Mizkan signed an agreement with Kyoto City in August 2020 with the goal of making Kyoto a sustainable city by reducing its food waste.

With our Mission, “Bringing Flavor to Life.”, Mizkan aims to realize the goals set out in Vision Statement 2024—“Champion the well-being of the earth, society, and all that dwell on it” and “Innovate new taste experiences for the evolving needs of society.” Working together with the City of Kyoto, a municipality that has been implementing pioneering initiatives in this field, we are addressing this important social issue.

Collaboration in Action: Expanding the Circle of Impact

By combining the City of Kyoto’s proactive efforts to reduce waste with Mizkan’s expertise in menu proposals and product development, we are implementing a variety of approaches that contribute to a circular food system. Under the concept of “enjoying seasonal vegetables deliciously without waste,” we are working together with a wide range of partner organizations.

Since 2020, we have carried out initiatives such as the joint development and promotion of recipes (including “Mottainai Hot Pot” and “Mottainai Pickles®”), projects in collaboration with universities and other companies, and hands-on learning programs for parents and children—such as a food loss and waste reduction awareness program at “Sustaina Kyoto,” an environmental learning facility at Kyoto. Mizkan will continue to expand this network of initiatives with other local governments and stakeholders.

“Enjoying seasonal vegetables deliciously without waste”
— Mottainazuke & Mottainabe

Our approach is simple: enjoy vegetables at their best, and use what you already have—peels, stems, and all. This is how we turn “mottainai” (a Japanese sense of “waste-not”) into delicious meals.

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  Mottainazuke – Pickle Recipes

  We have been introducing pickle recipes that help use up vegetables that can be difficult to finish since 2021. By turning them into pickles while they are still fresh, vegetables can be enjoyed deliciously instead of going to waste.
  We call this idea “Mottainazuke,” a combination of mottainai, which means “don’t waste,” and nazuke, meaning pickles. Easy to prepare and suitable as a make-ahead side dish, Mottainazuke is versatile and simple to enjoy in many ways.

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  Mottainabe - Hot Pot Recipes

  Nabe (hotpot) is one of the best ways to use up vegetables without wasting them. It’s perfect for those leftover vegetables you find in the refrigerator, or the parts of vegetables that would normally be thrown away. It is also perfect for leftover meat and seafood and you can even include leftover rice and noodles. Just when it seems something will go to waste, nabe comes to the rescue! We call this ‘Mottainabe,’ a combination of ‘mottainai’ which means ‘don’t waste’ and ‘nabe.’ So, ‘Mottainabe’ means ‘no-waste hot pot.’

Recognitions

These recognitions were given for our initiatives and partnership based on our agreement with Kyoto City. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who supported this initiative.

FY2023 Food Loss Reduction Promotion Awards — Administrative Vice-Minister for the Environment Award

The 11th “Mottainai” Awards for the Food Industry — Director-General of the Minister’s Secretariat, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Award