History

The establishment of “Ajinomoto Foundation”

As Ajinomoto (Thailand) Co., Ltd. became increasingly successful and profitable, the company continuously engaged with various social responsibility activities and charities participation. Later on, a Thai person recommended the company to establish a foundation, in which both the Tokyo and the Thai Ajinomoto offices agreed. At that time, Thai law allowed establishment of a foundation, and hence “Ajinomoto Foundation” was established on 9th July 1976, with the first funding of 2 million Thai Baht from Ajinomoto (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

Later on, the Japanese headquarter donated fund for the Ajinomoto Foundation to purchase 40,000 shares, valuing 6,800,000 Baht. The Ajinomoto Foundation was honored to have the Police General Pichai Kulavanit as the President of the foundation, as well as, to have Thailand’s ex-prime minister and many other honorary guests to become the Board of Directors, totaling 12 members.

Donate school uniforms, educational equipment, sports equipment and school hygiene supplies

The Ajinomoto Foundation’s Board of Directors believed that elementary school was the foundation of education where the majority of elementary school students in Thailand were from lower-income families, especially in rural areas and other provinces. As a result, Ajinomoto foundation started a project to donate school uniforms, educational equipment, sports, and other school supplies to underprivileged students in elementary schools around the country. The program started from 1976 till 1985, helping a total of 1,509 schools, 175,024 students and 12,820,953.54 Baht.

Initiated “Lunch Program”

On top of the donations to educational supplies and students’ uniforms, the Board of Director realized that the majority of students did not have adequate lunch. This led to malnutrition and slow developments in physical, mental, emotional, and other intelligent quotients. This had a negative impact to the Thai economy and society. As a result, the Board of Directors decided to start the “Lunch Program” in 1981, where the Ajinomoto Foundation donated 20,000 Baht each to five schools to pilot “Lunch Program.” The schools invested the fund in agriculture, reinforcing with the education curriculum, and harvested the outputs as ingredients to make lunch for students. The result exceeded expectation so the Ajinomoto Foundation continued this program.

The Ajinomoto Foundation increased their donations to the “Lunch Program,” which was in line with the Ministry of Education’s mission to promote “Lunch Program” to all elementary schools in Thailand, with the goal to complete before 5th December 1987 to celebrate 60th birthday for His Majesty the King Rama 9. The slogan for the king’s birthday was “Celebrating the King’s 60th Birthday with No More Hunger for Elementary Students.” In addition, the “Lunch Program” also fulfilled the Third National Development Plan (1982-1987), which clearly indicated lunch support for students throughout the country.

Present: Scholarships to Higher-level Education

To celebrate 25th anniversary for Ajinomoto (Thailand) in 1985, the company donated 250,000 Baht to the Ajinomoto Foundation for students to study higher-level education in several fields including nutrition study, food science, and home economics. Students who received scholarships had talents and good academic performances but unfortunately lacked the fund for higher education in universities, vocational educations, and technical colleges. The Ajinomoto Foundation provided 10,000 Baht for each student. This program became popular with increasing number of students applying for scholarships. As a result, the Ajinomoto Foundation increased the number of scholarships to fulfill the needs. As of today, there has been more than 300 students who have received scholarships under the program called “Help Student to Graduate Scholarship.”

In 1991, the Ajinomoto Foundation partnered with the Thai Society for Biotechnology to award outstanding researchers in the field of biotechnology. The objective was to promote and support researchers to continuously develop researches and applications to advance Thailand’s industry and society further. This program also highlights and honors the researchers who have dedicated themselves to become role model and to promote valuable researches to the public.

Ajinomoto Foundation started the program “50 Years 50 Schools

In 2010, the Ajinomoto Foundation started the program “50 Years 50 Schools” to celebrate 50th Year Anniversary for Ajinomoto (Thailand) with the objective to support canteen construction to schools that were in need. This program was a joint 5-year initiative (2010-2015) between the Ajinomoto Foundation and the Ministry of Education.

From Heart to Heart to Fight Coldness

The project “From the Heart to Heart to Fight Coldness” is another project to help victims of natural disasters in various aspects. The Ajinomoto Foundation has been a continuous support of this cause. Each year, natural disasters occur in Thailand and winter is another natural disaster that occurs every year. As a result, children in the affected area suffer from cold weather. Hence, Ajinomoto Foundation continuously donates winter clothing, such as blankets, sweaters, etc. to the victims of cold weather in various areas throughout the country from 2009 until present, under the project “From the Heart to Heart to Fight Coldness.” This was done in collaboration with various agencies, including, the Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC) Ministry of Education, TV channels, and so on.

Regarding this project, Ajinomoto Foundation hopes that the donation of winter clothing will help to alleviate the cold and keep the people warm. The Foundation is still committed to continuing this project every year because we believe that by helping other people, we can help to alleviate their struggles.

AJI Volunteer

Aji Volunteer Project is one of the projects of the Ajinomoto Foundation initiated to enable employees in the organization to participate in social causes and to be a giver to the society. This is achieved by taking employee volunteers to join trips e.g. to help the flood victims and to organize activities in various aspects for social purposes with Ajinomoto Foundation. This is to help underprivileged people, focusing on education, school, and communities that need help. Activities that have been organized include making lunches for children, recreational activities, sports management, and education in various fields

In 2010, the Ajinomoto Foundation cooperated with the Ministry of Public Health in the development of the Public Health Service Center, which was the smallest public health agency, located in very rural villages to help support the villages to receive public health services promptly and conveniently.

In 2010, the Ajinomoto Foundation cooperated with Ajinomoto Japan Scholarship Foundation to provide scholarships to students under the program called “Ajinomoto Scholarship for ASEAN International Students.” This program was established in 2010 and was a non-binding scholarship for students to study in Tokyo University.

In 2011, the Ajinomoto Foundation started the initiative “Student Volunteer Camp with Smile by Ajinomoto Foundation” to fund university students’ volunteer activities that support the building of school facilities in needed areas. This program to fund school building activities, in fact, started prior 2011, but the program was officially announced later and it is still an on-going program today.