11 Food & Beverage Companies Form 'FOOD CAREER HOKKAIDO' Alliance to Support the Future of Hokkaido

Launch of FOOD CAREER HOKKAIDO

Eleven companies—Calbee Potato, Calbee, Sapporo Breweries, Shinseien, Nippon Beet Sugar Manufacturing, Nippon Ham, Nippon White Farm, Nippon Food Packer, Hokuren Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives, Megmilk Snow Brand, and Yotsuba Milk Products (in no particular order)—have teamed up to launch the FOOD CAREER HOKKAIDO alliance.

Faced with population decline and labor shortages, the alliance aims to convey the appeal and social significance of jobs that support the 'food' industry to the next generation, and to promote joint recruitment and talent development initiatives.

### Background of Establishment

Hokkaido, with its abundant nature and vast land, plays a major role as a food supply region, producing essential items for tables everywhere. However, Japan's food self-sufficiency rate remains low at 38%, making its maintenance and improvement a national challenge. Furthermore, in Hokkaido, the exodus of the younger generation has led to a severe labor shortage across the entire food industry.

In response, companies and organizations based in Hokkaido, deeply involved in the 'food' scene from raw material procurement to production and manufacturing, agreed that it is necessary to go beyond individual corporate boundaries to face these shared challenges and take concrete action.

As a first step, the alliance has decided to begin recruitment activities targeting high school, university, and vocational school students nationwide.

### Planned Recruitment Activities

* Conducting joint briefing sessions to convey the appeal of working in Hokkaido (for high school, university, and general applicants). * Developing career lessons by participating companies and organizations for high school students outside of Hokkaido. * Strengthening the recruitment of technical personnel essential for supporting the food and agriculture sectors.

*Participation in each measure is planned according to the judgment and circumstances of each participating company or organization, and not all participating companies or organizations will participate in all measures uniformly.