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Home ＞ Corporate Voices ＞ Calbee, Inc. - New Utsunomiya Factory
| Company Name | Calbee, Inc. - New Utsunomiya Factory |
|---|---|
| Address | 〒321-3231 18-7 Kiyohara Industry Park, Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture |
| TEL | 028-670-5211 |
| Website | http://www.calbee.co.jp/english/ ※Click to open a separate window |
"Harvesting the Power of Nature" as the corporate message, Calbee, Inc is thinking and seeking for potentiality nature may brings on foods, and realizing it on their products. In this issue, we visited New Utsunomiya plant, and interviewed with Katsumi Sugiyama, Manager of Product Support Section.
【Snacks Made by New Utsunomiya Plant】
Here in New Utsunomiya plant, snack products are manufactured. "Jagabee" and other snacks made of potatoes and "Sapporo Potato" and other snacks made of wheat are produced.
Our company has a total of 10 factories all over Japan, this plant delivers products mainly for East Japan from Aomori to the Tokyo metropolitan area.
New Utsunomiya plant is one of the major plants of the company, almost 20 % of the company's production are produced in this plant.
In addition, with having a group company Oisia Foods Co., Ltd in Tochigi Prefecture, Tochigi made products reaches to 30 % of company's production.
Manufacturing plant code of "NU" at the backside of the package indicates a product made in this plant. Please take a look at when you have a chance.
We built our plant in Utsunomiya in 1968 as our company's first plant built within the the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Closely located to the major consuming area of the Tokyo metropolitan area is a big advantage. At the time the plant was developed, a distance to deliver products effectively to the Tokyo metropolitan area was very important. We had heard that land cost was also very reasonable at that time, so the balancing of the distance from the Tokyo metropolitan area against the land cost attracted us.
For the production of potatoes chips, a vast amount of water are needed for washing potatoes so on. In that sense, low cost and abundant supply of water from the Kinugawa river is an advantage.
Further it attracted us that in the 1960's at the industrial park in Utsunomiya, a final treatment plant of sewage was already prepared. If such facilities was not provided, more investment for sewage processing was required. Such arrangements for environment aspects had been highly evaluated for selection of our factory site.
The most of our plant's people are employed locally. We have an impression that abundant human resources in Tochigi Prefecture enable us to secure new employees easily.
【Potatoes Chips with Yakigyoza Taste, Sapporo Potato, and Hee Haa!!】
Concerning with Tochigi made products, the paste material for "Sapporo potatoes" is only produced in this plant. All our plants in Japan are equipped with a frying process, but pasted raw material is supplied from this plant.
"Potatoes Chips with Yakigyoza Taste" are limitedly sold within Tochigi Prefecture. Of course they are manufactured in this plant.
A recent hot-selling product is "Hee Haa !!". It was born through the project in East Japan division and sold only East Japan area. Our plant employees were also members of the project. Because of it's excellent sales result, it may be sold in all over Japan. This is really
a hot selling product originated from the regional marketing.
【Scene from Snack School】
We have organized a company-wide social contribution committee, it's members are selected from each business unit, and working on social contribution activities.
The committee was established recently in 2009, and dealing with projects through trial and error.
Our products are mostly sweets and snacks, in order to have children eat delicious sweets, we are planning to support healthy sporting activities to excises their bodies.
Our plant activities includes, so called Eco-cap activities which recycling PET's bottle caps to donates polio vaccines for children in the world, selling of breads produced in the social welfare offices, and donation of sweets to children's hospitals every month.
From the viewpoint of "Shokuiku (education of eating)", in order to teach and to get better understanding for snacks, "Calbee Snack School " are held at elementary schools. The class is held at 160 schools in East Japan, and at 60 schools in Tochigi annually.
We would like to let Tochigi people know that Calbee has the biggest factory in Tochigi.
In spite of the fact that 30 % of total Calbee's production is made in Tochigi, it is not well informed yet. We hope more Tochigi people feel that Calbee is a local company in Tochigi, and we would like to promote it by getting supports from people in Tochigi.
