The Church of Visitation Senior Parishioners visited the AJI-NO-MOTO Factory at Enstek on 24.10.2024. We were greeted with a warm welcome by Mr Bay Toh.He explained the beginnings of AJ-NO-MOTO when Professor Kikunae Ikeda from the University of Tokyo discovered the flavour enhancing properties of glutamate in 1908. Since the founding of AJI-NO-MOTO, Umami (the fifth basic taste apart from sweet, sour, salty and bitter) seasoning in 1909, the Ajinomoto Group has diversified into sauce and seasonings, quick nourishment, solution and ingredients, frozen foods, health care and electronic materials. Today Ajinomoto Group's operation span in 36 countries. In 2009 the Ajinomoto Group celebrated the 100th anniversary for the sales of AJI-NO-MOTO Umami Seasoning.
Mr. Bay introduced us to the various products of Ajinomoto. Seasonings, Sport Drinks, Sweetener and Frozen Food. The latest seasoning is "Nasi Goreng Kari".He brought us for a tour of the factory facilities. We were not allowed to take photo at some sections due to security reason. It was an educational tour. We learnt that Ajinomoto seasonings are made from fermented tapioca or sugar cane. We also witnessed some of the processes carried out by the machine operators. The tour took about 45 minutes.
We assembled at the event venue where we participated in a Quiz session. This was followed by a cooking demo. Two of our parishioners prepared meals which were served together with the food prepared by the Ajinomoto personnel. We had lunch before we left for home.
That was an interesting outing for us. We thanked Mr Bai and his colleagues after purchasing the products and headed for Seremban.
