Toyo Paper Manufacturing rolls out in Asia its legacy for quality and innovation
- Propelled by innovation and an eye for paper’s endless potential, the company delivers outstanding quality, economy and green values with its product range
Country Business Reports interviews and articles by Discovery Reports
The Nagano family has been making the traditional Japanese wrapping paper washi since the end of the Edo period in the 19th century. Today, it carries on this legacy into the modern world through industry leader Toyo Paper Manufacturing. Propelled by innovation and an eye for paper’s endless potential, the company delivers outstanding quality, economy and green values with its comprehensive product range that includes toilet paper, paper towels, coffee filters and meat wrappers.
“We always engage our customers in developing the best solutions for their problems using our technologies,” says Ryozo Nagano, president of Toyo Paper, which was founded in 1949 at the heart of Japan’s papermaking industry in Shikokuchūō, Ehime prefecture.
Driven by its inventiveness and pioneering spirit, the paper expert has consistently incorporated product qualities that minimise clients’ overall running costs. Toyo Paper was the first paper manufacturer in Japan to supply toilet papers in dispensers equipped with an antitheft keylock. The company also introduced paper towels when the Japanese were using only cotton towels. More absorbent, softer and injected with a special antibacterial medication, Toyo Paper’s two-ply paper towels offer more value for money than lighter one-ply brands. The company manufactures all these using up to 80 per cent recycled materials with no observable difference in quality from products made of virgin pulp.
Looking to share its innovations with Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan and other Asian markets that look up to Japanese culture, the paper specialist welcomes technology and distribution partners to win over business-to-consumer and original equipment manufacturing clients. Internally, Toyo Paper would like to develop new strategies with Toyo Group’s other subsidiaries, which are involved in the production of nonwoven items and laminated and plastic film products. Only a few mid-sized Japanese companies can manufacture these goods while producing paper.
“We’d like to create synergies within the group and with other Asian companies as we pursue our passion to explore other markets beyond Japan,” Nagano says.
