As one of the Niigata University 75th anniversary commemorative events, Special Lecture hosted by Sakeology Center was held at Niigata Shimin Plaza on October 18, 2024.
At this lecture, Ms. ONO Makiko, who became the President & Chief Executive Officer of Suntory Beverage & Food Limited in March 2023, gave a lecture entitled “Sustainability Initiatives as a Global Beverage Company.”

To begin the lecture, USHIKI Tatsuo, M.D., Ph.D., President of Niigata University, gave a greeting.
He gave a background of this lecture, the initiatives of the Sakeology Center, and a brief history of Niigata University, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

USHIKI Tatsuo, M.D., Ph.D., President of Niigata University

The organizer, SUEYOSHI Kuni, Ph.D., Director of Sakeology Center, introduced Ms. Ono’s career, and then Ms. Ono gave a lecture.

Ms. Ono first introduced the history and the product portfolio of the Suntory Group, as well as the business overview and the corporate philosophy of Suntory Beverage & Food Limited. She then introduced the company’s sustainability initiatives, one of its management strategies and the theme of this lecture.
In particular, she introduced the initiatives for water source conservation activities, educational activities, conversion to biomass fuels, and decarbonization of manufacturing processes, with emphasis on “biodiversity,” “circular economy,” and “climate change measures.”
As specific examples of the initiatives, she explained the water source conservation activities in “Suntory Natural Water Sanctuary” and “Mizuiku (water education)” activities; and promotion of horizontal recycling of PET bottles (recycling used PET bottles into new PET bottles), as well as the importance of such initiatives.

Ms. ONO Makiko, President & Chief Executive Officer of Suntory Beverage & Food Limited

Lecture in Japanese with English subtitles

There was a Q&A session after the lecture, and many questions were asked to Ms. Ono from the audience. It was a time to further deepen the learning from the lecture.

Q&A session

The lecture was given in a hybrid format with English subtitles and was attended by many people from inside and outside of Niigata (including from overseas).