Initiatives for Empowering a Diverse Range of Talent

Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives

The Kewpie Group's Approach to Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are foundations of the Kewpie Group's growth strategy. Based on the understanding that all employees are leaders of diversity and have diverse values, we leverage employee diversity for the growth of the entire Group and to create value for and contribute to society.
In addition to an emphasis on understanding and dialogue in the company and among employees, we create opportunities to understand and enhance diversity and inclusion, create opportunities for diverse employees to play an active role, and create career and learning mechanisms that give employees a sense of self-growth. Through all of these efforts, we work to create a corporate culture that supports each employee's individuality and motivation to grow, and in which individuals can fully demonstrate their abilities.

Fostering a Corporate Culture That Creates New Value

To ensure that the various perspectives and skills of each employee create new value and improve the overall strength of the Group, we work to promote an understanding of diversity, create a system that allows diversity to flourish, and increase the mobility of human resources. Since 2017, we have been carrying out a diversity survey (Kewpie Corporation only) to explore employees' understanding and awareness of diversity. This survey is used to examine our diversity measures and verify their effectiveness.
Through various initiatives, we strive to create a mentally supportive and safe corporate culture that empowers employees to take on challenges and accomplish goals.

Diversity Seminars and Study Sessions

We hold diversity seminars that are open to all Group employees and diversity study sessions for each department and company. By sharing the direction and objectives of diversity promotion, we enhance employees' awareness and accelerate the promotion of diversity.

Diverse Human Resources Participate in Important Decision-Making

We have developed the "KEEP20" initiative, in which over 20% of the participants of important meetings are made up of diverse human resources (in terms of age, gender, skills, and careers), to draw out different perspectives and stimulate discussion. For traditional participants, this initiative provides new insights, and for the diverse participants, it is a learning opportunity that exposes them to management information and business decisions. In 2022, the program was implemented in 13 key meetings and it is gradually being expanded within the Group.

Diverse Meeting Participants and Management Exchange Opinions

"Shuffle Meetings" are meetings designed to allow diverse employees across different jobs and departments to exchange opinions and engage in conversation to share objectives and ideas. The initiative began in 2020, and to date, over 500 members of the Group have participated. A diverse group of dedicated colleagues working on Group business in their respective workplaces meet and communicate online on a daily basis, with management also participating. These meetings are a forum for participants to gain fresh insight and network by expressing their own perspectives and acknowledging and considering those of others.

Allowing All Group Employees to Leverage Their Potential

Toward the Advancement of Female Employees

In FY2022, the ratio of female managers in the Kewpie Group was 10%, and the ratio of female managers in Kewpie alone was 12.5%. To ensure that female employees, who account for approximately half of the Group's workforce, can fully participate in the business, we promote the development of female career-track positions, the introduction of a career-track system that does not require relocation, and the conversion of regional positions to career-track positions. In addition to personnel and labor systems, we aim to become a company where motivated female employees can continue to work and find success by changing the company’s management and culture.

Important Human Resources Development Indices FY2022 Results FY2024 Target FY2030 Target
Ratio of female managers (Kewpie only) 12.5% 18% 30%

Study Sessions for the Group's Female Managers

Female managers from the Kewpie Group host and gather for regular study sessions, which include lectures from executive managers and outside experts and opportunities to gain the required knowledge for management positions. The aim is for female managers to explore how to take steps toward their career goals, find a management method unique to them, and act on it. Discussions among members have also created networks of female managers.

Approach Toward the Employment of Persons with Disabilities

As it does for all its employees, the Kewpie Group aims to create an environment in which those with disabilities can demonstrate their potential and experience the joy of work and purpose.
In support of this aim, the employment of persons with disabilities is not undertaken at the Group level. Instead, each Group company, including Kewpie Corporation and Kewpie Ai Co., Ltd. (a special subsidiary), employs people with disabilities in their respective regions, thereby creating diverse employment opportunities in a broad range of communities.

Trends in the Ratio of Employment for Persons with Disabilities (percentage of total employees as of December 1, 2022)

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
3.54% 3.60% 3.67% 3.76% 3.73%

Initiatives at Group Companies

The special subsidiary Kewpie Ai Co., Ltd. handles a wide range of operations, including in-house logistics, cleaning, and the production and distribution of marketing materials. Persons with disabilities make up 3.33% of employees (Kewpie Corporation + Kewpie Ai, as of December 1, 2022).
Besides supporting the hiring and retention of persons with disabilities, we are also proactive in seeking to create better communities and society. Some concrete examples include accepting internships for the employment of people with disabilities, providing speakers for universal design classes at elementary schools, interacting with special needs classes, and offering company tours.

As for Group companies, Kewpie Egg Corporation proactively hires people with disabilities at 22 plants nationwide, and they account for 5.69% of its workforce.

Initiatives for Human Resources Development

Approach to Human Resources Development

The Kewpie Group cares deeply about the careers of each of its employees. In addition to specialized training and self-development programs to achieve diversity, we provide the following career support systems.

