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vol.6 SKS JAPAN, the largest conference in Japan that brings together a variety of startups from Japan and abroad, will be held! Interview with the organizer and UnlocX representative Hirotaka Tanaka about the possibilities of “food ✕ town” [Mitsui Fudosan ✕ UnlocX]

&mog by Mitsui Fudosan is a one-stop platform that supports food business development, from concept design to urban implementation. The keyword for this project, which started in Nihonbashi this spring, is “Future food grown in the city.” Mitsui Fudosan is working with partner companies related to food to carry out a variety of activities to create new innovations. “&mog Kingdom” introduces monthly project events and the latest news. We will report on the new food trends starting in Nihonbashi!

UnlocX Co., Ltd. CEO SKS JAPAN Founder

“Unlock” the common sense of food systems Why is the Smart Kitchen Summit held in Japan?

In 2017, Hirotaka Tanaka launched the global food-themed conference “Smart Kitchen Summit Japan” (SKS JAPAN). He is also known as the author of “Food Tech Revolution” (Nikkei BP), and just last year started a new company called “UnlocX” that aims to create a new food ecosystem.

Mr. Tanaka has previously worked with Matsushita Electric Industrial (currently Panasonic), McKinsey & Company, and Sigmaxis.

“During my time at Matsushita Electric, I wanted to make Japan’s high-tech manufacturer the number one in the world, and I made that my career goal.When I was 27 years old, I became an MBA candidate within the company, and my seniors said to me, “You’re the best.” I was told to have a broader perspective,” and after much thought, I came up with the answer.At the time, I was working in a department within a business department within the company.I had never thought about the strategy of a business department. In fact, I had never even thought about Matsushita Electric as a whole, and I realized that my career goal was not to start a business or anything like that.

After that, I tried various things, such as devising and submitting an industry restructuring plan, presenting it externally to refine it, and lobbying within the company, but at the time I was told that it was too difficult for a single company to handle. I did. Tanaka-kun, I understand, but you told me to calm down a little and do what I can do now (bitter smile). Still, I was pretty determined, thinking that there was really no chance of winning, so it wasn’t the time to stay calm. Looking at various results, that industry reorganization plan turned out to be correct. All of these things came together, and I decided that I wouldn’t be able to achieve what I wanted to do if I worked at Matsushita Electric, so I decided to take the plunge.”

After that, Mr. Tanaka changed jobs from Matsushita Electric Industrial to McKinsey & Company, and then moved on to several other companies. In the process, his career and life mission became not just to “become the world’s number one high-tech manufacturer,” but to “maximize the value of Japan’s hidden technologies and human resources.” However, when I was wondering how to maximize this, I was introduced to a book by the founder of a certain food-related startup, which became one of the major reasons I became involved in food. Tanaka continues.

“The book “Humans Cook: Fire and Water,” written by American journalist Michael Pollan, states that Homo sapiens’ evolution began with the use of fire. By using this method, we no longer needed to spend a lot of time digesting food, and we could use that time to do other productive activities.Therefore, cooking is what made us human. To be honest, I had never thought about that.I thought cooking was amazing.I started thinking about how we can do something about food and cooking. As a result, I came across “Smart Kitchen Summit.”

After visiting the first Smart Kitchen Summit (SKS) in Seattle in 2016, Mr. Tanaka made a major shift in his career direction to the food field.

“When I went there, there were 4,500 participants.Major home appliance manufacturers, tech companies, food manufacturers, retailers, startups, and funds were also there, and there was a lot of enthusiasm.When I was listening to the discussions there, I realized that… Lightning struck me.The intersection of food and technology is the key to maximizing the value of Japan’s hidden skills and human resources.Furthermore, Japanese food has an incredible amount of skill and culture. Everything intersects in the field.The field of food✖️technology is what is needed in Japan today. I am convinced that this is a great opportunity for Japan as well.”

I quickly set up an opportunity to meet with Michael Wolff, the organizer of SKS, the following year.

“Whenever I set up a meeting, I always feel like it would be a waste if we didn’t come up with some kind of proposal or action to move forward (lol). So, since we had the time to meet, I told him that if we were so excited, I’d like to do a Japanese version, and he said, “Sounds Good,” in a very casual manner (lol). )I immediately got the OK.When I brought this story back to Sigmaxys, where I had just joined the company, they encouraged me and said, “You should try it.” It was a really big deal. I don’t think a normal company would issue a GO (lol). There were a lot of things we didn’t understand, but the company worked together and SKS JAPAN (then known as Smart Kitchen Summit Japan) was launched in 2017.”

