is a Japanese food company and the world's largest bread-baking corporation, that makes bread, bakery products and confectionery. It was established by Tojuro Iijima in Japan on 9 March 1948 and started mass production of bread in 1955, and is still controlled by the Iijima family; Nobuhiro Iijima is the third generation of the family to lead the company.
History
Yamazaki products can be found in various
Asian countries, including
Hong Kong,
Malaysia,
Taiwan,
Singapore,
Thailand,
Vietnam and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
In October 1970, the company established a joint venture, Yamazaki Nabisco Co., Ltd. (now known as Yamazaki Biscuits), with
Nabisco of the United States and Nichimen Jitsugyo Corporation (currently
Sojitz Corporation
is a ''sogo shosha'' (general trading company) based in Tokyo, Japan. It is engaged in a wide range of businesses globally, including buying, selling, importing, and exporting goods, manufacturing and selling products, providing services, and pl ...
). By 1988 Yamazaki raised its stake in the joint venture to 80% by acquiring the shares held by Nabisco.
In 1991, Yamazaki purchased
Vie de France Bakery division (began in 1971), and in 1994, Yamazaki Baking purchased the Vie de France Restaurant division (began in 1978). Yamazaki now operates ''Vie de France'' in the United States and Japan under the ''Vie de France'' brand.
Until 2014, Yamazaki used
potassium bromate in their bread, while all other Japanese baking companies voluntarily stopped using it in 1980 due to suspicions of
carcinogenicity. However, they started to use it again in early 2020, claiming they had developed a new method for reducing the amount of potassium bromate so that nothing remains of it in the final product. They stated potassium bromate was not detected in a test with 0.5
ppb accuracy.
In 2016, Yamazaki acquired the US company Bakewise Brands, parent of Fleischer's Bagels and Tom Cat Bakery. In the same year,
Mondelez International terminated the Yamazaki Nabisco joint venture and started to produce Nabisco biscuits under Mondelez Japan, shifting production to China and Indonesia. A year later, Yamazaki introduced their version of Oreo called "Noir", which is produced at the former Oreo factory in
Ibaraki Prefecture.
Gallery
See also
*
Daily Yamazaki, Yamazaki's convenience store division
References
External links
Yamazaki Baking Co., Ltd.Yamazaki Baking Co., Ltd.
Japanese companies established in 1948
Companies listed on the Osaka Exchange
Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Food and drink companies established in 1948
Food and drink companies based in Tokyo
Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo
Snack food manufacturers of Japan
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