The Morinaga Group's purpose is to "continue to create healthy foods that can be enjoyed beyond generations, thereby bringing smiles to the faces of people around the world now and in the future".
Based on this purpose, we formulated a corporate citizenship policy, and with the central theme of “Nurturing the Next Generation Through Food,” work on solving social issues, and contribute to the improvement of a sustainable society.
Through these corporate citizenship activities, the entire Morinaga Group is working to promote the growth of each individual employee and help to create an enriched society.
The Morinaga Group will carry out social contribution activities based on the altruistic spirit of thinking about how to be considerate and contribute towards others.
Through cooperation and collaboration with local communities, government agencies, NPOs, and NGOs, we will work as a member of society to contribute to the creation of a society that brings smiles to people's faces.
Cumulative total number of people who experienced food education from FY2024 to FY2026: 200,000 (Morinaga & Co., Ltd. (non-consolidated))
Morinaga Group has been committed to "food (not only foodstuff itself but including culture and science of food)" for more than 120 years. We have been and will continue to be a supporter of smiles and wellness lifestyles, and we are sincerely committed to "health of mind and body" through educating "food".
In 2022, we opened the "Morinaga's Food Education" website to provide information related to "food".
For more information on “Morinaga Food Education,” please visit the following link.
～Encountering the New and Nostalgic MORINAGA～
Morinaga has been hosting factory tours for school children etc. for approximately 100 years.
By inheriting the “Altruism” of contributing towards society through our corporate activities, we conduct guided tours for visitors to see both Morinaga Angel Museum MORIUM and Tsurumi factory.
At MORIUM, visitors can learn about our passion, specialized technology, and secrets behind the deliciousness of our products since the company’s founding through displays and videos. At the Tsurumi factory, visitors can see how HI-CHEW and Koeda are produced. We hope visitors will experience the “new and nostalgic MORINAGA,” providing excitement and surprises for all generations.
Morinaga Angel Museum MORIUM
MORIUM Exhibition
Tour entrance
Tour guests
We started offering visiting lectures in 2017 and have since engaged with a total of 9,978 students across 146 schools.
| Culmulative number of children partitipated | 9,978 |
|---|---|
| Culmulative number of number of participating schools | 146 |
| Culmulative number of executives and employees partitipated | 508 |
*As of March 2025
One of our classes is aimed at 4th to 6th graders in elementary school, and uses chocolate as a theme to "personalize" social issues. Through videos of cacao production areas, quizzes, and workshops, students will be encouraged to think about and act on a sustainable society in which "no one is left behind."
On February 7, 2025, Eijiro Ota, Representative Director, Chairman and CEO of Morinaga & Co., Ltd. (formerly Representative Director, President at the time of implementation) conducted this class for 5th graders at Shimosueyoshi Elementary School, located near our Tsurumi Site.
In class
In class
Taking quizes
Workshop
Employees visit elementary schools to teach a class about the industrial production of milk caramels. The class targets fifth graders and offers a sense of realism as if they are on a factory tour. The class aims to teach about the ingenious attempts and hard work of industrial production, as well as our passion toward manufacturing. This helps deepen their learning in textbook.
We have also been conducting online lessons since FY2022/3, contributing to the creation of equal educational opportunities.
Pupils watch the video of production process and take part in quiz and workshop to participate experience-based class.
In class
Quiz session
Workshop①
Workshop②
Confectioneries have the power to make people happy
I participated in the lesson because I wanted children to love caramel more. I was nervous about standing on the podium, but I was very happy that many children listened to me with serious faces and asked questions earnestly. The smiles the children gave me when they received caramels as a souvenir reminded me that “Confectioneries make people happy,” and made me love caramels even more. This is an opportunity to understand the value of our products. I would like to expand this activity to many employees.
Motoki Matsui
MIRAI Research & Innovation, R&D Center, Morinaga & Co., Ltd.
We host virtual company visits to serve as career education and as class lessons for junior high and high school students.
Employees explain the range of Morinaga's business and about duties and workstyles, and communicate directly with students through question. The aim is to provide an opportunity for students to think about occupation and their future careers, and develop an idea of what working is all about.
In class
Students taking notes
At the Confectionery Factory pavilion, which Morinaga & Co., Ltd. is exhibiting, children can experience the joy of working and the ingenuity of manufacturing by making HI-CHEW. Children can also learn about food hygiene, rules, and manners, which can help them develop independence and social skills.
The Confectionery Factory pavilion
Making HI-CHEW
Kidzania Tokyo official website:
Morinaga believes that the value of confectioneries lies in supplementing nutrition and its role in communication that connects people to people and hearts to hearts.
Morinaga donates “Mel and Mar's Picnic,” our original picture book for confectionery education, to children's nursery facilities. This is aimed at helping children develop creativity while learning about, in a fun way, confectionery's roles and how to properly associate with confectionery. The nursery facilities use the book for such purposes as storytelling and drama-based workshop.
For more information about “Mel and Mar’s Picnic,” please visit the following link.
In order to realize harmonious relationship with local communities, each business site and group company engages in local activities in collaboration with governments, companies, and people, in the local community.
Please learn about Co-existence and co-prosperity with local communities, which is linked below.
By having employees participate in corporate citizenship activities, the Morinaga Group provides information and creates opportunities related to its activities in order to help employees grow and create an enriched society.
In April 2022, we established a volunteer leave system that allows employees to take leave for a wide range of volunteer activities.