From there, the world surrounding food quickly expanded. Furthermore, the publication of “Food Tech Revolution” in 2020 brought about a major change.

“The number of people I’ve read from various fields who have read the book is reaching out to me and saying, “Let’s do something together” is increasing.It turned out to be a really interesting group of people.”

“SKS JAPAN” was held in July 2023, bringing together a variety of startup companies (the exhibit examples are from 2023). Photo provided by: SKS JAPAN

In this way, various timings coincided well, and the flow towards holding “SKS JAPAN” proceeded at high speed. This year, “SKS JAPAN 2024 -Global Foodtech Summit-” will be held in Nihonbashi, Tokyo for three days from October 24th (Thursday) to 26th (Saturday). This is the 7th time, and the purpose of this year’s conference is to focus on what Japan should essentially be working on, while keeping in touch with the turbulent world movements. To this end, the key is to create an environment that allows for sustained co-creation by coming together across countries, regions, and industries. Therefore, the idea is to strengthen ties as a community and create a place where the community comes together to create actions that lead to social implementation and social change.

Also, according to Mr. Tanaka, who is knowledgeable about overseas food tech issues, there has recently been a large number of love calls from overseas to Japan in the food field.When I asked the reason,”There is originally a lot of interest in Japanese technology overseas. I think there are many technologies that Japan can share with the world, such as alternative proteins and plant meat. When trying to make food using soybeans, odor becomes an issue, but Japan’s masking technology, texture technology, food processing technology, taste design technology, and product formulation technology are among the top in the world. With that, you can create something quite sophisticated.In the United States, some companies have started to make meat as close to real meat as possible, but over there they modify it in a lot of ways to make it resemble the real thing. Or you can make it in a way that makes better use of the material.”

There is a growing interest in the possibility that Japan’s advanced technological capabilities may hold solutions to future food challenges. Taking this as an opportunity, he said, “Japan’s role in the future is to disseminate food innovation to the world.As a nation built on food technology and culture, we will create a laboratory where cutting-edge technology can be gathered, and make Japan a destination for food innovation.” “It should be,” he emphasizes.

“In terms of the external environment, I strongly feel that food ecosystems have been emerging in Japan in recent years. ‘&mog by MitsuiFudosan’ is a symbol of this. There is a framework that connects various companies. Not just “SKS JAPAN,” but various other communities are emerging and becoming interconnected.I see a new continent of business being created there.”

Mr. Tanaka continued that it is important to create a space for co-creation in order to revitalize the diverse food movements that have been occurring in Japan in recent years.

“In that sense, I think ‘&mog by MitsuiFudosan’ will be an interesting co-creation base. I think the form of a project led by the real estate industry is a unique endeavor that you won’t find in other countries. What do you think?” Mr. Tanaka asked, and Nobutaka Yoshida, a member of the operational team at &mog b yMitsuiFudosan, said, “Generally in the real estate industry, the people in the building development section deal with food, but in that case… “The task is to develop a building. In a department like ours, which is part of urban development, the purpose is different. That’s why I believe it is worth intervening.”

Mr. Tanaka, who moved from Matsushita Electric to McKinsey & Company, was involved in many projects over the course of eight years, but he eventually realized that his goals were different.

“My work at McKinsey was challenging and interesting, and there were a lot of great people there, so I loved it, but basically I was dealing with very large companies. However, there is no doubt that small and medium-sized enterprises have just as much amazing technology as large companies, and there are engineers who can create it. In order to unlock the value of these numerous technologies and human resources, I became convinced that if I stayed here, I would not be able to reach my goal of “unleashing the potential of Japan’s hidden technologies and human resources.” It has become.So I declared that I would create a “business development platform” and left. In today’s terms, I think it was something like a business co-creation base or platform where multiple companies gathered. I feel that this model is very connected to &mog by MitsuiFudosan.”

So I declared that I would create a “business development platform” and left. In today’s terms, I think it was something like a business co-creation base or platform where multiple companies gathered. I feel that this model is very connected to &mog by MitsuiFudosan.”

