Construction of a cheese/yogurt factory in the Kingdom of Bhutan

In the Kingdom of Bhutan, malnutrition was a problem that led to a high infant mortality rate.
Therefore, our company built a cheese/yogurt factory in the Kingdom of Bhutan with the aim of providing nutritious cheese and yogurt to Bhutanese children, and donated it to the local government.

At that time, Bhutan was lagging in dairy cattle breeding technology, so we consulted with Kagoshima University and arranged for two technicians from the Bhutan Livestock Department to study at the university's graduate school for five years to acquire advanced technology. Our company supported all the expenses related to their study abroad. Additionally, since it was technically challenging to produce dairy products in Bhutan at that time, our company collaborated with the Bhutanese government to build a dairy product factory locally. We provided comprehensive staff training and management support until the production of dairy products like cheese and yogurt was running smoothly, and then donated the factory to the Bhutanese government. As a result, children were able to consume safe and nutritious dairy products.
The spread of dairy products has improved the infant mortality rate, and the factory is still operated under the management of the Bhutanese government.

Ryōichi Nagata, our Chairman and CEO, serves as the Honorary Consul General of the Kingdom of Bhutan, and an Honorary Consulate of the Kingdom of Bhutan is established in Kagoshima City, where our headquarters is located.

In recognition of these contributions, our Chairman and CEO, Ryoichi Nagata, was awarded the National Order of Merit: NOM Gold Medal* by Bhutan.

*The National Order of Merit (NOM) is an honorable award established by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of the Kingdom of Bhutan (hereafter Bhutan) in 2008 to recognize notable and meritorious contributions to Bhutan. The award is given in three classes: first class (gold), second class (silver), and third class (bronze).