing business between countries.

Mike Choi

US Asia Journal

Since 1899, KAGOME – an agricultural company – has been cultivating tomatoes, an unfamiliar fruit in Japan at the time. Recently the company was introduced to STX BIO, a Korean microbial development company, to improve their agricultural production.

Headquartered in Nagoya, KAGOME started as a tomato ketchup company and has a complete vertical system of integration, ranging from producing, growing, processing and selling tomatoes and well as other vegetables. Kagome accounts for 60.9% of Japan’s market share in tomato ketchup and 61.2% in vegetable juice. It has developed a database of genetic resources 7,500 species of tomato seeds of the approximately 8,000 species of tomatoes worldwide, and is using them to develop new varieties.

Since 1999, KAGOME has hydroponically grown tomatoes in a large glass greenhouse in a total area of 1.3 hectares in the Ibaraki Prefecture, and has been operating a 3 hectare glass greenhouse in Hiroshima since 2006.

In 2015, KAGOME began agricultural collaboration with NEC, a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics company. They conducted AI farming experiments around the world, including Portugal, Australia and the United States, in 2019. Based on sensor data and satellite images, a system has been established to visualize tomato growth and soil conditions. With it, it can properly provide data such as the amount of irrigation water or fertilizer needed to raise fresh crops. According to the 2019 AI farming experiment conducted in Portugal, the average fertilizer usage decreased by 20% compared to conventional farming methods, and the tomato yield per hectare was 127 tons, 1.3 times more than conventional results. These results, which can only be seen from skilled professional farmers, have shown better performance than expected. KAGOME established the Smart Agriculture Division in 2020 and operates worldwide.

However, at a time when demands for tomato juice and vegetable juice continues to increase, the company strives to keep up with demand even if greenhouse cultivation or AI farming businesses are operated.

In the midst of this, KAGOME was naturally interested in STX Bio’s study of microorganisms. This is because STX Bio’s microorganisms boost plant growth (cabbage, potatoes, grass, peas, kale, cabbage, etc.) by 20 to 50 percent. This microorganism, a product backed by about 80 years of research, is a very special microorganism.

In addition to Korea, this product was utilized in many countries including China, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Not only for plant growth, it was also applied for animal growth promotion, water purification/odor removal, composting of animal manure, medical waste purification, concrete curing period reduction/compression strengthening, and radioactive substance conversion.

KAGOME desires to increase productivity by using STX Bio’s microorganisms in their greenhouses and vegetables growing on their fields around the world. KAGOME’s interest in STX Bio’s microorganisms by the introduction of the LA Times Asia Journal is understandable in this industry, and STX Bio in Korea deserves more attention.

Mike Choi

Asia Journal

(Los Angeles Times Advertising Supplement)