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Japan President Bernardino aims for company to lead on sustainability

Puratos: Good food, goodcompany, better future
Name: Jean-Pierre Bernardino
Title: President & Representative
Director, Area General Manager for
North-East Asia
URL: https://www.puratos.co.jp/ja
Hometown: Lisbon
Years in Japan: Over 30

Leaders & Readers
LOUISE GEORGE KITTAKA
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

For Jean-Pierre Bernardino, there is nothing quite like working in an industry thatconnects people with good food, which
as he points out is “the essence of humanlife.” Moreover, Puratos is a company that isfirmly committed to sustainability at every
step of the manufacturing process, and Bernardino is keen to see the Japanese side of
the business become a leader in this aspect.
Bernardino’s earliest encounters with Japanese culture were through watching anime
as a child growing up in Portugal. Later hewent on to learn Japanese at business school
in France, and spent a year studying in Tokyo
as part of his program. Since graduation hehas worked for various international companies here in Japan, building a career primarily
in the food and beverage industry.
Puratos produces ingredients for bakery,patisserie and chocolates and celebrated its
100th anniversary in 2019. Headquartered inBelgium, it has a presence in over 100 countries and more than 9,000 employees aroundthe world.
“I think Puratos is unique because it’s aninternational company but yet is still a fam-ily business. That allows for a special atmosphere we call ‘Puratos magic,’ which gives ahigh level of autonomy to people wherever
they work, particularly in the subsidiarieslike here in Japan,” Bernardino explained.
“While there are, of course, global corporate guidelines and policies in place, each
local company has a lot of flexibility to adapt
to the specific needs of the local markets,”
he said.
“We have a long history in R&D, both at
headquarters and in each country, whichmakes us very innovative, not just in termsof taste but in all areas of functionality,” Bernardino said. “Locally we have everything:
Production, product development, marketing, technical support — the full set of functions of the company. Food is very local, andthe specifics of each market in terms of customer requirements and the legislation areunique, so this approach works very well.”Bernardino notes that sustainability is ofparamount importance to Puratos, from
responsible sourcing of raw materials towater treatment and carbon neutrality initiatives (CO2 neutral by 2025). He is particularly
proud of the company’s signature sustainability initiative, Cacao-Trace, which partners
with farmers in the countries that produce
the cacao for Puratos, empowering them toproduce the best possible product and redefining standards for chocolate.
The initiative started in Vietnam and has
now spread to Cote d’Ivoire, the Philippines,
Papua New Guinea, Uganda and Mexico.
“The principle is that we buy the cacao
directly from the farmers, with post-harvest
centers close to the production site where
we can master the fermentation. This resultsin the best-quality cacao and the best-tasting

chocolate,” he explained. “Moreover, wealso pay a fair price to the farmers — usually
above market price — and offer them thesecurity of knowing we will buy a certain
volume each year. Farmers also receive abonus for every kilo of Cacao-Trace chocolate that is sold.”At the same time, agricultural training isoffered to support the farmers in caring fortheir cacao trees, teaching techniques for
fertilizing, pest control and pruning. “Wegive them the knowledge to produce better
cacao, and this produces better-tasting products, so it’s a win-win situation,” Bernardino
said.
The commitment to the cacao farmers extends to their families and neighbors
through the Next Generation Cacao Foundation, which contributes to economic
and social development. For example, thefoundation offers educational scholarships
for farmers’ children and builds schools
and other resources that benefit the localcommunity.
A separate initiative with similar goals is
the Bakery School Foundation, which wasestablished in 2014 to provide quality education in developing countries for young
people aspiring to be bakers or pastry chefs.
There are currently Puratos supported bakery schools in India, Brazil, Mexico, South
Africa and Romania, and already hundredsof students have graduated and secured
employment in their chosen fields.
Bernardino and his management teamare committed to rolling out the CacaoTrace initiative in Japan for around 80% ofthe volume by 2023. While noting that thisis much higher than in most other markets,he feels it is very important to raise aware-Nihonryori Yukimoto

Kaiseki cuisine with confidence from the mountain and river

Personal motto:‘Never give up’
Jean-Pierre Bernardino was born andraised in Lisbon, Portugal. He graduated from the HEC Paris School of Business in France in 1989. Having spent a
year at Tokyo’s Hitotsubashi University
as a student, he sought a position thatwould allow him to make the most of hisJapanese-language skills, subsequently
working for L’Oreal both in France andJapan. He went on to hold positions withDanone Japan and Red Bull Japan before
joining Puratos in 2008. He currently
wears two hats as the president andrepresentative director and as the area
general manager for Northeast Asia. Bernardino has also served as director of theBelgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Japan since 2009. In his sparetime he enjoys cooking and gardening,and he cites “never give up” as the personal motto that has guided him in his
career to date.

