Yoshiharu Okamoto

NEWS RELEASE

Senior Manager,May 18, 2022

Corporate Communication Group
Email: kouhou@so.fujioil.co.jp

Notice of the start of a research project on soybean cultivation utilizing CO2 in collaboration
with Saga City, Saga University, and ITOCHU ENEX Co., Ltd.
Fuji Oil Holdings Inc(Head office: Osaka, President: Mikio Sakai, hereinafter "Fuji Oil Group") announcesthat it has started a research project on growing soybeans utilizing CO2 from May 2022 in collaboration
with Saga City (Mayor: Hidetaka Sakai), National University Corporation Saga University (President:Hiroaki Kodama, hereinafter "Saga University") and ITOCHU ENEX Co., LTD.（Head office: Tokyo,President: Kenji Okada）.

CCU at Saga City Cleaning Plant

Soybean Cultivation (image)This research project will effectively utilize CO2, a greenhouse gas, in the production of food resources,
aiming at carbon recycling and CO2 reduction. The first objective is to research efficient soybean growthby taking advantage of the characteristics of soybeans, which grow faster by absorbing CO2, and ademonstration test will be started at an experimental facility at Saga University. In the future, the projectwill aim to produce domestically produced soybeans in a plant factory utilizing CO2 captured at the CCU(Carbon Dioxide Capture and Utilization, hereafter CCU) located in a cleaning plant in Saga City.
Currently, CO2 is separated and collected by CCU from the exhaust gas generated when waste isincinerated at Saga City's cleaning plant, and the CO2 is supplied to adjacent agricultural and algae
businesses. We have concluded a joint research agreement with the aim of expanding the scale ofcultivation in stages and, in the future, commercializing the domestic soybeans grown under this cultivation
system as sustainable soy products using Fuji Oil Group's technology and widely delivering them tocustomer. This research project will be conducted over the long term in collaboration with industry,government, and academia.
Since its foundation, Fuji Oil Group has pursued to solve social issues through plant-based ingredients.
Through its business, Fuji Oil Group is committed to solving food sustainability issues and contributing tothe achievement of the SDGs (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals).
■Fuji Oil Group Sustainability

https://www.fujioilholdings.com/en/sustainability/＜Reference: Outline of the parties involved and their main roles in the project＞■Saga City
Location: 1-1 Sakae-machi, Saga City
Representative: Hidetaka Sakai, Mayor of Saga
Role: Providing information on CO2 collected by CCU from cleaning plants.
■National University Corporation Saga University
Location: 1 Honjo-machi, Saga City, Saga Prefecture
Representative: President Hiroaki Kodama
Role: Research on soybean cultivation in the project■ITOCHU ENEX Co., LTD.
Location: 3-2-5, Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Kenji Okada, Representative Director; President and Chief Executive OfficerRole: Energy service provider in plant factories■Fuji Oil Holdings Inc.
Location: Daibiru Honkan Building, 3-6-32, Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
Representative: Mikio Sakai, President and CEO
Role: Development and marketing of PBF (plant-based food) products utilizing soybeans grown

From left: Fumiya Tanaka, Executive Officer, Power & Utility Division, ITOCHU ENEX Co., LTD.; Satoshi Watanabe, Associate
Professor, Laboratory of Plant Genetics and Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, Saga University; Hidetaka Sakai, Mayor of Saga,
Saga city; Fumiyuki Goto, Professor, Controlled Environment Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Saga University; TakashiKadota, Senior Executive Officer, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and ESG, Fuji Oil Holdings Inc.