Corporate Overview
| Name of the company | AKO KASEI Co., LTD. |
|---|---|
| Address |
Tokyo Branch Ako Plant Office for Deep-Seawater Business |
| Founded/Incorporated on | November 25, 1971 |
| Capital | 30,000,000JPY |
| Number of employees | 210 |
| Affiliated company | AMASHIO CO., LTD. AKOL CO., LTD. |
Head OfficeCorporate History
< Ako - city of salt >
Ako City has a long history of salt manufacture with salt pans.
We are a company that originated from such a salt manufacturer (at that time called Ako Higashihama Engyo Kumiai - Ako East Shore Salt Partnership).
| 1947 | Our Chemical Department was set up in Ako Higashihama. It studied the nature and functions of the ingredients of seawater and developed products for such various areas as food, medicine, chemical industry, steel industry, ceramic industry and fertilizer. |
|---|---|
| 1971 | Due to our “salt manufacturing with ion-exchange resin films” that enabled efficient production of salt, the conventional way of making salt with salt pans was superseded (Salt Industry Reorganization Law was enacted). For this reason, Ako Higashihama Engyo Kumiai was dissolved. Built upon of our Chemical Department, a new company called Ako Kasei Co., Ltd. was incorporated. |
| 1973 | In response to the public need for natural salt, the company developed a natural, mineral-rich salt called“Ako no amashio”. After that, the company developed a series of products related to “Ako no amashio”(Salt) in the field of table salt. In the field of coagulant for tofu, the company developed and sold coagulants with high functions. On the other hand, in the field of medicine and other industries, the company developed and sold such products as highly purified medicines, titanic black pigments produced by a special baking technique and magnesium compounds with special functions and shapes. |
| 1974 | The company established a Tokyo Office in order to survey user needs more quickly and reflect them in development of new products. |
| 1990 | For business expansion in response to the Information Society, the company reorganized the Tokyo Office into the Tokyo Branch. It then moved to its present location. |
| 1995 | The company discovered the possibilities of deep-seawater. Using its experience and techniques in the field of oceanic science, it started to study deep-seawater that is rich in nutrition, pure and of low temperature. |
| 1999 | The company successfully commercialized a deep-seawater product. It started to sell “Amami no mizu”(Deep-Seawater) and “Amami no shio”(Deep-Seawater Salt) which are rich in magnesium as an ingredient. |
| 2000 | As a production base for Deep-Seawater-related products, the Office for Deep-Seawater Business was completed in Muroto-City, Kochi-Prefecture, where the company started further development to commercialize Deep-Seawater products. The company also opened its Tokyo Show Room on the first floor of the Tokyo Branch and set up a communication center as a customer service window. |
| 2002 | The company established a visitor passage in the food plant Amashio salt manufacturing facilities for customers to view the manufacturing process. It started to sell “Kodawari no tonyu ”(Special Soymilk) and “Umi no shinsosui nigari” (Deep-Seawater Bittern) as new products using deep-seawater. |
| 2003 | The company purchased its own capital stocks from Unitika Ltd. As a result, on April 1, the new independent Ako Kasei Co., Ltd. was started. To hear customers' voices directly, the company opened the Healthy Terrace Amami on the first floor of the Tokyo Branch. It also incorporated Akol Co., Ltd. as a mail-order dealer. Became the first Deep-Seawater Company in Japan to receive a HACCP qualification from the Japanese government. |
