Indonesia

The history of the world's first flavor enhancer dates back to Japan in 1908. "Aji-No-Moto" is monosodium glutamate, a white crystalline compound for enhancing the flavor of food and widely used throughout the world. Compared with other Asian countries, the consumption of monosodium glutamate in Indonesia is relatively low. This has spurred the Ajinomoto company to increase investment in Indonesia.

Ajinomoto Indonesia , with a workforce of 3,000, has had a presence in the country for over 30 years and its marketing efforts are now leading to an increase in sales of its three key seasoning brands: "AJI-NO-MOTO", "Masako" and "Sajiku".

While the company's core product remains its namesake additive, its president director Etsuhiro Takato also foresees great potential with the other business lines: "With 'Masako' this year, we increased our sales rapidly and saw very significant growth. We would like to expand the 'Masako' business further in 2003 and so we are expanding our manufacturing operations by more than 50 percent. In 2002, the sales of 'Sajiku', a relatively new product launched only three years ago, also increased dramatically. We expect sales to increase further in the next three to four years."
Etsuhiro Takato, president director of Ajinomoto Indonesia

Takato hopes Ajinomoto Indonesia's significant role in the country's food sector continues well into the future:

"Within the current economic climate, Ajinomoto Indonesia intends to continue to be a successful company," he says. "We are planning to increase our sales quantity and have set a target of more than 10 percent expected growth. I am very positive about the future of the company in Indonesia and confident that we can meet our targets."

Clearly pleased with the progress being made by the company and its employees, Takato adds: "I would like us to continue contributing to Indonesia. I love Indonesia and its people. Our employees are very important to us and I am very pleased to see them develop and grow. They are hard working and constantly try to improve their ability - which, as the head of the company, is a pleasure for me to see."

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