For the second time, students from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), are collaborating with local company Fundokin Shoyu Co., Ltd., with the help of investors Inspire Co., Ltd., to launch a new product. For this collaboration, the student team will work with the companies to develop new, healthy dressings to answer the needs of a public which has grown more health-conscious in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Fundokin, Inspire, and APU signed an agreement in May of 2017, which resulted in their first run of a product geared towards the growing foreign market.  The Halal-certified product, Honey Soy Sauce, released in January 2019, so that anyone may enjoy the sweetness of Kyushu’s soy sauce. 

In this second project, eight current students, hailing from Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Morocco, and two faculty members, born in the Philippines and Canada, from the College of International Management will work with Fundokin’s product development team and Inspire to come up with ideas for the product.  This process will include developing the concept, taste, package design, and marketing for the commodity.  

To determine the general direction of their product, the initial six members held eight online meetings throughout the fiscal year 2020.  Since fiscal 2021 began, new students have joined the project, adding even more diversity to the group, and in May, they began product development in earnest. 

The local company will strive to meet the diverse values, perspectives, and sensibilities of these students, including the international ones, while creating unique and delicious Kyushu products for the national market.

For more information, please visit the websites: 
APU Official Website
Fundokin Shoyu Official Website
PRTIMES