FUJI FLAVOR CO., LTD.

OUTLINE01 Our origin is in tobacco flavors.

FUJI FLAVOR was established in 1971 to conduct research and development of tobacco flavors as well as their production. Tobacco is made from the leaves of tobacco plants, which are agricultural products. As such, the flavor and quality are unavoidably affected by climate and other environmental factors. Tobacco flavor is the result of adjusting the natural taste and aroma of tobacco leaves, or of creating the tastes and aromas of individual brands. With our origins in tobacco flavor R&D and production, we are always working face to face with the natural world, as we polish our techniques for developing ingredients, blending them, and manufacturing flavors.

OUTLINE02 By advancing two technologies to the extreme, we have built up unrivaled advantages.

Our ongoing relationship with nature has made us insistent on creating flavors from natural ingredients, the products of agriculture. One technology emerging from our R&D efforts is supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) extraction. As for area of controlling harmful insects, as well, rather than relying solely on chemical agents, our goal was to develop products using pheromones, a new technology. The result of this endeavor was pheromone traps making use of insect monitoring techniques.

OUTLINE03 We were the world’s first company to manufacture and sell pheromone traps for monitoring tobacco beetles.

In the past, damage to tobacco leaves by tobacco beetles was a serious threat faced by the tobacco industry, making it a major issue to eliminate these pests from the tobacco leaf storage stage to the processing stage. Leading to a solution was the discovery by Japan Tobacco (JT) of serricornin, the female sex pheromone of the tobacco beetle, and the development by FUJI FLAVOR of a pheromone trap using serricornin. In 1981, we launched SERRICO, the world’s first pheromone trap for the tobacco beetle.

OUTLINE04 Since then, we have been engaged in refining, extending, and diversifying the techniques for use of pheromone traps.

JT carried out a trial-and-error process on ways of using pheromone traps as a tobacco beetle countermeasure from raw material storage to the manufacturing stage. By thoroughly researching the ecology of the tobacco beetle and incorporating this knowledge in application methods, the technology for monitoring the habitat of this insect was born. Based on this pheromone trap technology, we have created an extensive lineup of products meeting the needs not only of the tobacco industry but of the food, pharmaceuticals, warehousing and many other industries. Today these products are sold in more than a hundred countries.