Since 2022, we have endorsed the Children’s Food Support Box implemented by Save the Children Japan and donated products such as HI-CHEW, Ottotto, and other items.
This initiative was implemented during the summer and winter holidays with the aim of improving the food situation for children, targeting families in financial difficulty. Save the Children Japan delivered support boxes to a total of approximately 18,000 eligible households nationwide in 2022 and 2023.
In July and December in FY2023, a total of 25 employees from our company took volunteer leave for five times in total to participate in the Children’s Food Support Box packing program.
Employees who participated in the program
"The Children’s Food Support Box"
For disaster recovery and humanitarian aid, executives and employees donated money and the Company matched the amount of donations collected.
As relief supplies to Kumamoto prefecture, which was affected by heavy rain and floods in July 2020, we provided 24,000 units of in Jelly for easy nutritional support.
We provided 360,000 units of in Jelly to medical institutions and donated to the WeSupport project, which offers food support to healthcare workers.
Through Meals on Wheels Japan and Musubie, the national children's cafeteria support center, we provided 30,000 units of confectioneries to children's cafeterias.
We made a donation for the purpose of addressing the COVID-19 pandemic to the city in which Morinaga (Zhejiang) Co., Ltd. is located.
In May 2022, we donated 10 million yen to Plan International Japan, a public interest incorporated foundation, to provide humanitarian aid to Ukrainian children and their parents who were fleeing their country due to the escalation of war in Ukraine.In addition, 307 executives and employees made humanitarian aid donations and the Company matched the amount of donations collected.
These donations were used to improve the environment, provide psychosocial care, and support education for evacuated Ukrainian children and their parents.
In February 2023, we donated 10 million yen to the Japanese Red Cross Society jointly with Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd. to be used for relief efforts and reconstruction of the areas affected by the Turkey and Syria earthquakes. In addition, 281 executives and employees of the Morinaga Group made a donation and the Company matched the amount of donations collected.
In February 2024, we donated 50 million yen to the Japanese Red Cross Society jointly with Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd. for the purpose of providing relief to people in the disaster-hit areas of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture and for reconstruction of these areas.
In addition, 700 executives and employees donated money and the Company matched the amount of donations collected.
In April 2024, we donated 10 million yen to the Japanese Red Cross Society jointly with Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd. to be used for reconstruction of the areas affected by the earthquake off the east coast of Taiwan.
Morinaga Training Lab provides training and nutritional support for children at sports classes organized by athletes supported by Morinaga.
The Bicycle Academy, launched by Naoki Idegawa, the professional downhill mountain bike rider, aims to contribute to character building in addition to fostering bicycle knowledge and skills. It also aims to share the three joys of challenge, growth, and success through mountain biking; pursue activities with love, sincerity, and thankfulness, and contribute to the development of the bicycle community.The Lab’s trainers provided training programs. The nutritionists delivered food education videos and conveyed the importance of supplemental food through in Jelly.
The “Judo Class for Children” hosted by Hisayoshi Harasawa, a judo player, aims to popularize judo and contribute to the community by teaching children about the fun of judo and sports.
A trainer from Morinaga gave the children warm-up guidance on how to prevent injuries. After enjoying judo, the children drank in Jelly and learned about nutritional supplements necessary for building a healthy body.
Take in Jelly <Energy Lemon> after a lesson in summer
Excerpt of sports-related food education video
Many children, both experienced and inexperienced in judo, participated
Harasawa handing out in Jelly
Morinaga Training Lab devised the Ottotto Calisthenics in collaboration with Yokohama Sport Association, in the aim of promoting children’s healthy growth through exercise and diet.
The Calisthenics was devised in the expectation that various forms of body movements, such as jumping, rolling, and standing on one leg, will promote the development of athletic ability in early childhood, thereby reducing injuries caused by falls. In the Calisthenics, we incorporated the image of the sea friends, the characters appearing in our Ottotto snack, so that children can enjoy the exercise.
Ottotto Calisthenics educational videos
Morinaga has continuously participated in the Bellmark program since it was launched in 1960 and has provided support for Bellmark activities, which assist the improvement of school equipment and educational materials, as well as children who are endeavoring to learn with various disabilities. Currently, Morinaga is contributing to the Bellmark program by printing the Bell Mark on six products: Milk Caramel, Hi-Soft, Morinaga Biscuits, ChocoBall, Milk Chocolate, and Ottotto.
Under the Project, companies (limited to food manufacturers, distributors, and providers) that wish to use Morinaga's trademarks of "Angel" join CSR activities that contribute to the improvement of environments for children's education and training, in lieu of paying a royalty.
Emphasizing the importance of an “Angel's Heart,” which is Morinaga's symbol, the Morinaga Angel Foundation conducts research on forms of abundant human lifestyles and the ideal of families in the future through, for example, art, sports, nature, food, and classics.
In addition to conventional research, we are focusing on enriching our content to “support learning” for middle and high school students as well as adults. (Art labs, food labs, exploratory learning, dialogue on sports, nature observations, candy gifts, etc.)
We are also engaged in activities to deliver a picture book titled “MORI-no-Ehon” to children who are living in the areas hit by recent earthquakes, heavy rains, and other natural disasters, including the Great East Japan Earthquake. The number of book copies delivered amounted to 9,070.
For more information on Morinaga Angel Foundation, please visit the following link.
Activities to deliver the MORI-no-Ehon picture book