Promoting Global Synergy in R&D

Roles of the R&D Department and the MONOZUKURI Division

As a Center of Excellence, the role of the R&D Department in Japan is to undertake medium- to long-term technological development to provide seeds for future innovation, and engage in rapid technological development that is linked to regional product development.
Specifically, its role in regional product development is to provide and undertake joint development of materials and technologies that can generate value, offer solutions to various issues in the development process, and generate synergy through technology exchanges.

Maximizing Global Synergy through a Regional Approach

The R&D Department was formed within the MONOZUKURI Division in April 2017 following the integration of the Planning Department, the Product Development Department, and the Technological Development Department. Since its launch, the R&D Department has engaged in close cooperation with each region, and more recently, the department has helped to build trust and accelerate communication among Group companies through diverse solution proposals.
Further, we are currently building a new structure through which we can work with our cross regional departments, regional divisions, and other marketing departments as well as R&D departments to facilitate integrated manufacturing. With a deep understanding of their respective customer bases, each region is responsible for taking the lead in final product development. In these and other ways, we aim to maximize synergy by having each region take ownership of their respective localities.

Recent Successes Resulting from Global Synergy

In December 2019, we released BOSS Coffee in Australia and New Zealand. The BOSS brand was developed in Japan, and brings together our accumulated technological knowledge and expertise. Using this expertise, we worked with the Oceania product development team to create flavors that match local tastes.
Elsewhere, in April 2021 we launched our All-Free non-alcoholic beer alternative in Vietnam. Utilizing the expertise from our beer business, we were able to achieve the desired flavor through collaboration between the regional product development, R&D Department, and beer product development teams.

Our Advantages in the Global Market

The Suntory Beverage & Food Group’s promise to society is Mizu To Ikiru, or “Living with Water.” Across the entire Suntory Beverage & Food Group, we are dedicated to protecting nature and making optimal use of the gifts it provides. Our beverages utilize these gifts from nature and offer a range of different benefits—among others, they are delicious and refreshing, they quench thirst, improve concentration, and help people to relax.
Drink choices are determined by preference, but we believe the most important thing is to provide drinks that are safe, reliable, and healthy. We want consumers around the world to feel that Suntory Beverage & Food beverages are safe, reliable, and healthy, and that they provide the best tastes, well-being, and joy. Trust is the most important element in our relationships with customers, and so we recognize that we must never betray this trust. It is this trust that will help establish Suntory Beverage & Food as a global brand.

Product Development in Line with the Preferences and Needs of Each Country and Region

ASIA PACIFIC

Global Expansion of the Suntory Brand
(ALL-FREE and BOSS COFFEE)

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Due to increased awareness of the importance of health, the World Health Organization’s focus on tighter alcohol restrictions, and a range of other factors, an increasing number of people across the world are choosing to avoid alcohol. In Vietnam, one of the world’s foremost consumers of beer, rising beer taxes and a crackdown on drink-driving have led to heightened demand for non-alcoholic beer.
We thus turned our focus toward Japan’s ALL-FREE. ALL-FREE contains 0.00% alcohol, zero calories*, zero sugar*, and zero purines**, and is a carbonated drink with a taste of malt & hops. (*Figures depend on food labeling standards; **Less than 0.5 mg of purines per 100 ml is considered purine-free)
In order to launch the product in Vietnam, it was important to achieve a flavor that matched the tastes of Vietnamese customers while maintaining the drink’s refreshing and “zero” qualities. To do so, our beer business in Japan, the R&D Department, and the development team in Vietnam worked together to design a mixture for local production, while utilizing the blending and technological expertise of the beer business. Further, as manufacturing infrastructure was different to those in Japan, we also helped to design an optimal manufacturing process. With different operating companies (Beverage & Food and Beer) and regions (Japan and Vietnam) coming together for the project, we created a collaborative system that exceeded conventional frameworks. In doing so, we were able to achieve the unique sensation and refreshing aftertaste unique to ALL-FREE for the Vietnamese market. The product went on sale in April 2021.
For BOSS COFFEE, too—a product which is highly popular in Japan—we were able to achieve flavors in line with local tastes by working with local product development teams. Sales began in Australia and New Zealand in December 2019, and the product has been incredibly well-received by local customers. Sales of BOSS COFFEE are also growing steadily in the US, predominantly through mail orders. BOSS COFFEE has also launched in Thailand from November 2021.
Utilizing this development structure, we will aim to enhance the popularity of the Suntory Brand in each respective region, and roll out similar initiatives to other countries in the future.

EUROPE

OASIS TROPICAL

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Oasis, a soft drink that first went on sale in France in 1966, has continued to bring joy and refreshment to French families for more than 50 years. Although Oasis has been popular across three generations of families and is familiar throughout the country, sales in recent years have been sluggish. To put the Oasis brand back on a growth trajectory, personnel from Japan with vast experience in brand innovation—in areas such as marketing, R&D, package design, and communication—joined the Oasis team in France. This Japan-France product development team worked to revitalize the Tropical flavor of the Oasis soft drink, which was the brand’s core SKU. (The revamped Tropical flavor went on sale in June 2021.)
In R&D, we were in charge of flavor design, and so we looked to uncover the insights of busy mothers, who were one of the target customers. Oasis was predominantly consumed in the home, and so to understand the thoughts of this target market, we visited numerous homes in France to speak to them first-hand. At approximately 70%, a high number of households in France are dual income, and many mothers are extremely pressed for time while juggling work, housework, and childcare. We discovered that these mothers placed particular importance on downtime with their family, especially their children, and that the Oasis brand was a common accompaniment to this downtime.
From these first-hand realizations, in R&D we formulated ideas on what sort of tastes and emotions we could provide, and improved flavors by repeating a cycle in which we would create prototypes, offer them to the target market, and seek their feedback. We made use of a scientific approach in designing the taste, which is one of our R&D strengths in Japan. We looked at how various elements and components of the flavor are perceived and what makes them delicious, as well as what makes customers want to drink more. This scientific approach combined with repeated inspections through surveys enabled us to achieve a taste that has gone on to win high acclaim in France.
Suntory’s strengths in R&D are its ability to thoroughly understand the customer, its dedicated pursuit of delicious tastes, and its desire to improve the brand. Looking ahead, we will aim to expand into regions other than Europe, and work together as One Suntory to develop brands that are treasured for many years to come.