Who We Are
Behind
TREHA®︎ is a high purity trehalose – a naturally occurring, not-very-sweet sugar that preserves freshness, enhances flavor and improves texture.
Though it was first discovered in 1832 and is present all around us in large quantities, trehalose wasn’t able to be mass-produced until advances in food technology led the Hayashibara Co., Ltd. (Nagase Viita Co., Ltd. at present) in Okayama, Japan to develop a production method for obtaining trehalose from starch.
Nagase Viita joined the NAGASE Group in 2012. NAGASE & CO., LTD., the core company of the Group, is a technology & intelligence-oriented company which traces its history back to 1832, the very same year when trehalose was scientifically identified, and currently comprises more than 100 member companies in 20 country worldwide.
In 1832, NAGASE & CO., LTD. is founded as a dyestuffs wholesaler that handled safflower, 'funori' seaweed and starches in Kyoto, Japan. Its focus became international by 1900, when it cannily started importing dyes from abroad. It has developed a business as the agent for a variety of top-quality products from around the world and become a general trading company, holding the exclusive rights to import and sell these products in Japan.
Over the years, NAGASE & CO., LTD. has created a strong and growing foundation and successfully transformed the structure of its business by utilizing its specialized technical skills, expertise of market knowledge, information gathering capabilities and international network to enhance its manufacturing, processing, and research and development capabilities. It has now developed into NAGASE Group, a global network of companies active in a wide range of business fields with numerous locations all over the world.
NAGASE Group’s business is divided into five segments: the Functional Materials Segment, the Advanced Materials and Processing Segment, the Electronics Segment, the Mobility and Energy Segment, and the Life and Healthcare Segment. Hayashibara Co., Ltd. (Nagase Viita Co., Ltd. at present) joined NAGASE Group’s Life and Healthcare Segment in 2012 and Prinova Group in 2019, further strengthening its focus on the food and beverage field.
Our business unit, Nagase Food Ingredients, is dedicated to the food and beverage field. It embraces food manufacturing subsidiaries such as Nagase Viita Co., Ltd., and Prinova Group. Its sales subsidiaries, encompassing Prinova Group in North America and Europe as well as a number of companies in China and Southeast Asia, form a strong global network.
We, Nagase Food Ingredients, utilize the production and research capabilities of NAGASE Group, as well as our strong global network, to provide superior food ingredients such as TREHA®︎ to a broad range of users as manufacturers. We also function as a trading company to provide food ingredient business services and solutions suited to the needs of each of our customers.
