～We deliver seasoning as delicious as a Chinese restaurant, filled with safe and well prepared pork meat to dinner tables in Japan from Ajinomoto's new Thailand factory～ Cook Do <For Ma-Bo Tofu with minced pork> <For Ma-Bo Eggplant with minced pork> New release nationwide from April 28, 2008 (Mon)

April 1, 2008 - Tokyo - Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (President & CEO: Norio Yamaguchi, Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan) will be releasing new products for the Cook Do line called <For Ma-Bo Tofu with minced pork> and <For Ma-Bo Eggplant with minced pork> using an abundance of safe, well prepared pork meat. These products utilize Ajinomoto's overseas business infrastructure which is the strength of our group companies and all the knowledge of Ajinomoto cultivated in the development of Cook Do, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary of sales, and acquired through many years of experience in the processing industry.

Recently within Japan, the co-existence of "convenience" and "more taste" have been in demand in home cooking due to the trend of shorter cooking times and an improvement in the experience of dining out. In order to respond to these demands, a factory which manufactures products packaged in pouches for Japan was newly established on land belonging to the Nongkhae Factory of Ajinomoto Co., (Thailand) Ltd. Our company will be selling Chinese seasoning as an aromatic and delicious sauce utilizing all of Ajinomoto's knowledge in technology for combining ingredients and ingredient development which have been cultivated in the development of recipes for Cook Do for over 30 years. Our Chinese seasoning will utilize many high-quality ingredients which cannot be realized by domestic production.  For the ingredients, safe, well prepared pork meat mainly from the Betagro Agro-Group Public Co., Ltd.* is purchased in blocks and is minced in the new factory. The new product includes approximately 2.5 times as many large and juicy chunks of minced pork meat as the current product. For the sauce, flavored oil which is the key ingredient in producing a unique aroma/flavor and special items developed by our company are used.  nbsp;We will attempt to activate the entire Chinese seasoning market through sales of Cook Do <For Ma-Bo Tofu with minced pork> and <For Ma-Bo Eggplant with minced pork>. The sales target for the entire Cook Do line in the 2008 fiscal year is 20.7 billion yen and the sales target for <For Ma-Bo Tofu with minced pork> and <For Ma-Bo Eggplant with minced pork> is 4 billion yen. (Both figures are based on consumer purchase price.)  Our food companies not only display domestic but also a global synergy and we are constantly working on improving the value of our products with the mission of "creation of an 'active family life' by a 'healthy diet lifestyle through delicious food' and the 'discovery of new deliciousness' ". * Ajinomoto Frozen Foods Co., Inc. from the Ajinomoto Group established a joint venture called "Ajinomoto Betagro Specialty Foods Co., Ltd." with Betagro Agro-Group Public Co., Ltd. in 2004 to deliver products for commercial use with safe, high-quality and soft pork to Japan.  Retail Sale Price:　Open price

1. Product Outline   (1)   Brand Name:   Cook Do   (2)   Type:   <For Ma-Bo Tofu with minced pork Sweet/Medium Hot/Hot> <For Ma-Bo Eggplant with minced pork>   (3)   Features:   High-quality Chinese seasoning with an abundance of ingredients and approximately 2.5 times as much pork as our current products and a simple sauce created with techniques used by chefs using more aromatic and flavorful ingredients. <For Ma-Bo Tofu Sweet> Seasoning with great aroma and flavor using green Leek flavored vegetable oil and oyster sauce together with the thick sweetness of Tenmenjang (Chinese sweet sauce) added to the richness of chicken soup. Delicious Ma-Bo tofu that anyone can eat can be cooked. <For Ma-Bo Tofu Medium Hot> Seasoning with great aroma and flavor using chili flavored vegetable oil together with the thickness and spiciness of Doubanjang (Chinese chili paste)/Tenmenjang(Chinese sweet sauce)added to the richness of chicken soup. Mildly hot Ma-Bo tofu can be cooked. <For Ma-Bo Tofu Hot> Additional spicy hot seasoning using Doubanjang flavored vegetable oil together with the strong spiciness of Doubanjang (Chinese chili paste) and the thickness of Tenmenjang (Chinese sweet sauce) added to richness of chicken soup. Extremely hot Ma-Bo tofu can be cooked. <For Ma-Bo Eggplant> Mellow seasoning using sesame oil together with the thickness and sweetness of Tenmenjang (Chinese sweet sauce) added to the thickness of chicken soup. Ma-Bo eggplant with plenty of sauce can be cooked.   (4)   Content/Packaging:             (5)   Best-Before:   Displayed by year, month, day 2. Release Date:   April 28, 2008 (Mon) 3. Sales Region:   Nationwide 4. Advertising/Promotion Activities:     On-air TV advertisements to communicate the features of the product, in particular, the feature of "including well prepared minced pork meat". Detailed information on the product such as ingredients and manufacturing process are disclosed on the Cook Do website. Communicate features of the product by active sales promotions and POP signs in stores, and attempt to encourage purchasing by consumers. (The timing of TV advertisements is under examination.)

【Reference】 Consumer evaluation points of Cook Do <For Ma-Bo Tofu with minced pork>   -  Regarding the strength of flavor of the minced pork - 90% answered "just right".   -  Regarding favorability of the flavor of the minced pork - a good evaluation with 80% answering "very good" or "good".   -  Regarding the texture of the minced pork (pleasant taste, pleasantness on the tongue) - 85% answered "very good" or "good".   -  Regarding the amount of minced pork - 70% said "just right".

Outline of the Ajinomoto Group Overseas Affiliates etc. Ajinomoto Co., (Thailand) Ltd. (1)   Location:   Bangkok, Thailand (2)   Established:   1960 (3)   Representative:   President Yutaka Kunimoto (4)   Number of employees:   Approx. 1,050   New Nongkhae Factory (1)   Location:   Nongkhae Industrial Estate, Saraburi, Thailand (2)   Manager:   Shoji Sakaguchi (3)   Start of Operation:   February, 2008 (4)   Equipment Investment:   522 million baht (Approx. 1.8 billion yen) (5)   Number of employees:   Approx. 250 (6)   Site Area:   Approx. 6,621m2 (7)   Permit Obtained:   Thailand Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Department of Livestock Development approval as Exporting Facility (Export Permit No. 178)   Betagro Agro-Group Public Co., Ltd. (1)   Location:   Bangkok, Thailand (2)   Established:   1967 (3)   Capital:   680 million baht（Approx. 2.4 billion yen） (4)   Sales:   Approx. 30 billion baht in the 2006 fiscal year (Approx. 105 billion yen) (5)   Representatives:   Chairman Chaivat Taepaisitphongse President Vanus Taepaisitphongse (6)   Number of Employees:   Approx. 3,700   Ajinomoto Betagro Specialty Foods Co., Ltd. (1)   Location:   Lop Buri, Thailand (2)   Established:   February 2004 (3)   Start of Operation:   March 2005 (4)   Number of Employees:   Approx. 500 (5)   Site Area:   Approx. 25,400m2 (6)   Principle Products:   Pork cutlets, deep fried pork skewers, grilled pork, pork belly stew etc.

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