The story of the Ajinomoto Group began in 1909 when it launched AJI-NO-MOTO, the umami seasoning. After the success of the first product, the Group steadily expanded its business guided by its aspiration to apply its unique strengths to help to resolve social issues by contributing to food and wellness.

History

Our journey of discovery began with a bowl of boiled tofu in kombu dashi (a broth made from a kind of kelp.) While savoring the broth, Dr. Ikeda became convinced that there was another basic taste altogether different from sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. Intrigued by this thought, he began analyzing the composition of kombu dashi. Around the same time, Hiizu Miyake, Japan’s first doctor of medicine, hypothesized that good taste stimulates digestion. Encouraged by this idea, Dr. Ikeda redoubled his efforts. He ultimately discovered what gave kombu its distinctive taste: It was glutamic acid, a type of amino acid. He named the taste umami, and developed a method to produce seasoning with glutamate as its key component.