Support for the Next Generation Development

Holding "Lemon Classes"

POKKA SAPPORO Food & Beverage's lemon product business aims to contribute to people's healthy and enriched dietary life and delivers on-site classes about lemons so that children can have fun and increase their interest in food. Research has shown that citric acid, which is abundant in lemons, has a “chelating effect” that makes calcium easier to absorb into the body, and that regularly taking lemons can help reduce physical fatigue. The class program incorporates experiments and quizzes to learn about healthy values of lemons, which are recommended for children in their growing period, while having fun at the same time. The program also introduces children to the history and food culture of lemons, which they may not be familiar with, thereby broadening their knowledge of food.
POKKA SAPPORO Food & Beverage began full-fledged delivery of the classes in 2022 and conducted them at more than 100 schools during 2023. In a post-survey of teachers and school staff, the program received high ratings in terms of satisfaction, ease of understanding, and other factors.
The nutrition education activities of Lemon Classes were first recognized as a “Nutrition Education Promoting Company/Organization” in 2023 by the Japan Society for Nutrition Education and have been recognized for two consecutive years (as of 2024).

Elementary School Outreach Classes

Holding “Space Classes”

To explore the possibilities of food in space, a research on space has been conducted since 2006 by Associate Professor Sugimoto of the Institute of Plant Science and Resources Laboratory, Okayama University.
In the course of this research, seeds of the “Haruna Nijo” barley variety developed by Sapporo Breweries returned to Earth after a five-month stay on the International Space Station, becoming the “space-traveling barley."
With the cooperation of Associate Professor Sugimoto, Sapporo Breweries has held a hands-on event “Space Classes” utilizing the offspring of “space-traveling barley” twice every year since 2008, at the development test field of Raw Material Development Laboratory in Ota City, Gunma Prefecture. Participants, including local elementary school children and their parents, sow the barley seeds in autumn and crop the harvested seeds next spring.
At the event, participants experienced barley roasting. In spring 2024, they also painted pictures of natural plants and flowers with the assistance of NPO Gunma Green Interpreter Society during the nature observation workshop (nature game) in the barley field.
We want to deepen children's interest in science and space through these experiences and hope that a future scientist or astronaut will emerge from the children who participated in the event. We will continue our activities to nurture children's dreams for space.

Support for the development of aquaculture feed for sea bream that takes marine conservation into consideration

Since July 2022, the Product Technology Innovation Department (located in the Shizuoka Plant) has been providing malt feed to Shizuoka Prefectural Yaizu Fisheries High School for their research on raising cultured sea bream with sustainable feed that takes marine conservation into consideration, which is partially made from malt feed (beer lees) from the beer production process. Natural anchovy resources, the main raw material for aquaculture feed, have been decreasing in recent years, which has a significant impact on other marine organisms, while the consumption of marine products has increased dramatically worldwide, making the sustainable use of marine resources in the future a difficult situation. In order to protect the marine environment, it is hoped that aquaculture, which accounts for half of the marine products produced in the world, can be made sustainable and that raw materials can be developed to replace natural fish. The results of this study show that cultured red sea bream fed with this feed has a flavor quality that is comparable to that of ordinary cultured red sea bream, expanding the possibility of using it as a feed for marine products. We will continue to cooperate with the school to develop a more sustainable aquaculture industry. The research is scheduled to be presented at the Japan Society of Fisheries Science Spring Meeting for High School Students to be held on March 30.

Providing opportunities for workplace experience and internship

To help nurture children who will carry the next-generation, the Sapporo Group provides workplace experience opportunities to junior high school students and internships to high school and college students. Sapporo Lion provides an environment for deepening thoughts on the importance of work and the connection with the future society through experiential work.

Conducting traffic safety activities

Since 2017, Sapporo Group Logistics has invited children and teachers from local kindergartens to its traffic safety classes, with the goal of creating a safe society in which children can live happily. In 2019, Hokkaido Branch (Eniwa City, Hokkaido), Shizuoka Branch (Yaizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture), and Kyushu Branch (Hita City, Oita Prefecture) worked together with the company’s logistics partners to hold traffic safety classes taught by instructors from local traffic safety associations. Children learned how to correctly cross the road at traffic lights and how to walk on the roads, rode trucks and forklifts, and experienced blind spots as seen by truck drivers.
Sapporo Group Logistics also works together with local communities to carry out activities aimed at increasing public awareness of traffic safety. These include standing by the roadside and waving flags urging drivers to drive safely, and participating in truck parades hosted by local traffic safety associations.

Holding sports promotion events for children

Sapporo Breweries, in collaboration with JAL (Japan Airlines) and the Hokkaido Shimbun Press, has been holding the “Junior Sports Challenge!”, an event to familiarize children in Hokkaido with sports. By holding training sessions for children by professional athletes, the company will work to solve issues such as improving the physical fitness and athletic ability of children and revitalizing local communities in Hokkaido.