Mental and Physical Health Support for Children
Approach to Supporting Children's Mental and Physical Health
Food has the power to create a healthy body and maintain one's physical condition not only in terms of nutrition, but also to nurture mental health. Through various activities to convey the importance and joy of eating, we will support children's physical and intellectual development.
Dietary Educational Activities
The Kewpie Group conveys food safety and security and the enjoyment and importance of food through food educational activities. We launched "Open Kitchen" factory tours in 1961, and we have sent instructors to elementary schools throughout Japan to present "Mayonnaise Classes" since 2002, and "SDGs Classes" since 2022.
We also provide food-related information. We have established new dietary education content on our website, such as the "Food & Life Academy," and conduct "media library activities" where we distribute DVDs free of charge to schools and consumer centers that support the development of a healthy mind and body.
Open Kitchen
Kewpie believes that the factory is an extension of the kitchen at home and accordingly calls its factory tours for the general public an "Open Kitchen" tour. We believe these tours present the best opportunity for our customers to see how products are made, to gain a better understand of the products, and to feel more assured about their use.
Kewpie launched Open Kitchen factory tours in 1961. It was rare at the time for food industry companies to open production sites to the public, and our tours were initiated as part of social studies field trips for elementary school students. To this day, the tours provide an opportunity for many visitors to learn about local industry.
Online tours were started in 2020, and we currently offer both online and in-person tours.
Dietary Education Content
We have established a variety of nutritional education content on the official Kewpie website.
We continuously add useful information and enrich the content so that children can learn independently and have fun together.
The experience of making vegetable dishes has positive impacts on a child's mental development!
Our joint research in developmental psychology has shown that cooking vegetable dishes together with a parent is very important for a child’s mental health and development.
It found that children who have experience of cooking vegetable dishes together with someone least once a month score significantly higher in six psychological development categories (self-discipline, assertiveness, collaboration, self-esteem, logical/focused attitude, and curiosity) than children with no cooperative cooking experience or only with non-vegetable dishes.
Many kinds of vegetables exist, and they come in a variety of colors, shapes, and tastes.
In addition, vegetables are used in a wide variety of dishes, and from the perspective of a healthy dietary lifestyle, they appear very frequently on the table. It can be inferred that these characteristics are factors that have a positive influence on the psychological development of children through the experience of cooking vegetable dishes together with someone.
Support for Food Bank Activities
In Japan, it is reported that approximately 5.23 million tons of still edible food are wasted annually (estimated in 2019 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries). Conversely, there are many people in Japan who do not have enough food to eat. Since 2007, Kewpie has been supporting Second Harvest Japan, a non-profit organization that engages in food bank activities.*1 We currently donate products to 13 food bank organizations nationwide through three partnered local social welfare councils.
We have also begun new initiatives, such as donating products to MOWLS,*2 a nationwide cooperative that supports food access activities launched through the Kewpie Mirai Tamago Foundation.
*1Food banks accept factory seconds produced during food manufacturing and provide them free of charge to persons in need and welfare facilities such as foster centers.
*2MOWLS: A system operated by Meals on Wheels Japan that supports the creation of an environment where everyone, from children to the elderly, can gather at "places for them" across Japan, such as children's cafeterias.
Supporting Child Poverty Initiatives through Food
Lifestyles and diets have diversified rapidly in recent years, but this shift has been accompanied by increasingly serious social issues surrounding food, including a decline in food knowledge and interest particularly among the younger generation, the dwindling of mealtime communication, and child poverty. Based on the spirit of contributing to society through food that has driven Kewpie's business activities since the company was first founded, in April 2017 we established the Kewpie Mirai Tamago Foundation.* Through wide-ranging support for the activities of like-minded groups, we hope to accomplish a level of social contribution not achievable by a single enterprise acting alone. As well as conducting our own dietary educational activities, we take a long-term perspective on creating healthy and sustainable societies.
*Since April 1, 2019, the Kewpie Miraitamago Foundation switched to a Public Interest Incorporated Foundation.
Kewpie Mirai Tamago Foundation, a public interest incorporated foundation
The main focus of this foundation is donating to organizations that create meaningful spaces in which children can relax and gain a stronger sense of belonging through food, such as those devoted to food education and the Kodomo Shokudo Network. Held activity report meetings and lectures from those involved in the management and support of initiatives such as Kodomo Shokudo on the role of children's cafeterias and the importance of hygiene and food education as part of a course on establishing meaningful spaces for children.
Bellmark Campaign
The Bellmark campaign originated from the desire to provide an equal education for all children in a rich and prosperous environment.
Being sympathetic to the spirit of this campaign, the Kewpie Group has cosponsored the Bellmark educational aid foundation since its beginning in 1960 and cooperated in educational support activities for participating schools, etc.
Kewpie Products and the Bellmark
Kewpie mayonnaise and dressings carry the Bellmark.
Products displaying the Bellmark
WFP "Red Cup Campaign"
The Kewpie Baby Food "Happy Recipes" series is participating in the United Nations food support organization, the United Nations World Food Programme's (WFP) "Red Cup Campaign," and is donating part of its sales from products.
The Red Cup Campaign supports activities to deliver school lunches to children suffering from hunger around the world.