Ajinomoto

is a Japanese multinational food and biotechnology corporation which produces seasonings, interlayer insulating materials for semiconductor packages for use in personal computers, cooking oils, frozen foods, beverages, sweeteners, amino acids, and pharmaceuticals. "essence of taste" is the trade name for the company's original monosodium glutamate (MSG) product, the first of its kind, since 1909. The corporation's head office is located in Chūō, Tokyo. Ajinomoto operates in 36 countries and employs an estimated 34,198 people. Its yearly revenue in 2022 is around ¥1.36 trillion JPY or $10 billion USD. Ajinomoto Co., Inc. was created in 1908 as a subsidiary of Suzuki Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., which was founded in May 1907 by Saburosuke Suzuki II and Kikunae Ikeda. Ajinomoto was created to let Ikeda, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University, sell monosodium glutamate (MSG) seasoning made from wheat that he invented and patented. He created the seasoning after discovering that MSG was the source of a flavor that he called umami. In April 1909, Ajinomoto presented Ikeda's seasoning under the brand name "AJI-NO-MOTO" at a new product exhibition event in Tokyo, and began selling the product the next month. Ajinomoto primarily marketed the seasoning to housewives by using their trademark, a housewife in an apron, in newspaper advertisements, on signboards, and on-ground stamps. Output gradually increased from 4.7 tons in 1910 to 23.3 tons in 1913, with sales reaching 400,000 yen. In 1914 Ajinomoto built a new factory in Kawasaki to expand its production of flavoring. Japan's improved economy after World War I resulted in output hitting 84.6 tons and sales reaching 1,563,000 yen in 1918. Despite rising sales, Ajinomoto experienced a deficit during its first ten years due to altering its methods of production and lowering its prices to get its product into ordinary households, among other reasons. Because of rising Japanese exports after World War I, Ajinomoto opened offices in New York and Shanghai in 1917 and 1918, respectively.