HIROMICHI MATONO

ness of sustainability issues in Japan and todemonstrate the company’s commitment.
“When people are informed about
the issues that exist in the fairness of thedistribution of value, they are supportive,” he said. “We want to make Japan an
early adoption pioneer. We believe it canenhance our image as a company which
is making a difference and bringing a new

A starry rice is born: How Tottori
created the unique Hoshizoramai
ESG/SDGs
MAIKO MURAOKACONTRIBUTING WRITERAddress
Nihonryori Yukimoto
2-43 Towa-cho, Iida,
Nagano Pref. 395-0086,
Japan
https://yukimotohanare.com/

ROBBIE SWINNERTONCONTRIBUTING WRITER

When Takayuki Hagiwara opened his new
restaurant right across the road from where
his father made his name as a chef, he wasdetermined to stick with tradition. Rather
than changing to the increasingly popular
kappō format, with counter seating and an
open kitchen, he kept with the layout that
he feels works best: serving guests in individual private rooms.
That didn’t mean he was looking to thepast. Quite the opposite: Inside and out,
the now 5-year-old Nihonryori Yukimotoin Iida (southern Nagano Prefecture) displays a marriage of traditional aesthetics
with contemporary architecture, perfectly reflecting Hagiwara’s style of kaiseki
cuisine.
Besides learning under his father, Hagiwara trained at the renowned Shofukuro,both in Shiga Prefecture and at its branchin central Tokyo. He says those three years
taught him plenty, not just about cooking
but the importance of having close contact with produce suppliers, something hefelt was lacking in the metropolis.
He also gained confidence from realizing that guests will come, regardless of
how out of the way the location (whether

Shiga or Iida), if they know they will eat
well. At Nihonryori Yukimoto, Hagiwara’s
cuisine is excellent, intricate and assured.
One of his calling cards is his use ofmushrooms, sansai (wild plants) and gamemeat that are foraged and hunted in the
nearby mountains. His nabe hotpot ofbear meat and wild herbs has become asignature dish, but guests can also expect
fish such as ayu (sweetfish) and iwana(char) from the Tenryu River, which runs
through the city.
Although the rooms at Nihonryori
Yukimoto have traditional tatami mats,for comfort all are fitted with tables andchairs.

SHUICHI ABE
NAGANO GOV.

TAKESHI SATOIIDA MAYOR

Nagano Prefecture is oneof the world’s top regionsin terms of health and longevity. It is said that one of
the secrets to this is a dietrich in agricultural and livestock products.
We have heard that Takayuki Hagiwara ofYukimoto places great importance on local
ingredients, and we rejoice to see various
Nagano regional ingredients linked to good
health and longevity being so employed.
We hope you will enjoy the cuisine thathas been refined by Mr. Hagiwara’s skills andsensibilities while preserving the tradition ofkaiseki cuisine.

We sincerely congratulate
the Japanese restaurant
Yukimoto for being selectedfor the “Japanese restaurant
list for people from aroundthe world, chosen by Japanese people.” The
restaurant has been actively involved in
the Regional Production for Regional Consumption food education program, whichconnects people with local resources,
including local ingredients. We hope thatyou will visit Iida, in the Minami Shinshu
region, and experience the four seasons ofJapan with its seasonal tastes, traditional
techniques and rich food culture.

dimension to the world of food.”
Puratos is also bringing its expertise inbread-making to Japan through the richtaste of its sourdough. Bernardino points
out that Japan has become the biggest
Asian market for bread in terms of consumption, and that people are continuallyseeking unique flavors and textures.
“We say that ‘the future of bread lies in

its past.’ Bread used to taste fantastic, thenit became rather impersonal with mass
production, but sourdough brings back that
good taste, and now more and more interesting types of breads are being seen here inJapan,” Bernardino explained.
With a commitment to health andwell-being, Puratos is continually seeking
ways to incorporate products with less fatand sugar and more grain and fruit into its
lineup. Another initiative is Plant Forward,
which aims to offer solutions for the growing number of customers who want plantbased alternatives for their sweets andbaking products.
As might be expected, Bernardino
enjoys sweets and names “simple and oldfashioned fruit tarts” as one of his favorites.
He also loves to cook, and prepares dinner
nearly every night for his family. “One special thing I like to prepare is a Portuguese
fish dish, where you mix octopus and squidwith tomato, paprika and onion, and stew
them in a sauce with coriander. It is very
tasty!” he said with a smile.

