Supply Chain

Suntory Doubling Down on Regenerative Ag Efforts

Supply chain pilots include upcycling agricultural byproducts, improving yield efficiency and boosting crop disease resistance through regenerative practices.

Published 5 days ago | About a 7 minute read

Image: A green tea plantation | Jaboo2foto

Beverage and spirits giant Suntory Group has recently launched two partnerships aimed at increasing the sustainability and resilience of its agricultural value chains.

Upcycling agricultural by-products into high-performance biochar

biochar Image credit: Towing

First, Suntory and Japanese agritech startup Towing Co. have launched a joint pilot program to explore the potential of high-performance biochar — produced from manufacturing byproducts in Suntory Group’s supply chain — to both reduce manufacturing waste and boost crop yields, compared to the use of conventional organic fertilizers.

Led by Suntory Global Innovation Center, the program has the potential to enhance regenerative agriculture outcomes by improving the efficiency of organic fertilizers and providing another resource-recycling model for previously unused biomass resources. Suntory Holdings has also invested in Towing to strengthen their strategic partnership.

“We are truly delighted to be able to collaborate with Suntory Holdings on solving the supply chain challenges,” says Towing co-founder and CEO Kohei Nishida. “Suntory Group operates a wide range of businesses both in Japan and overseas. They are not only focused on addressing supply chain issues, but also actively committed to realizing sustainable agriculture and food systems — an area we also uphold as part of our mission. Their dedication to being a key player who takes real action exemplifies a sincere approach to tackling global issues. We hope that this pilot program will serve as a starting point for global project development — and that we can contribute, even in a small way, to advancing Suntory Group's vision.”

The pilot program has two key objectives:

Upcycling manufacturing byproducts into ingredients for high-performance biochar

Agricultural waste is said to account for approximately one-fifth of Japan’s total industrial waste each year. Much of this waste is incinerated or landfilled — wasting valuable resources and increasing harmful emissions.

In this pilot, a biochar was produced by carbonizing beverage residues — in this case, used green tea leaves — from Suntory Group’s manufacturing processes. This was then combined with Towing’s multifunctional microbial groups — which accelerate the decomposition of organic fertilizers — to create Towing’s Soratan high-performance biochar.

According to Towing’s website, while conventional biochar is a highly beneficial soil amendment, it is also highly alkaline — which limits the amount that can be safely applied to soil. In contrast, Soratan’s acidity is close to neutral — so, no matter how much is applied, plants’ preferred soil acidity level can be maintained.

Going forward, the two companies plan to produce high-performance biochar from other manufacturing byproducts generated within Suntory’s supply chain, thereby expanding and promoting upcycling.

Using regenerative ag to improve crop efficiency and reduce agricultural GHG emissions

According to the FAO, agriculture and forestry account for approximately 13 percent of global GHG emissions — with chemical fertilizers, which require large amounts of fossil-derived raw materials to produce, a significant contributor. While the use of organic fertilizers in regenerative agriculture is said to reduce GHG emissions by decreasing the use of chemicals, it faces challenges of low fertilizer efficiency and reduced yields compared to that of conventional chemical fertilizers.

The use of high-performance biochar together with organic fertilizers on agricultural land is expected to improve fertilizer efficiency — leading to improved crop quality and yield — and reduce GHG emissions by eliminating chemical fertilizers.

In this pilot program, the two companies plan to study and compare the effects of conventional organic fertilizers with organic fertilizers treated with high-performance biochar at a contract farm where Suntory sources its tea plants. The first harvest of crops grown in soil treated with high-performance biochar has already been completed — results show the same crop quality with an improved yield, compared to the use of conventional organic fertilizers. Based on these outcomes, Suntory and Towing will continue the pilot to verify the effects of high-performance biochar and other various conditions necessary to improve crop efficiency. The goal is to establish regenerative growing methods that can achieve the same yield rate as conventional farming methods.

“Suntory Group aims to achieve net-zero GHG emissions across our entire value chain by 2050, as outlined in our Environmental Vision toward 2050,” explains Masaaki Fujiwara, Chief Sustainability Officer at Suntory Holdings. “To achieve this goal, we are continually testing various methods and technologies such as regenerative agriculture; and we see high-performance biochar as a new technology that can contribute to achieving this vision. We are collaborating with Towing to explore the utilization of high-performance biochar technology towards our common goal of carbon neutrality.”

Suntory Group estimates that agricultural raw ingredients constitute approximately 20 percent of the total GHG emissions across its entire value chain, so it has long supported regenerative agriculture as one way to reduce these emissions. The group collaborates with suppliers and contract farmers to transition to farming practices such as cover cropping, organic fertilization and no-till farming. Notable projects include barley cultivation in the UK (2022), sugarcane cultivation in Thailand (2024), and corn and wheat production in Kentucky (2024).

Increasing resilience of sweet potato crops

sweet potatoes, Suntory Osumi
shochu Sweet potatoes | Image credit: Ramina J / Suntory’s Osumi shochu | Image credit: Omotenashi Selection

Meanwhile, Suntory Holdings and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) began collaborating with sweet potato producers in Japan’s Kagoshima Prefecture in May to fight disease and increase and stabilize yields using regenerative practices.

Resilience against disease and climate change

Foot rot has caused a significant decline in sweet potato yields in Japan. According to Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, sweet potato yields have decreased by approximately 10 percent since the disease began spreading in the country in 2018.

Sweet potatoes are a key ingredient in several of Suntory’s shochu brands — including Kuromaru, Nanko and Osumi. Based on the hypothesis that restoring soil health can help prevent disease, the TUAT collaboration aims to foster both disease- and climate-resilient agriculture by:

integrating ‘green manure’ and biochar into sweet potato fields and test its effectiveness on disease resistance
The use of green manure and biochar is also expected to reduce chemical fertilizer use by roughly 50 percent, compared to conventional farming methods — leading to a potential GHG emissions reduction of over 30 percent.

Brian Golden, Senior General Manager of Global Supply Solutions at Suntory Holdings, asserts: “This program represents an exciting step towards a sustainable future for Japanese farming.”

The pilot will run for three years, concluding at the end of 2027. Its goals are to reduce disease, recover and stabilize sweet potato yields to pre-foot rot levels, and establish regenerative agriculture practices tailored to Japan’s unique climate and soil characteristics. Suntory will supply key materials, including green manure and biochar; TUAT will lead the evaluation of soil conditions, microbial health and disease control efficacy.

“TUAT aims to solve various problems facing the Earth through the wisdom based on cutting-edge research at TUAT, leading to the sustainable prosperity of humanity. As an example, we are conducting joint research with Suntory Holdings with the aim of preventing diseases that are an obstacle to food plant production with a low environmental impact by building a soil microbial flora that is more favorable for plant growth,” says Tsutomu Arie, Trustee for Global Strategies, VP and Chief Operating/
Academic Officer at TUAT. “This kind of regenerative agriculture will not only solve direct issues such as sustainable agricultural production, improving plant yields and ensuring farmers' livelihoods — it will also be a groundbreaking step towards solving broader issues facing Japan, such as food security and environmental sustainability.”