Thailand’s billion-dollar umami market sachets towards sustainability

Umami. The word sounds as delicious on the lips as the legendary flavour that caresses the tastebuds of millions in Thailand every day.

The Nation recently decided to seek out the source of this culinary “miracle” – the fifth basic taste after sweet, salty, sour and bitter. The quest led us to Ayutthaya, where we were invited to peek behind the scenes at the factory owned by Ajinomoto, responsible for 94% of Thailand’s umami market.

Ajinomoto, Japanese for “monosodium glutamate”, introduced umami to the kingdom over six decades ago and has since built a business empire worth tens of billions of baht.

The brand is famous for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) like Birdy canned coffee, Yum Yum instant noodles, RosDee seasoning, and Takumi Ayu sauces.

But Ajinomoto’s drive for speedy convenience is now spiced with a new strategy: sustainability.
Thongdee Paso, the managing director of Thai operations, spilled the beans on the push for sustainability during the tour at one of Ajinomoto’s three factories in Thailand.

The Ayutthaya plant opened in 2013 on a vast plot spanning 1,368 rai – the equivalent of 540 football pitches – with an investment of 6 billion baht.

The three factories produce 180,000 tonnes of MSG per year, with the Ayutthaya plant accounting for 38%.

The MSG is sold in packets from 9 grams to 1 tonne (1,000kg), the latter used by affiliates to generate the umami flavour in products like Yum Yum and RosDee. The factories also export to countries like South Korea and India.

The sustainability efforts at the Ayutthaya facility are multi-dimensional and guided by the company’s “ASV” (Ajinomoto Shared Value) vision. ASV’s goal is to improve the health of 1 billion consumers worldwide while promoting global sustainability by reducing the environmental impact of its operations by 50% by 2030.  

Between 2014 and 2016, the factory invested 1.25 billion baht in a biomass steam boiler to generate clean electricity for internal use, reducing energy costs by 150 million baht per year.

Fuelled by rice husks, the closed system emits no dust or smoke, cutting the factory’s annual fuel consumption by 14 million litres and greenhouse gas emissions by 60,000 tonnes.

To achieve its 2030 goal, the factory aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 50%, achieve zero plastic waste (via recycling), conserve 80% of water resources, and ensure 100% sustainable procurement. The company also aims to cut food and other waste by 50% by 2025.

The water conservation push has already reached 41%, indicating almost half of the journey has been completed. Meanwhile, the factory is making progress on clean and alternative energy by installing solar panels for its 24-hour operation.

Ajinomoto has also turned its sustainability gaze to agriculture with its "Thai Farmer Better Life Partner" (TFBLP) project for cassava farmers. The company is the No 1 user of cassava starch in Thailand. The farmers face challenges from plant diseases, low yield, and drought but the project has increased yields by 20-30%, says the company.

This year however Ajinomoto anticipates a 30% drop in cassava yields due to climate change and drought, necessitating ongoing measures to cope with production challenges.

The company plans to extend the project to other farming groups, including coffee beans and sugar cane, as both are crucial raw materials for canned coffee Birdy and sugar for MSG production.

Ajinomoto says its internal sustainability push has already achieved 90% of its goals. The challenge now lies in getting external partners in the supply chain to move in the same direction.