Tottori Prefecture in the Chugoku region
is known as the least populous prefecture in Japan, blessed with a wealth ofnature. Thanks to its clean air, the Milky
Way can be observed from any city,town or village. This is why a new brandof rice produced in Tottori was named
Hoshizoramai, meaning “starry skydance,” with the “mai” playing on one pronunciation for the kanji meaning “rice.”
Hoshizoramai is shiny and sweet, witha firmer texture than other kinds of rice,
so you taste each grain separately rather
than as a sticky mass. When cooked, itholds a lot of water, which means it isless likely to turn dry and hard whencold. From a farmer’s point of view, its
high tolerance for summer heat is a bigadvantage.
For consumers, having a new rice
option is welcome, but it is not easy for
Tottori producers to develop and sell a
new brand of rice in Japan when there
are already a number of brands from prefectures that are better known for rice.
The Japan Times Satoyama Consortiuminterviewed Mikimaro Takagi and Hiroki
Nakamura from the Division of Crop Science at Tottori Agricultural Experiment
Station online on Sept. 10 to find out whyand how the rice was developed.
The research and development started
more than three decades ago when
Shunji Hashimoto, the former directorof the division, decided to make a newkind of rice that is strong and delicious,
drawing on his own experience of having

been born in a farming family and seen
the struggles of rice producers. Takagi
explained that excessive heat may discolor rice, and strong winds like typhoons
may knock down rice plants. The fungal
disease blast is also a big enemy for rice
growers.
Development of a new brand of rice
starts from interbreeding existing kinds.
There was already Yumesorara, a brandthat had been produced in Tottori formore than a decade. Nakamura explainedthat the purpose of making Yumesorara
was to improve Koshihikari, one of themost well-known brands of rice produced
across Japan, to improve the lodging resistance by making the plants shorter. But
Yumesorara was weak against heat andblast.
To overcome this, they cross-bred
Yumesorara with yet another kind ofrice, Sasanishiki BL1, not just once but fivetimes to achieve a stable and satisfying
quality. “What we did exactly is that wecross-bred Yumesorara and Sasanishiki,
and we crossed Yumesorara again to theresult of the first cross-breeding, and on
like that for five times altogether,” Nakamura explained.
However, the process of making a new
brand of rice does not end there — thereis the final and most important phase of
actually planting the new rice and making sure its qualities are stable. “To dothis final research and testing, we haveto plant each rice plant separately byhand to make it possible to recognize andinspect each one. Rice-planting machines
cannot do this. They plant several seedlings in a bundle, so we cannot distinguish
one seedling from another,” Nakamura
explained.
To develop a newstable and heatresistant kind of rice,Yumesorara andSasanishiki werecross-bred multipletimes, leading to thecreation ofHoshizoramai.
TOTTORI AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENTSTATIONPAGE: 7

A field of Hoshizoramai in Tottori Prefecture
TOTTORI AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONThe cultivation of Hoshizoramai, theresult of 30 years of effort, started four
years ago on just 5 hectares of land. Now
it is being produced on 1,254 hectares at
1,988 farms. So far, farmers have evaluatedit highly.
Takagi explained that the harvestingtime for Hoshizoramai is slightly different from those of other kinds of riceproduced in the area, which is helpful for
farmers who do not have enough manpower to harvest all their fields at once.
“Many farmers grow multiple kinds of ricefor this reason, as well as to spread out
the risk of diseases such as blast,” Takagi
said. Growing Hoshizoramai is beneficial
for farms because its ability to maintainstable quality without suffering much
impact from summer heat ensures stableprices.
In the last few years, an association topromote branded rice was established,and study groups focusing on rice production were formed in the prefecture’s three
agricultural cooperatives to encourage
farmers to exchange ideas and experiences. The launch of Hoshizoramai has
helped stimulate the whole rice-farming
industry in Tottori, and its market isexpanding outside the prefecture startingwith Japan’s major cities, including Tokyo,
Osaka and Fukuoka.
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