Sustainability

Management Commitment

Thank you for your continued support of Starzen.

In the Japanese meat industry, we have worked to increase production of Wagyu and other domestic beef. Meanwhile, our business environment has changed significantly, with global population growth and increasing demand for meat, due to factors such as rising income levels in emerging countries.

We are called to respond to major changes in consumption and eating habits in the Japanese market caused by social changes including the declining birthrate and aging population, the increase in single households, women's social advancement, economic uncertainty and changing lifestyles.

The management vision of Starzen Group is "to become a global company that delivers everyday happiness through our food value chain.” We therefore hope to contribute to society through stable provision to the market of safe and reliable meat and processed meat, such as ham, sausage, hamburg steak, roast beef and so forth. To achieve this, we are actively strengthening procurement through cooperation with Japanese and overseas producers and promoting efforts with overseas packers.

In addition, we aim to strengthen our Japanese sales offices and its sales force, promoting the creation of a system that can respond to specific customer needs, while expanding the export business by establishing meat processing equipment of a superior safety and hygiene standard. We will respond to the changing demands with our comprehensive strength as “Team Starzen.”

At Starzen Group, we believe in promoting the creation of a workplace where each employee can fully utilize his or her ability and personality, which will lead to growth of the entire company and enable us to contribute to society.

We recognize that the concepts of diversity and greater engagement of women are important for corporate growth due to the steady decrease in the productive population as Japan becomes a full-scale aging society.

We will proactively advance systems and initiatives whereby women can work comfortably and will strive to expand opportunities for female employees. Furthermore, we will emphasize corporate social responsibility in our business activities, in areas such as compliance and environmental management.

We appreciate your patronage and hope for your continued support in the future.

Kazuhiko Yokota
Representative Director, President & CEO

Materiality

In February 2022, the Starzen Group identified issues of materiality that need to be addressed over the medium to long term in order to achieve a sustainable society. With the aim of achieving our management vision “to become a global company that delivers everyday happiness through our food value chain” and also helping resolve social issues, the entire Group will work as one to achieve a sustainable society through solutions to these issues in order to be a company that is indispensable to society in the future.

Environment	Theme1 Environmental sustainability
	Materiality	Target	Relevant SDGs	Policy
	Climate change	Reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 46% in fiscal 2030 from fiscal 2020 levels		The Company will work to suppress and reduce CO2 and other GHG emissions in all areas of its business, including livestock breeding and fattening, meat processing, production, and product distribution. We will also review methods of raising livestock and pursue ways to conserve water resources and reduce GHGs produced by livestock.
		Reduction of water intensity
	Reducing food loss and waste	Extension of shelf life and best-before dates		Reaffirming that our business exists thanks to the blessings that come from the precious lives of livestock, we will utilize new technologies to extend the shelf life and best-before dates. In addition, we will promote pig farming using eco-friendly feed, work on effective use of food resources, and reduce food loss throughout the supply chain.

Social	Theme 2 Creating an attractive workplace where employees are happy to work
	Materiality	Target	Relevant SDGs	Policy
	Labor practices	Development/utilization of diverse human resources		One of the tenets of our Management Philosophy is to make Starzen a company that our employees are happy to work for. Putting the health and safety of our employees first, we will prepare a comfortable and attractive working environment where employees can work for a long time with peace of mind. We will also foster a corporate culture in which everyone respects each other’s thoughts and opinions and will work to create a workplace where each individual is enthusiastic about their job and can be proactive and autonomous in their work.
		Establishment of a comfortable working environment
	Occupational health and safety	Maintenance and improvement of employee health
	Employee satisfaction	Improvement of employee engagement
	Theme 3 Pursuing safe, secure, and healthy food
	Materiality	Target	Relevant SDGs	Policy
	Quality and safety	Establishment of a value chain that connects everything from production to sales via Safe Quality Food (SQF)		Since the Company’s founding, we have wanted to always deliver safe, secure, healthy, and tasty food to our customers. Based on this desire, we will continue striving to become a company that brings happiness to our customers through food as an integrated food supplier.
	Health and nutrition	Provision of various proteins through expansion of plant-based product sales
	Theme 4 Maintaining and improving a stable and sustainable sourcing and supply chain system
	Materiality	Target	Relevant SDGs	Policy
	Strengthening the supply chain	Creation of a robust supply chain		To realize sustainable sourcing and supply, the Company will pursue the procurement of raw materials while considering social issues such as the global environment and animal welfare. In addition, we will work to train and cultivate raw material suppliers who will work with us to tackle the climate change issues facing the livestock industry and accompanying challenges. We will also work to diversify our suppliers and build long-term, stable relationships with them to prepare for the risk of supply chain interruptions caused by natural disasters and other events.
	Promoting animal welfare	Realization of five freedoms that are the basis of animal welfare Establishment of a comfortable and healthy farming environment		Reaffirming that our business exists thanks to the precious lives of livestock, we will pursue the five animal freedoms prescribed for animal welfare while taking the lead in improving the livestock farming environment together with veterinarians and universities and other research institutes, so that livestock can live their lives in safety and comfort. As the first step, we will gradually promote free access stall pig farms and work to improve the breeding environment so that sows have a safe and healthy gestation period.

Governance	Theme 5 Realizing highly effective corporate governance
	Materiality	Target	Relevant SDGs	Policy
	Enhancing corporate governance	Lasting improvement of corporate value		To realize sustainable growth and improve corporate value in the medium to long term, we will sincerely engage with all stakeholders, including our shareholders, and build a robust organization befitting of a company that is listed on the Prime Market and that is capable of swift, bold, transparent, and fair decision-making.