T. HASEGAWA CO., LTD. announced as follows that it has entered into a capital and business alliance agreement with DAIZ Inc. (headquartered in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture; President and Representative Director: Tsuyoshi Ide; hereinafter referred to as "DAIZ"), a start-up company engaged in the development, manufacturing and sales of plant-based meat. Since its founding in 1903, T. HASEGAWA CO., LTD. has been engaged in the research, development, production, and sales of flavors, fragrances and aromatic chemicals as a comprehensive flavor and fragrance manufacturer with the declared commitment to building on a solid foundation of technology. By leveraging its expertise in flavors and fragrances accumulated over the past 118 years, the company aims to contribute to the realization of rich and healthy lifestyles and to the building of a sustainable society by resolving social issues. Under the slogan of "Going Global with Plant-based Meat," DAIZ is developing germinated soybean-derived plant meat (Miracle Meat) on the strength of its core technology, the "Ochiai germination method," in response to the expected arrival of a protein crisis in 2030, when the supply of protein will not be able to keep pace with demand due to global population growth. T. HASEGAWA CO., LTD. expects the plant-based meat market to continue to grow in the future from the perspective of avoiding the depletion of food materials and reducing environmental impact. Therefore, T. HASEGAWA CO., LTD. has concluded a capital and business alliance agreement with DAIZ, believing that it can provide new value to the plant-based meat market and contribute to resolving the social issue of the protein crisis by adding taste to the plant-based meat developed by DAIZ through a combination of its proprietary flavoring and food ingredient technologies.