昔昔物流企業で働いていたときには食品業界の人と話すことがよくありました。しかし英語塾の先生になってからはとんとご無沙汰。
今回縁あって、食品業界に勤めるジーナさんと言う人とオンライントーク。
さてどんな内容になるやら。
Toshi
I understand that you work at the food processing company.
Gina
Yes, I do.
Toshi
In fact, this is the first time for me to meet someone with that business background.
My head is filled with questions.
Gina
Please go ahead.
Toshi
What kind of food does your company deal in?
Gina
We have two lines – producing flavor seasonings and meat processing.
Toshi
Really? That’s amazing.
Which department are you a member of?
Gina
Food seasonings. I really like the job.
Toshi
Who are your main customers?
Gina
We supply to various food manufacturers such as instant noodles, snacks, and the like.
Toshi
So your products are mainly spices and sauces?
Gina
That’s right.
Toshi
What got you interested in that field of business?
Gina
I majored in chemistry way back in my college days. So I wanted to use my knowledge as a chemical engineer.
Toshi
Were you able to do utilize your knowledge when you entered the current company?
Gina
Yes, in some ways. We do have a lot of laboratory works. During testing of the products, we used some equipments. Um, testing the products before releasing to our clients. I did apply what I’ve learned back from the University.
Toshi
We have five basic flavors like sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy.
Gina
Spice is not counted because it is not a basic flavor.
Toshi
Oh really? I didn’t know that.
Do you think there is anything else that exists other than these basic flavors?
Gina
We do have the term Umami.
Toshi
Umami? Sounds like a Japanese word.
Gina
It is. Actually it is often described as the 5th taste in addition to the 4 tastes you mentioned earlier Toshi-san.
Toshi
So you’re working hard every day and night in the laboratory to make a very tasty seasoning. My next question is where you get raw materials from. Domestic or overseas?
Gina
China, India and Japan. We import raw materials from there and blend them into finished products.
Toshi
Thank you for that. And finally, is there anything that you are putting your energy into?
Gina
We are thinking of widening our target market to Muslim customers.
We know that when they are buying something at a supermarket, they always check halal certificate on the package. So we would like to get one on our products.
Toshi
I heard about it. Halal certificate is given only to those products made in accordance with Islamic rules. And more restaurants in Japan are trying to get it to attract tourists from Muslim countries.
Anyway that was a very interesting discussion. Thank you for being with me, Gina