1. Growth Milestone Program

2. Career Self-Declaration Scheme

3. In-House Recruiting System

We encourage employees to identify each of their aspirations and paths to growth so that they can seek learning opportunities to that end and gain necessary experience, such as through interactions with other personnel.
Specifically, we offer the "Growth Milestone Program" and "Career Training" as well as the "Career Self-Declaration Scheme," which allows employees to independently apply for a transfer to their desired positions.
Furthermore, we established the "Kewpie Startup Program," which calls for applications from employees across the Group who are eager for challenges. We ask them to submit ideas for new businesses or certain concepts they wish to strengthen and select applications with strong aspirations.
These career-supporting initiatives aim to bring out the greatest potential in each employee and turn their aspirations into reality. With these initiatives, we strive to not only place the right people in the right positions, but also nurture a corporate culture that encourages challenge and create a workplace in which our diverse personnel can flourish.

Kewpie Career Assistance Framework

Award Schemes

As a way to support our employees' active challenges and learning, and to encourage them to voice suggestions for the sake of the company's future, the Kewpie Group has established a variety of award schemes, including the President’s Award.

President's Award

An award recognizing employees who have produced outstanding results or contributed to society by leveraging the Group's technologies or by demonstrating ingenuity. The President's Award aims to create a corporate culture unique to the Kewpie Group.

Invention Award

An award recognizing employees who have acquired patents that greatly contribute to the company or lead to making social contributions.

Kewpie Research Paper Award

An award recognizing employees who have written papers that make suggestions for the company's future, based on the changes happening in the world or issues that employees face in their day-to-day lives.
This long-standing award, which has continued for over 50 years, also hopes to encourage self-improvement in employees as they write the papers.

Qualifications Award

The Qualifications Award was established to support the career of each and every employee and create a corporate culture that encourages independent learning. In addition to supporting the employees' further studies, the program also notifies applicants of which qualifications the company is particularly looking for, so that both employees and the company can grow hand in hand.

Initiatives for New Challenges

The Kewpie Group is actively engaged in initiatives that look to new challenges by promoting wide-ranging research and development of mayonnaise, dressings, eggs and vegetables, while also pursuing systems for the creation of innovations. While also taking advantage of outside help, we use Group cooperation to create new values and respond to the expectations of our stakeholders.

Kewpie Startup Program

We have established the Kewpie Start Up Program with the aims of realizing individual employees' ideas and creating new businesses. Participants in the program have the opportunity to form networks of mentors that transcend divisions, which will help them upgrade their skills and advance their careers.

Ideas from the Kewpie Start Up Program

Business Model Description
"YOITOKI" supplement containing acetic acid bacteria enzyme Our first product from the Kewpie startup program. This supplement contains acetic acid bacteria enzymes, the world's first to be mass-produced using Kewpie Group's original brewing technology.
Food with Function Claims "Diare" Supplement containing acetic acid bacteria GK-1 and GABA.
The acetic acid bacteria GK-1 reportedly reduces nasal discomfort caused by pollen and dust. Deare is the first product approved in Japan to carry a label indicating it is a food for specified health uses(FOSHU) to relieve nasal discomfort caused by pollen.
GABA Potato Salad The Karada Omoi Menu (body-friendly menu) delicatessen series is the first in the delicatessen products industry to get the classification of food for specified health uses.
It contains GABA, which has been reported to have a function of reducing blood pressure and is labeled “for individuals with high blood pressure.” This salad is not only for individuals concerned about high blood pressure, but also for health-conscious consumers.
Fukaya Terrace Vegetable Friends' Farm We have opened an integrated facility in Fukaya City, Saitama Prefecture, based on the concept of "a farm that inspires people to love and grow vegetables, and puts smiles on faces."

Products born from the Kewpie Startup Program

Conceptual image of Fukaya Terrace Vegetable Friends' Farm

Flexible Work Style Initiatives

Work Style Approach

The Kewpie Group actively supports individual growth and success by offering flexible work styles that allow employees to continue working through various life stages and by preparing environments in which they can reach their fullest potential.

Flexible Work Style Initiatives

The working environment at Kewpie allows employees to pursue productivity while selecting flexible work styles that best fit their individual roles and the characteristics of their jobs. As such, we offer flexible working hours (flextime) with no core working hours, and employees can choose to work from home or a satellite office so that they are not confined to a particular place or time.
Employees working shorter hours can also use the flextime system to balance work and child-rearing.

Birth and Parenting Assistance Initiatives

We use the child-rearing support website to regularly provide company information to employees on childcare leave. Furthermore, before ending their leave, employees meet with their superiors to discuss career aspirations and how they want to work after returning to work. Superiors also take this time to share their hopes and expectations for the employee's continued role in the company.
We support that superiors can come through for those returning from childcare leave by using online learning materials to review relevant management knowledge, such as the company's various systems and about unconscious bias.
We encourage male employees to take parental leave in order to broaden their perspectives through childcare experiences and to grow personally. We have a system in place that allows them to choose how to do so based on their own circumstances.

Parental leave guide

Child-rearing support website

Baby Food Classes for Working Dads

In 2022, we held the Baby Food Classes for Dads aimed at Group employees working in Senkawa, Shibuya.
With a choice between courses for fathers of younger and older infants, participants had an opportunity to acquire basic knowledge about baby food, practice making and tasting it, and interact with other participants.
Feedback from participants indicated that they felt they had received a lot of information they could take home and use, and the courses helped encourage fathers to participate in childcare.

Parental Leave Taken

Female Employees

  • Number of employees who have taken childcare leave this year
    (Survey subjects: Kewpie Corporation only)

Male Employees

  • Number of leave takers: the number of employees who took leave before their children turned two
  • Ratio of leave takers: the ratio of employees who took leave the year their children were born
    (Survey subjects: Kewpie Corporation only)
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