Synchro doesn’t stop there. For the past two years, Mr. Tanaka has personally been focusing on “city and food.” This was exactly the theme of “&mog by MitsuiFudosan”. In the keynote speech at Food 4 Future (a global food tech conference) that he attended last year, British architect Caroline Steele’s words “Food Shapes the City” left an impression on him. He has written a book called “Citopia,” a coined Latin word that means food place.”In her lecture, based on “Citopia,” the question of how to secure food while protecting a city from foreign enemies was a matter of life and death in the Middle Ages. It was like designing a city based on how to secure food. When you think about it this way, I believe that it was originally in each region that “new food experiences” were implemented in society.When we think about food value chains, we often classify them into the food industry, retail industry, restaurant industry, etc.In reality, for example, a convenience store in a town may be classified as a “retail industry,” but first of all, I think it means that it is a part of the However, the current way of looking at Japanese industry tends to be based on function. I think the issue is that there is no one responsible for building regional food systems, which should be the two wheels in place. I think this is a role that should be played by governments and other entities that are more than just stupid industries, but I think there is almost no government that can take the lead in this role.”

The domestic food value chain is highly complete and responsibilities are divided, so there is a strong division of labor. Although each company is attempting collaboration and co-creation that go beyond existing frameworks in its own way, it is difficult to deviate significantly from the relationship between buyers and sellers in the commercial flow. Tanaka added that because they are responsible for ”delivering food,” which can be said to be the lifeline of everyday life, bold moves have not been made.

”In the current situation, I think it is necessary for someone to take charge of building a new food system with a regional perspective. When I was discussing with various players whether they would like to appear, I came across Mr. Yoshida and his friends who were trying to launch an activity called “&mog by MitsuiFudosan”, which also has a neutral standpoint, and I thought this was a really great move. I thought.That’s what made me want to try it together. Of course, I think it is fine for each company to proceed while respecting its own strategy, but the fact that there is a place where food innovation can occur on a regional basis, and that real estate players are promoting it, is a global goal. I think it’s very unique,” Tanaka said.

“Now is the time to share Japan’s advanced technological capabilities with the world. First, it is important to create a community for this purpose,” says Tanaka. Many food-related companies are scheduled to take the stage at SKS JAPAN.

In response to these words, Yoshida agrees, saying, “That’s right.I think that’s why we had a chance to make a move in the end.”

“The real strength of &mog by MitsuiFudosan lies in that.The only way to see how new technology will permeate society is to take time.In that sense, the long-term thinking that the real estate industry has is very important. I think there’s a good affinity for it.I think it’s good that Japan’s food innovation is led by the real estate industry.Come to think of it, the number of partners is increasing rapidly,” says Tanaka.

“Yes. The number has increased considerably over the last year. I can easily talk to about 40 to 50 companies. Each person is doing their own thing, so I realized that the food industry is huge and complex. “I did,” Yoshida said, nodding.

With Nobuaki Yoshida (left), a member of the active team of the &mogb yMitsuiFudosan project. Dozens of companies are already participating in the project, which will start full-scale operations from spring 2024 onwards.

“&mog by MitsuiFudosan” aims to support all processes in food business development. We start from formulating a business concept, and provide total follow-up through research and development, prototyping, and marketing to consumers. For this purpose, we are trying to connect not only the necessary facilities but also the necessary connections.

“Nowadays, the R&D departments of food manufacturers are extremely pressed for time.Therefore, what one company can do alone is reaching its limit, so something like a joint R&D platform or joint business development platform is needed. I feel like this form is getting closer to the business co-creation platform that I had envisioned for a long time,” said Tanaka, who also mentioned that “&mog by MitsuiFudosan” follows many startups.

“From a startup’s perspective, it would be possible to create a new economic zone where they can generate a certain amount of sales per year when they come to Nihonbashi.” ) I would like to discuss these points with more people, and I am actually planning to discuss them with everyone at “SKS JAPAN”. I think it’s getting a lot of attention.”

The topic also covered the complexity of the food-related industry structure.

“Everyone is doing a wide variety of things, so I often think that food is a huge industry,” says Yoshida. When asked about the inconvenience caused by this, Mr. Tanaka says: “That’s right. I often hear that companies starting a new business want to connect with distribution companies, but they can’t meet them directly due to the structure of the industry. We can connect people like magnets, and ‘&mog by MitsuiFudosan’ can also involve people from all walks of life.We have a certain kind of freedom, and that’s what we want to do.”

Mr. Tanaka’s challenge is to connect “&mogbyMitsuiFudosan”, which works to revitalize Nihonbashi through food, with technology and human resources from Japan and abroad, and to create a more prosperous world. With the collaboration of these two teams, Nihonbashi will no doubt continue to grow in its presence as a place where innovators connect organically.


■CREDIT
text:Jun Okamoto
photo:Yukako Hiramatsu

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