Social Contribution
Approach
Momofuku Ando, the founder of the NISSIN FOODS Group, invented instant noodles after continuing to contemplate how he could contribute to society by satisfying people’s hunger.
The NISSIN FOODS Group carries on the spirit of the founder, implementing the Hyakufukushi Project—a commitment to engage in a total of 100 social contribution activities for the future in 50 years—as well as working on efforts such as emergency support and support for the eradication of hunger through our products.
Support for Future Generations
Support for the Healthy Growth of Children
- Funding for School Meals in Developing Countries
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One in three children in developing countries suffers from chronic malnutrition. NISSIN FOOD PRODUCTS and NISSIN FROZEN FOODS participate in the Red Cup campaign to provide school meals to children in developing countries, donating a portion of sales of designated products to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
In addition, we provide funding for school meals in developing countries through the Hyakufukushi Project and sponsorship of various events.
Improvement of Education Environment through the Bellmark Campaign
NISSIN FOOD PRODUCTS has been selling products with the Bellmark symbol since 1961. The Bellmark Campaign is an initiative of the Bellmark Educational Support Foundation in which companies and consumers join together in providing school educational materials and equipment. Each point is converted to ¥ 1, and the proceeds are used to purchase necessary educational materials and equipment for schools.
Food Education
NISSIN FOOD PRODUCTS has held the CHICKEN RAMEN Oishii (Delicious) Dietary Education School program nationwide since 2008. A cumulative total number of 13,079 participants has participated in this program as of May 2024.
In this program, we teach children how CHICKEN RAMEN is made by enabling them to enjoyably experience the process of making instant noodles, from kneading flour and rolling noodles, to flavoring noodles after steaming them. Furthermore, after explaining nutritional balance in an easy-to-understand way, we provide opportunities for children to develop their ability to choose food by letting them actually add toppings to CHICKEN RAMEN while thinking about nutritional balance.
Emergency Support
Emergency Food Aid through WINA
Instant noodles are extremely useful relief supplies in times of natural disaster. The NISSION GOODS GROUP is working to provide food assistance during disasters through WINA (World Ramen Association).
From December 2004 to March 2024, the Group collaborated with 78 companies and organizations such as the Red Cross Society to donate 8.3 million instant noodle products to disaster-stricken areas.
| Period | Natural Disaster | Donation Volume | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | June | Volcano Erupted in Guatemala | 100,000 servings of CUP NOODLES |
| September | Dam break by the heavy rainfall in Attapeu Province, Southern Laos | 10,000 servings of CUP NOODLES | |
| Flood in Kerala, South India | 100,000 servings of TOP RAMEN | ||
| October | Earthquake & Tsunami in Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia | 100,000 servings of TOP RAMEN | |
| Hurricane Florence in the Eastern US | 68,000 servings of CUP NOODLES | ||
| 2019 | January | Tsunami in Banten Province, Indonesia | 100,000 servings of TOP RAMEN |
| 2020 | February | COVID-19 | 25,000 servings of CUP NOODLES, etc. |
| May-June | COVID-19 | 64,000 servings of CUP NOODLES | |
| October | Hurricane in Guatemala | 100,000 servings of CUP NOODLES | |
| 2021 | December | Large typhoon in Philippines | 100,000 servings of CUP NOODLES |
| 2022 | December | Earthquake in Indonesia | 100,000 servings of GEKIKARA pas |
| 2023 | November | Wildfire in Maui, Hawaii | 150,000 servings of TOP RAMEN |
World Instant Noodles Association (WINA)
The World Instant Noodles Association (WINA) is an industry organization that was established in 1997 on the proposal of Momofuku Ando for the purpose of contributing to development of the instant noodles industry and dietary habits around the world. WINA regularly holds the World Instant Noodles Summit and Food Safety Conference for member companies and organizations, and supports emergency food aid efforts through the provision of instant noodles to natural disaster victims around the world. As of May 2024, WINA has 135 member companies and organizations in 24 countries and regions around the world. CEO Koki Ando of NISSIN FOODS HOLDINGS serves as the chairman. NISSIN FOODS HOLDINGS also assigns three employees to WINA as permanent staff members.
World Instant Noodles Association (WINA)Aiding towards the Eradication of Hunger
Support for the Activities to Eradicate Hunger through JA WFP
According to the United Nations, up to 828 million people worldwide suffer from hunger. The NISSIN FOODS Group actively supports the activities of the Japan Association for the World Food Programme (JAWFP), in accordance with our founder’s philosophy, "Peace will come to the world when there is enough food."
The Group is also working to raise awareness of world hunger among our employees and the public, and in addition to donating a portion of its product sales to the WFP, the Group also supports the charity event WFP Walk the World.In FY 3/2023, approximately ¥33 million was donated to JA WFP, bringing cumulative donations since 2011 to approximately ¥420 million.
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Assisting approximately 100 million people in around 80 countries each year, the World Food Programme (WFP) is the humanitarian organization fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and times of conflict, and working with communities to improve nutrition and provide school meals. "WFP" is used here as a collective term for the United Nations organization "United Nations World Food Programme" and the accredited NPO "Japan Association for the World Food Program" that supports it.
CEO Koki Ando of NISSIN FOODS HOLDINGS serves as the chairman, and NISSIN FOODS HOLDINGS also assigns two employees to WFP as operating staff members to provide support for activities.
