Ajinomoto to Build 2nd Seasonings Plant in Indonesia

Japanese food group Ajinomoto Co President and Chief Executive Officer Masatoshi Ito smiles as he holds the companys leading product, "Ajinomoto Monosodium Glutamate Seasoning" at his office in Tokyo December 2, 2010. Masatoshi Ito climbed the corporate ladder at Japans leading condiment maker, Ajinomoto Co, as much in his kitchen as in meeting rooms or in board room jousts.

Ajinomoto Co. plans to increase its output capacity for flavored seasonings in Indonesia by 50% by constructing its second factory there in autumn 2012 at a total cost of about Y4 billion, the Nikkei reported over the weekend.
The company plans to break ground this month on a roughly 170,000 sq. meter plot that it acquired on the outskirts of Jakarta. The plant to be built there will make seasonings that suit local tastes using chicken and beef extracts, with the products to be exported to the Middle East and Africa as well.
The new factory is expected to have the capacity to produce tens of thousands of tons a year. To make flavored seasonings, Ajinomoto adds such flavors as meat and fish extracts to its namesake monosodium glutamate seasoning.
Recently, Indonesian sales of flavored seasonings for soups and stir-fried dishes have been growing about 15% a year, outpacing the growth rate of several% a year for the basic Ajinomoto product. The Japanese firm is No. 1 in Indonesia, with a lead on Anglo-Dutch firm Unilever and local companies.