Who owns Hon-Dashi?
Hon-Dashi is owned by Ajinomoto (Japan, TSE: 2802).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Integrated Report 2025, 30 September 2025. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Ajinomoto Co., Inc. reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇯🇵 Japan, Tokyo
- Origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- Founded
- 1970
- Category
- Food › Condiments, sauces & seasonings › Spices & seasonings
- Parent ticker
- TSE: 2802
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Hon-Dashi
Hon-Dashi is a granulated bonito stock launched in 1970 that replaced the laborious preparation of dashi from kelp and dried fish in most Japanese home kitchens. It is one of the most widely used seasonings in Japan. Ajinomoto makes it, and its introduction changed everyday Japanese cooking more than almost any other packaged product.
Ownership timeline of Hon-Dashi
Where Hon-Dashi sits in Ajinomoto
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Ajinomoto ownership tree →
See the full Ajinomoto brand portfolio (4) →
Other brands owned by Ajinomoto
Ajinomoto controls 4 brands on Brandtree, 3 of them in food.
Also in food
Founded in the 1970s
- Blendy (1977)
Other brands in spices & seasonings, and who owns them
The 44 brands in spices & seasonings on Brandtree belong to 29 owners. The largest is Patisen, with 5; Ajinomoto has 2.
About the owner: Ajinomoto
Ajinomoto is a publicly listed company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1909. Brandtree records 4 brands under its control, and it is listed as TSE: 2802.
Ajinomoto was founded in 1909 to sell monosodium glutamate, isolated two years earlier by a Tokyo chemist who had identified umami as a distinct basic taste while investigating why kelp broth tasted savoury. The company is now a large food and amino acid business and a significant supplier to the pharmaceutical industry.
🇯🇵 Hon-Dashi and other Japanese brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 448 brands that began in Japan. 22 of them (5%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Hon-Dashi is not one of them.
- Almond Koka — Glico 🇯🇵
- Amuleia — Nisshin Seifun 🇯🇵
- Aohata — Kewpie 🇯🇵
- C1000 — House Foods 🇯🇵
- Calbee Potato Chips — Calbee 🇯🇵
- Calorie Mate — Otsuka 🇯🇵
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Hon-Dashi?
The parent company of Hon-Dashi is Ajinomoto, a publicly listed company headquartered in Japan.
Is Hon-Dashi Japanese?
Yes. Hon-Dashi originated in Japan in 1970 and its owner, Ajinomoto, is also headquartered in Japan.
Is Hon-Dashi still owned by Ajinomoto?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Hon-Dashi is still owned by Ajinomoto. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Integrated Report 2025 — Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Annual report, published 30 September 2025; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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