OREANDA-NEWS. August 20, 2012. ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”), non-profit organization TABLE FOR TWO International (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahisa Kogure, Director; hereinafter TFT), and euglena Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; Mitsuru Izumo, President; hereinafter Euglena Co.) announced today that they will offer Green Curry, which contains the Ishigaki-produced Euglena, for a limited time as a TFT menu item at the ITOCHU employee cafeteria. This is the first time the Ishigaki-produced Euglena will be incorporated into a TFT menu and also the first time a menu item containing the Ishigaki-produced Euglena will be offered at an employee cafeteria. The Ishigaki-produced Euglena refers to the powdered form of microalgae euglena (Japanese name: Midori Mushi) that Euglena Co. produces on Ishigaki Island. Euglena belongs to the same species as seaweed and kelp, and has characteristics of both plants and animals. It possesses an abundance of 59 nutrients, including vitamins, minerals and DHA, and is gaining attention as an ingredient that could compensate for the lack of nutrition in the diet today. The advantage of this food product is that it is possible to absorb a great amount of nutrients at once during this season when fatigue from the summer heat could curb one’s appetite. TABLE FOR TWO is based on the concept of people in industrialized countries sharing a meal with children in developing nations. Ordering a meal at an employee cafeteria, etc., from a TFT Healthy Menu*1 , which contains fewer calories than regular meals, is equal to buying a gift of one school lunch (worth 20 yen) for a child in Africa. The fewer calories consumed are to be translated into extra calories for children who are suffering from starvation, making it a program that makes sharing a meal possible beyond the concept of time and space. As one of ITOCHU’s employees was a supporter of TFT at the time of its establishment, ITOCHU was the first corporation to introduce the program to its employee cafeteria in 2007. To date, ITOCHU has donated around 3 million yen*2 to school lunch projects in developing countries. Having noticed Euglena Co.’s prospects for the future ahead of the pack, ITOCHU invested in the company in 2008 and has been exploring supply routes for euglena as a food. Meanwhile, the fundamental concept behind establishing Euglena Co. stems from the founder Mitsuru Izumo’s (current president) realization for a need to resolve food and nutrition-related problems around the world during his travels to newly developing countries while he was a student. The latest endeavor is a product of Euglena Co.’s founding principle of simultaneously resolving the two problems of gluttony and starvation and TFT’s aim to contribute to society. And this was realized in the employee cafeteria at ITOCHU, which has had a capital and business tie-up with TFT and was the first corporation to adopt the TFT program. Going forward, ITOCHU and Euglena Co. will propose food and prepared meal manufacturers to develop menus using Ishigaki-produced Euglena based on feedback they receive in the employee cafeteria. The two companies will also aim to develop commercial products to be used in cafeterias nationwide that adopt the TFT program as well as promote the development of new products.