Kirin fuels functional foods with immunity-boosting LC-Plasma

Country Business Reports interviews and articles by Discovery Reports

In the late 1970s, Japanese beverage producer Kirin Holdings had reached the apex of success, controlling two-thirds of the Japanese beer market. Today, Kirin takes on a health-conscious approach through its functional food line iMUSE, which utilises an immunity-boosting, fatigue-fighting lactic acid bacterium, Lactococcus lactis strain Plasma (LC-Plasma), in its products. LC-Plasma is an ingredient supported by abundant scientific evidence that consists of 30 scientific publications, including 15 human clinical trials. The level of science involved in researching this ingredient is highly evaluated in medical societies and markets. LC-Plasma has swept various academic and association awards in Japan and abroad.

“Kirin is serious in its endeavour as a creating shared value [CSV] company,” says Hiromasa Honda, managing director of Kirin Holdings Singapore. “This is one of the strongest reasons why we have diversified into the health science industry. It is just as crucial to create products that address societal health needs as it is to make a profit.”

Throughout a portion of its more than 100-year history, Kirin dominated Japan’s beer and soft drinks industry, then later diversified into the pharmaceutical and health science sectors. It also expanded globally, with subsidiaries in Australia, Europe, the United States and Asia. Kirin is eager to gain more traction in Southeast Asia via its Singaporean headquarters as it continues to leverage on its worldwide success.

“We started as a beer company, but we became successful because of our seriousness in keeping the integrity of brewing beer. We also place a strong importance on putting customers and quality first – that has always been the promise of our management,” Honda says.