OSI subsidiary Orange Bay Foods receives Japan’s Furusato Award

Orange Bay Foods (OBF), an OSI Group company in Japan, was presented with the 2014 Furusato Award from Japan’s Minister of Internal Affairs and Communication at an award ceremony held at the Tokyo Dai-Ichi Hotel in Tokyo, Japan on October 30, 2014.

OSI Group's Orange Bay Foods received the Furusato Award from the Japan Foundation for Regional Vitalization.

Each year, the Japan Foundation For Regional Vitalization (commonly called the Furusato Foundation, which refers to the Japanese word for someone’s hometown or region) selects the best companies in each field that have shown continuous growth. Orange Bay Foods won this year’s award in the field of food manufacturing.

This award is the result of the combined efforts of OSI Group, LLC; Starzen Co., Ltd; and Seinan Kaihatshu Co., Ltd who worked together to establish this brand new joint venture company in May 2009. With help from the Furusato Foundation’s subsidy program for local enterprises, the resulting enterprise, Orange Bay Foods, opened its state-of-the-art facility in March 2010. Since 2010, Orange Bay Foods has proven to be a key supplier of high quality beef patties to Japan’s quick service restaurants by providing flexible, adaptable and competitive supply chain solutions to its customers. Orange Bay played a key role in providing nationwide supply after the earthquake and resulting tsunami that devastated the nation in March 2011.

The new company has been able to utilize 100% of the highly trained employees who staffed the local company, Seinan Kaihatsu, while additional employees were hired locally to round out the workforce. This has created new jobs and substantially supported area employment.

This project was the first to invite a large investment from outside the Ehime Prefecture, creating many opportunities for local packaging companies as well as transportation companies that ship raw materials and finished products to and from the area. Orange Bay Foods has vigorously supported the local economy.

The Furusato Foundation’s subsidy was utilized for establishment of OBF in 2009, when a loan of JPY 400 million (about $4 million) was obtained through the program and helped the company to open its doors.

Source: OSI Group LLC

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