Community Involvement
and Development
Basic Stance
The ITO EN Group contributes to the region, participates the local community and assists in its development in order to revitalize the area. The ITO EN Group is committed to supporting Japanese culture and tradition, such as regional agriculture, food and culinary culture, and the regional environment and satoyama (rural) culture, as well as earthquake reconstruction assistance, and promotes activities though our core business at each stage, from production to sales.
In addition, we are collaborating with Group companies in North America and Australia in our aim of being a "Global Tea Company".
Community and human rights issues
Human rights initiatives in business activities (human rights)
Community and community activities
In accordance with the ITO EN Basic Promotion Policy for City, People and Job Creation, we promote CSR and CSV management by systematically implementing initiatives leading to value creation for business and society.
Established: November 2015
ITO EN Basic Policy for Promotion of the Development of Communities, Human Resources and Jobs
-
1. ITO EN Basic Policy for Promotion of the Development of Communities, Human Resources and Jobs
ITO EN proactively engages in measures by the national and local governments, etc. to develop communities, human resources and jobs.
Creating Shared Value (CSV) strengthens the ITO EN business model through contributing to community building by a three-way win structure between ITO EN, partners and the community.
For this reason, we have prepared the ITO EN Basic Policy for Promotion of the Development of Communities, Human Resources and Jobs, identified priority issues from the second half of 2015 and started activities by way of application of CSR and CSV activities.
We have established a Communities, Human Resources and Jobs Development Subcommittee under the CSR Promotion Committee to strengthen our internal structures.
We will strengthen cooperation with the government and community stakeholders, collect information, and participate in partnerships and platforms targeted at both the region and beyond.
-
2. Efforts Concerning Development of Communities, Human Resources and Jobs
(01) Urban Development (ITO EN’s Regional Urban Development)
- Cooperation with local governments for characteristic urban development
- "Making Japan Beautiful Through Tea" Project Utilization
- Promotion of washoku and green tea to the world
(02) HR Development (ITO EN’s Regional Community Development)
- Cooperation to form a humane society by utilizing cultural programs such as tea-making seminars
(03) Development of Jobs (ITO EN’s Contribution to Regional Revitalization)
- Promotion of "Mottainai culture" through enhanced collaborations with used tea leaf products
- Participation in local production, local consumption activities in the region
- Participation in regional revitalization utilizing our assets
(04) Comprehensive development of communities, human resources and jobs (ITO EN’s Development of Communities, Human Resources and Jobs)
- Enhance cooperation with business partners to expand the Tea-Producing Region Development Project
(05) Other
- Cooperation and participation in activities such as inbound tourism and Cool Japan
-
3. Communities, human resources and jobs development promotion system
Establishment of a Communities, Human Resources and Jobs Development Subcommittee
- Establishment of a Communities, Human Resources and Jobs Development Subcommittee comprising CSR promotion officers under the CSR Promotion Committee.
Local community engagement of Shizuoka Sagara Factory
Founded in 1974, the ITO EN Shizuoka Sagara Factory is located in Makinohara City, Shizuoka Prefecture, which is famous for the production of green tea. The factory carries out initiatives rooted in the community, including the promotion of food education in conjunction with Makinohara City (employees participate in the city's culinary education promotion committee), factory tours, courses in hand rubbing of tea at elementary schools, and local cleanup events.
Oi Ocha New Haiku Contest
This creative contest has been held every year since Oi Ocha was released in 1989. With the concept of enjoying free sensibility and not being confined to seasonal words or the stylized 5-7-5 form of traditional haiku, prize-winning works appear on the packaging of the Oi Ocha series. They are also widely adopted in school education.
The English division was also established from the 2nd Haiku Contest.
New Haiku Contest
Protection and inheritance of Japanese dietary culture (Washoku)
ITO EN supports activities to popularize Japanese cuisine together with awareness raising activities of traditional tea culture.
ITO EN Ladies Golf Tournament
ITO EN holds a Ladies Golf Tournament in conjunction with a volunteer group called ITO EN Green Club, which recruits primarily from Chiba prefecture, where the event is held. All income from entrance fees etc. are donated to local social welfare projects etc.
Community and industrial development
Tea-Producing Region Development Project
(new tea plantation business)
The quality of the tea leaves produces the flavor of the tea. In addition to direct purchases made after our employees visit tea production areas and tea markets to assess the quality of tea leaves, for some our raw materials ITO EN is also engaging in the Tea-Producing Region Development Project ((1) Contract cultivation where employees work to improve the quality of tea leaves together with local people, and (2) New Tea Plantation Business using abandoned farmland to create plantations that produce tea leaves) to cultivate delicious tea from the plantations.
Earthquake reconstruction assistance for communities
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, affected areas have been working toward reconstruction while overcoming many problems. We support ongoing reconstruction with the concept of "bonding over tea". Here, we introduce our efforts to create bonds leveraging ITO EN's distinctive qualities.