■Business description
1. Lifestyle-related businesses
Mitsui Matsushima Holdings ＜1518＞ is actively promoting the development and strengthening of new businesses in order to stabilize and diversify its profit base. From the first quarter of the fiscal year ending 2024/3, lifestyle-related businesses have been consolidated into 2 fields: the consumer goods field and the industrial product field. Nippon Straw, Meiko & Co., Ltd., KMT, Systec Kyowa, and MOS belong to the consumer goods sector. CST, Sansei Electronics (including Saunders & Associates as subsidiaries), Nippon Katan, Plus One Techno, and Japan Chain Holdings belong to the industrial product field. Furthermore, for Hanabishi, which previously belonged to the consumer goods sector, 66% of its share interest was transferred to Yoshimura Co., Ltd. While continuing to hold 34% of the shares, the policy is to support Hanabishi's further growth and increase in corporate value by utilizing the business and capital alliance with Yoshimura in the future.
Consumer goods sector
(1) Japan Straws
Nippon Straw, which acquired shares in 2014/2, manufactures and sells expandable straws, etc. to major dairy industries and beverage manufacturers, etc., and also purchases and sells food and drink materials, starting with plastic products and packaging materials.
Since developing expandable straws in 1983, Nippon Straw has accumulated unique technology and know-how as a pioneer in the industry, and has established a position as a leading domestic straw company. The domestic expandable straw market share ranks first. We have built a stable transaction base based on high trust and evaluation from excellent customers such as major dairy and beverage manufacturers, and have achieved stable performance.
Marine biodegradable plastic expandable straws were commercialized in 2021 (the world's first). The “Act on Promotion of Resource Recycling, etc. relating to Plastics” came into effect in 2022/4, and the transition to environmentally friendly material straws (biomass plastics, marine biodegradable plastics are mainstream) is accelerating, and sales destinations and applications are expanding, such as sales to convenience stores and use in smoothie beverages. Nippon Straws, which has an excellent customer base, will continue to focus on further increasing market share and increasing unit price/profitability by utilizing its technological superiority while promoting switching from existing plastic straws.
The outlook for the market environment is good. According to the “Reiwa 5 Consumer Life Attitudes Survey” conducted by the Consumer Affairs Agency, awareness about ethical consumption* has risen from 12.2% in the first year of Reiwa to 29.4%. Also, after explaining ethical consumption, when asked about the degree of interest, the percentage that answered “I am very interested” or “I am interested to some extent” was 46.1%. As consumer interest and concern about ethical consumption increases, we see that demand for environmentally friendly material straws will also be strong.
※ Each consumer should consider solutions to their own social issues, and carry out consumption activities while supporting businesses that tackle such issues.
(2) Meiko Shokai
Meiko Shokai, which acquired shares in 2019/4, manufactures, sells, and maintains office equipment centered on shredders. Since the manufacture and sale of the first shredder in Japan began in 1960, it has accumulated unique technology and know-how and established a position as a leading shredder company. The market share of domestic office shredders is number one. Typical products include the “MS Shredder,” which has a rich lineup according to the application, and the “MS Voice Call NEO,” an automatic reception guidance system that realizes 3-secret measures with a web function. Also, the fact that our sales and service bases cover the whole of Japan is an advantage.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications's “Reiwa 2nd Edition Information and Communication White Paper,” it can be seen that awareness of information security is growing even from the fact that the ratio of Japanese companies responding “ensuring the security of the data to be collected” as the most important point when collecting personal data is increasing (28.7% in 2020 compared to 15.7% in 2017). Meiko Shokai also has the smallest shredder in the world, with a shredding size of 10 square millimeters or less, and it can be said that they are compatible with recent security measures.
(3) KMT
KMT, which acquired shares in April 2020, plans and sells high-quality premium pet food based on preventive medicine. Using human-grade raw materials, we are developing products that take pet health into consideration, such as not using additives, colorants, or by-products. It has received high support from pet breeders and animal hospitals all over the country, and has strong brand power and a high market share in the high-quality health premium pet food market.
As for the market environment, we expect it to remain steady. The amount spent on pet food by households with 2 or more people decreased slightly from the previous year to 7,787 yen (375 yen decrease) in 2021 due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (hereinafter, COVID-19), but it returned to an upward trend in 2022, and increased significantly to 9,795 yen in 2023, an 11.2% increase from the previous year. Also, although the sales value of pets and pet supplies at home centers declined from the previous year in 2022, it has remained stable, with an increase in 2023.
(Written by FISCO Visiting Analyst Yoichiro Shimizu)