Ajinomoto : Notice about update of

About this update from Ajinomoto Co., Inc.

The Ajinomoto Group's business is built on a sound agrifood system, and on the rich global environment that supports this system. At the same time, deforestation is worsening globally, driven by factors such as land-use changes associated with food production. The loss of natural capital caused by deforestation not only accelerates climate change and biodiversity loss, but also seriously impacts the livelihoods of local communities. We recognize that these impacts undermine the sustainability of the agrifood system and pose a significant risk to the very foundation of our business, including with respect to the stable procurement of raw materials and the relationships of trust with local communities. Based on this understanding, as a company that handles food resources, the Ajinomoto Group believes it has a responsibility to prevent and eliminate deforestation within its own supply chain. We will work in cooperation with our stakeholders to promote the realization of no deforestation in our supply chain, thereby simultaneously achieving natural regeneration, coexistence with local communities, and sustainable business growth. This initiative is positioned as part of the Ajinomoto Group's materiality "Prevention of deforestation," which underpins the Group's goal of "Achievement of a sustainable global environment." The Ajinomoto Group has committed to no deforestation across its primary deforestation-linked commodities-palm oil, soy, beef, and paper-with a target date of December 31, 2025. Furthermore, starting in fiscal year 2026, we will add coffee to the scope and strengthen our efforts toward realizing no deforestation in our supply chain. "No deforestation" means not sourcing raw materials produced on land where deforestation or forest degradation has occurred since December 31, 2020. "Deforestation-free" refers to the state that commodity production or sourcing does not cause or contribute to deforestation. As of the end of December 2025, 89% of the Group's procurement volume of palm oil, soy, beef, and paper* 1, * 2 has been confirmed to be deforestation-free (based on the procurement results for FY2024).* 3 We select appropriate verification methods depending on the traceability status and the characteristics of raw materials and their origins. With regard to the procurement volume categorized as "under confirmation with supplier collaboration," for palm oil in particular, measures such as sourcing from specified mills verified to be "deforestation-free" and purchasing certified materials are already being implemented in phases. As for other materials, since confirmation of the deforestation status and securing of traceability through to upstream suppliers are still in progress, we continue to conduct risk checks. Depending on the raw material, there may be many suppliers and multiple tiers of business partners upstream of processing sites, resulting in dispersed and multi-layered supply chains. As a result, comprehensively grasping deforestation risks all the way upstream presents challenges in terms of information availability and data quality, including information that is difficult for us to obtain on our own and the need for cooperation with relevant parties. In response, we are working to improve traceability and to refine risk assessment accuracy through supplier engagement and field surveys (for the details on other materials, see the "Ensuring Traceability" and "Risk Assessment" sections below). The Ajinomoto Group has established environmental governance (policies and systems), and is promoting traceability, risk assessment, monitoring, and risk mitigation in collaboration with stakeholders across the supply chain. We will continue and strengthen our efforts to achieve no deforestation across the entire supply chain. The Group is committed to faithfully upholding its policies, including the no-deforestation policy, and works to establish and operate internal control systems. We recognize sustainability to be a key business risk and opportunity, and we continue to make efforts to strengthen governance. For more details, please see the following. We believe that ensuring traceability is essential to understanding the actual state of deforestation risks within the supply chain. As a first step, we promote visibility in collaboration with suppliers, and, where necessary, conduct on-site visits to farms and processing facilities to obtain an accurate understanding of conditions on the ground. As a result of these efforts, we have made progress in identifying upstream supply chain actors to assess deforestation risks. Currently, we have achieved a traceability rate of 93% with respect to mills for palm oil and 100% with respect to slaughterhouses for beef. For paper, we leverage certification schemes that involve third-party audits and verification, as well as the reliability of deforestation-free compliance assessments conducted by our business partners. For beef, although traceability is required upstream from slaughterhouses to grazing areas, the multi-layered nature of distribution and transaction structures presents challenges. Therefore, we are proceeding with a phased approach to improving visibility. At present, we prioritize primary suppliers with large procurement volumes and engage in dialogue regarding management practices and information-sharing approaches. For soy, we are working to improve traceability through ongoing engagement with suppliers (for details, see the "Examples of Stakeholder Engagement" section). Going forward, we will continue to steadily enhance traceability by taking into account the characteristics of each commodity and supply chain and advancing prioritized actions accordingly. The Ajinomoto Group confirms whether there are any deforestation risks in procured raw materials through multiple approaches, including supplier confirmation, satellite-imagery-based confirmation, desk-based regional-level assessment, and verification via certifications (for details, see the "Verification Methods for 'Deforestation-Free'" section). For certain suppliers, we conduct on-site visits to production facilities and carry out detailed assessments of their risk management practices (for details, see the "Examples of Stakeholder Engagement" section). To detect newly occurring deforestation, we have established a system to receive information and reports through a supplier hotline, as well as the Group Customer Service Center that we make available to all stakeholders. In addition, to more accurately identify deforestation risks in the upstream supply chain, we are also exploring the use of satellite monitoring tools to detect deforestation and issue alerts. If we identify a supplier suspected of involvement in deforestation, we will promptly conduct fact-finding and take appropriate action. The Ajinomoto Group has been advancing initiatives toward achieving no deforestation across the entire supply chain by collaborating with suppliers and industry stakeholders, with palm oil, soy, beef, and paper designated as priority commodities. From FY2026, we will also position coffee as a target commodity, and we will progressively expand our efforts to achieve no deforestation. For coffee, we have already strengthened initiatives to ensure traceability, promoted procurement of certified green coffee beans, and are advancing initiatives that contribute to forest restoration, such as participation in regenerative agriculture pilot projects in Vietnam and Brazil (for details, see here ). Building on our efforts to date, we will continue to maintain our governance framework (policies and systems) and enhance traceability, while also expanding the scope of risk assessment and advancing the development of monitoring and risk mitigation measures.

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