Ajinomoto Co., Inc. is a Japanese food and amino acid science company with its head office in Chuo-ku, Tokyo. It was founded on 20 May 1909 and traces its origins to Dr. Kikunae Ikeda’s discovery of umami in 1908, which was soon followed by AJI-NO-MOTO. Shigeo Nakamura is President and Chief Executive Officer.
The company reports three main segments, Seasonings and Foods, Frozen Foods, and Healthcare and Others, and says it has 126 production plants. Its brands include AJI-NO-MOTO, HONDASHI, Masako, RosDee and the frozen food brands LingLing and TAI PEI. In India it lists Ajinomoto India Private Limited, a seasoning manufacturer in the Chennai area. Its global network page does not list a UK company.
Ajinomoto ranks 72nd in Food Engineering’s 2026 Top 100 Food and Beverage Companies, which puts its food sales at $7,830 million (¥1,227,234 million) for the year to March 2026.