ZENB JAPAN × Chef Tsujiguchi × Industrial Management University

「I want to reduce waste as much as possible.」
SDGs Awareness Project Born from Students' Ideas

6.46 million tons per year. This is the amount of "food loss" produced in Japan. This number is among the highest in the world. We have started a project to improve this food waste problem. In this project, we will be distributing "ZENB" original arrangement recipe videos by Hironobu Tsujiguchi, a world-renowned super pastry chef representing Japan. Through ZENB, a brand that shares the idea of ``cherishing ingredients,'' and videos, we aim to improve each household's awareness of ingredients and realize a sustainable society.

[Reference] From the Consumer Affairs Agency Consumer Policy Division “Reference materials related to food loss reduction (June 21, 2018 edition)”

Hironobu Tsujiguchi x ZENB Arranged recipe

"Corn dacquoise"

Introducing recipes using ZENB paste!
ZENB JAPAN Co., Ltd. emphasizes the importance of ingredients. Chef Tsujiguchi will be using one of these products, ZENB Paste, to create original sweets! Watch the video and let's make it together at home!

What is ZENB PASTE?

A paste made only with whole vegetables and olive oil, including the skins, cores, and seeds that are usually thrown away without being eaten. For details →

[Official website] About ZENB

I want to reduce waste

~Our thoughts~

The current situation of food loss in Japan

Currently, approximately 6.46 million tons of food is lost each year in Japan, and approximately half of the total comes from households.

Most of the food waste generated in households is due to excessive food removal, and the crops that many producers have grown are still being thrown away.

Breakdown of food loss at home

Click to enlarge

What is excessive removal?

This refers to cutting off the edible parts of vegetables, such as their skins and stems, and throwing them away!

過剰除去の多い食材の内訳

Breakdown of foods that are often excessively removed.png

Click to enlarge

One project member, a university student, first experienced ``waste work'' while working part-time at a donut shop when he was in high school.
I felt hesitant and uncomfortable about throwing away the beautiful donuts that had been carefully made so early in the morning when they were still perfectly edible.
The four students who agreed with this idea learned for the first time about the big problem of "food loss" that is occurring in the world, and created a project with the idea of spreading the word about this situation to more people and wanting to solve it in any way possible. .
What we came up with was the new concept of SDGs x sweets.
In this project, we would like to propose new initiatives for SDGs from the sweets town of Jiyugaoka to the world from the perspective of "food loss."

Meeting people who share your thoughts

We wanted to convey the importance of food ingredients to as many people as possible, but we were faced with the challenge that our efforts alone were not enough.
It was at this time that we came across ZENB JAPAN Co. When we browsed their website, we found that they had a vision for food ingredients that was even more important than our own. We were struck by ZENB's goals and asked for their cooperation.
We also met with Humas Japan K.K., which is owned by our visiting professor, Mr. Tsujiguchi, and agreed that we could spread the "mottainai" culture not only in Japan, but also throughout the world.
We would like to promote this project to contribute to the future of food with the cooperation of ZENB JAPAN and Humas Japan Co.

Pastry chef/chocolatier
Hironobu Tsujiguchi

フーマスジャパン株式会社

YouTube channel is

From here →

ZENB JAPAN Co., Ltd.

industrial efficiency university

sweets promotion

Message from Hirohiro Tsujiguchi

from Hironobu Tsujiguchi

I was impressed by this concept of using up all ingredients from a student's project, and at the same time, when I think about the future food situation in the world, I think that this initiative will help humanity develop a deep respect for materials. I felt it was necessary. In addition to eliminating waste, we also need to know that the leaves and calyx have a wonderful aroma and flavor, and that the nutrients contained in them are also wonderful blessings of nature. .

By acquiring this kind of knowledge, I believe that an awareness of the importance of ingredients will naturally develop.

Message from partner companies

from ZENB JAPAN Co.

ZENB is a new brand launched by Mitsukan with the aim of "using whole plants as much as possible to contribute to a new way of eating that is tasty, healthy, and environmentally friendly. We are very grateful to SANNO University for approaching us this time, as they shared the idea of ZENB in their consideration of the "value the ingredients" project. We hope that this project, with the cooperation of Chef Tsujiguchi in recipe development, will help people to focus on the inherent taste and nutritional value of food ingredients and to become aware of the importance of a sustainable diet in terms of maintaining human health and reducing the burden on the global environment.

Message from partner companies

from Humas Japan Co., Ltd.

As I worked on the project, I was impressed by how the students viewed the SDGs as a topic that they should take for granted. I strongly felt that the world will change from these thoughts.
Food Master Japan, which is based on YouTube, was started with the aim of disseminating Japanese food culture to the world. We are very honored to have had the opportunity to hear from students and communicate with them about Jiyugaoka's SDGs initiatives.
With the help of our students, we believe that SDGs will become commonplace in the near future, and we hope that we can be a small part of that.