Support for Poverty through Product Donations
We are donating products to various facilities, including food banks.
| Company name | Donation Volume |
|---|---|
| NISSIN CISCO | 10,742 servings |
| Nissin Foods Kft. (Nissin Hungary) | 149,007 servings |
Ando Foundation Initiatives
Ando Foundation
Momofuku Ando, the founder of NISSIN FOOD PRODUCTS, established the Ando Foundation with his personal funds in 1983 in the belief that "Eating and sports are the two axles of health." The foundation’s main activities are support for track and field events, promotion of nature activities, operation of the CUPNOODLES MUSEUMS, and an awards program that encourages creative foundational research and solid developments that lead to the creation of new food products. The NISSIN FOODS Group endorses the principles of the Ando Foundation and enthusiastically supports its activities.
Ando Foundation (in Japanese)Interactive Educational Food Museums
The Ando Foundation operates the CUPNOODLES MUSEUM (official name: The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum), interactive educational food museums in Ikeda City, Osaka Prefecture and Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The museums provide fun opportunities to learn about creative thinking by Momofuku Ando, the founder of NISSIN FOOD PRODUCTS, and the importance of invention and discovery.
The museums feature exhibits related to the invention and development of instant noodles, the Chicken Ramen Factory, where visitors make noodles by hand from flour, and the My CUPNOODLES Factory, where visitors select a soup and ingredients to create their own original CUP NOODLESS.
- Top: CUPNOODLES MUSEUM OSAKA IKEDA
- Bottom: CUPNOODLES MUSEUM YOKOHAMA
| Cumulative Total | FY 3/2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| CUPNOODLES MUSEUM OSAKA IKEDA | 11,300,000 visitors (since 1999) | 690,000 visitors |
| CUPNOODLES MUSEUM YOKOHAMA | 11,220,000 visitors (since 2011) | 1,040,000 visitors |
Support for Sports
Since 2015, the Ando Foundation, together with the Japan Association of Athletics Federations, has conducted the Ando Foundation Global Challenge Project to support overseas competition by young track and field athletes. The project supports unsponsored individuals age 16 or older who aspire to win medals in international track and field competitions, helping them to use long school vacations to gain valuable experience at environments that draw world-class athletes.
In addition, we cooperated with the Japan Basketball Association to establish the U18 NISSIN LEAGUE in 2022, supporting the development, intensive training, and spread of basketball players who are high-school students. In the past, basketball competitions for those under 18 years old mainly took the form of tournaments. A league format ensures a certain number of matches to be played, and the schedules of matches and the teams involved are predetermined. This allows high-quality preparations to be made for matches. Offering the same type of competition environment as professional athletes helps those under 18 years old to further improve their competition skills.
Since 2023, we are also supporting the Ando Foundation Global Challenge Jr. Tennis organized by the Japan Tennis Association. This is a program that aims to discover athletes with hidden potential capable of performing at the global level and let them develop the qualities needed as top athletes at an early stage. Under the program, activities—such as the organizing of camps in Japan and sending of participants on overseas trips—are conducted for a pair of 11-year-old boy and girl from each of the 47 prefectures (total of 94 children). The program includes interactions with top athletes active in Japan and overseas, small-group training by legendary coaches, and workshops to develop their attitudes as athletes.
SHOKUSOKAI That Supports New Food Creation
Based on NISSIN FOOD PRODUCTS founder Momofuku Ando’s philosophy "Create foods to serve society," the Ando Foundation founded the SHOKUSOKAI in 1996 to promote the creation of new food products and contribute toward the development of the foods industry.
Under the SHOKUSOKAI, the Momofuku Ando Awards recognizes creative researchers, developers, and venture entrepreneurs who contribute to the invigoration of food science and the creation and development of new food products. This initiative supports the activities of researchers, developers, and entrepreneurs with a grand prize of ¥ 10 million and awards of excellence of ¥ 2 million as well as invention and discovery encouragement awards of 1 million yen awarded as an extra prize for young researchers and developers working at small- and medium-sized enterprises.
Scholarship for Graduate Students Who Work on the Development of Food Science
With a desire not to let the COVID-19 pandemic impede food science innovation, the Ando Foundation and NISSIN FOOD PRODUCTS established the NISSIN FOOD PRODUCTS and Momofuku Ando Scholarship which supports graduate students who undertake research that contributes toward the development of food science. Since FY 3/2022, scholarships with an annual value of ¥ 1 million are given to 100 graduate students. Support is being provided for the development of human resources taking on the development and invigoration of food science based on Momofuku Ando’s philosophy "Create foods to serve society".
Study to Help Improve Food Culture
The Ando Foundation and NISSIN FOOD PRODUCTS jointly released the "Recipes for Wellbeing Report" study that reveals a direct correlation between food and wellbeing for the first time in the world. By making the data collected through the study widely available to the public, we will explore how food can improve wellbeing in collaboration with researchers from universities and international organizations.
Creation of Opportunities to Enjoy Nature
The Ando Foundation has supported nature-experience activities that enrich the creativity of children since its inception. Click on the following link for details.
The Hyakufukushi Project
The NISSIN FOODS Group carries on the spirit of founder Momofuku Ando, who enthusiastically engaged in activities to contribute to society. Since 2008, the company's 50th anniversary, the NISSIN FOODS Group has been implementing the Hyakufukushi Project, a social contribution activitity to engage in a total of 100 things we can do in the 50 years before 2058.
The Hyakufukushi ProjectExternal Awards and Recognition
The NISSIN FOODS Group is recognized externally for its sustainability and ESG initiatives.
External Awards and Recognition