Ajinomoto develops semiconductor materials by recreating its customers’ processes.
Ajinomoto supplies seasonings, foods and frozen foods. It also provides drug ingredients and manufacturing services for pharmaceutical companies, and ABF insulating film for semiconductor package-substrate makers.
Joint design and the ability to reproduce customer processes are concrete mechanisms behind the company’s explanation of its competitive strength. The share figure sits alongside the work of testing a material before adoption and supplying it afterward.
Larger substrates require more material
As substrate makers build larger, more complex products, the materials inside them must meet the associated processing and reliability requirements. Equipment that reproduces customer processes helps Ajinomoto adapt its materials to those changes.
Applying food-developed expertise to materials evaluation
Food remains relevant to development today. The June 2026 presentation says analytical skills developed through foods, together with quality-assurance technologies, support the evaluation of electronic materials. Beyond the historical use of a byproduct, these capabilities help the group test the materials it supplies to customers (presentation p.17).
The accounts separate food from Healthcare and Others
DATA VIEW
Two food segments account for 77.5% of sales
Year ended March 2026. Site calculation from rounded disclosed figures. The rest comprises Healthcare and Others and Other businesses, including food-use amino acids and supplements.
The increase in Healthcare and Others business profit
Actual results for the years ended March 2025 and March 2026, in ¥bn. The same segment measure, before shared companywide expenses, on a common scale starting at 0.
Ajinomoto’s ABF business involves understanding substrate makers’ processes, testing materials and sharing production work with outside partners. Analysis and quality-assurance expertise developed through food supports that work.
The two food segments account for 77.5% of sales, while Healthcare and Others, including electronic materials and pharmaceuticals, earned ¥66.2 billion in business profit. Turning food-developed capabilities into materials and services that work in different customers’ factories helps explain the group’s reach.
Tsubakimoto uses chain geometry and motion to build equipment that pushes loads upward. ZIP CHAIN meshes two chains into a rigid column, then separates them for storage in a compact case. Its wider Chain and Motion Control businesses nevertheless had very different operating margins in the year ended March 2026: 15.1% and 4.1%. Their April 2026 combination aims to extend product combinations into customer proposals and after-sales service. Its earnings effects still need to be established through future results.
