The project, which has involved the Flanders Foreign Investment Office (FFIO) and the Regional Development Agency of the Province of Limburg, since March 2003, will result in Ariake’s second production plant for natural flavorings in Europe. The new Maasmechelen plant, an investment of 20 million euro, will be responsible for the production and sales of 100% natural bouillons and sauce bases manufactured from high-quality raw materials purchased mainly in the Flanders region.

The plant itself will cover some 1.2 hectares, with operations planned to start in the summer of 2006. Around 30 jobs will be created initially, although additional employment is planned with future production increases.

A leading manufacturer of natural food flavorings in Japan, Ariake Japan’s products are used as flavoring bases for food products such as instant food, snacks, frozen goods, curry, baby food, bento (Japanese lunchboxes), by hotels, restaurants, food courts, taverns and the like. As part of its basic strategy, Ariake Japan selects the most convenient locations worldwide for its local production bases and already has units in the US and China.

 

Ariake Japan bought the land for its Maasmechelen plant from Pingo Poultry, one of the main broiler manufacturers in the EU. The company is part of the Nutreco Group, the world’s number one in fish farming and a brand name in the animal nutrition sector. Both Nutreco and Ariake Japan are planning to take maximum advantage from the “win-win” situation to establish and enlarge their businesses in the EU.

For more information:

Sueo Kikushima, managing director, Ariake Japan

3-2-17 Ebisuminami, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0022, Japan

Tel: +81.3.3791.3301

Akihito Fujita, managing director, F.P.N.I. Belgium

Bundersweg (O) 2051, bus 104, B-3630 Maasmechelen, Belgium

Tel: +32.477.62.47.50 ; e-mail:  fujitaa@tiscali.be

Dirk De Ruyver, business development director, FFIO Japan

Rokubancho Kyodo Bldg. 1F, 6 Rokubancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0085,  Japan

Tel: +81.3.5210.5882, e-mail: info@ffio.jp