Well Create Co., Ltd.

About Well Create

The vegetables and grains that sustain our dining tables. The very foundation of their production – the soil – now faces significant challenges. In an era before chemical fertilizers existed, Japan's food self-sufficiency rate was nearly 100%. However, today, Japan relies on overseas sources for the raw materials of chemical fertilizers – phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium – resulting in a self-sufficiency rate for these fertilizers that is effectively zero. Consequently, the national food self-sufficiency rate has fallen to 38% (calorie-based). Meanwhile, millions of tons of food waste are generated domestically each year, much of which is processed at enormous cost and energy expenditure.

Well Create Co., Ltd. is tackling this contradiction through an approach centered on “local circulation”. Based in Kitakyushu City, we operate the “MERRY’S SYSTEM Business”, which regenerates food waste not as mere rubbish but as “a resource that enriches local soil”. Our motto is “Supporting food, supporting the community, safeguarding future livelihoods”. Founder Matsuo realized, amidst intensifying competition in equipment sales, that ‘what customers truly seek is not the machinery itself, but the value of eliminating food waste.’ He shifted the business model away from equipment sales towards providing a comprehensive service encompassing operation and recycling – a ‘service-based approach (selling the service)’. This forms the core of Well Create’s current operations.

Courtesy Visit to Mayor Takeuchi:
Food Waste Recycling Model Project

Site Visit of Aeon Cheers Club

What products is your company aiming to expand overseas?

Well Create proposes services that connect ‘food, agriculture, and local communities’ by circulating regional resources.

On-site decomposition and volume reduction of food waste

We provide the “FOURSTARS” food waste fermentation decomposition unit to food factories, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and local authorities (including school meals and public markets). Utilizing a microbial-derived composting accelerator, it decomposes food waste at the point of generation, significantly reducing its volume. This not only prevents spoilage but also cuts collection and transportation costs.

Composting Machine "Four Stars"
installed at Food Wholesaler

Creating a “Circular Economy of Food” with Diverse Partners

The volume-reduced “primary fermentation material” is transported to recycling centers, where it is mixed with fully matured compost and other organic matter to be transformed into organic fertilizer. This compost and fertilizer is supplied to contracted farms, where it nurtures vegetables that eventually return to our tables – this recycling loop is the “MERRY’S SYSTEM” we build with diverse partners.
Currently, we have installed fermentation and decomposition units at approximately 1,000 locations nationwide, handling around 200,000 tons of food-derived recyclable resources annually. This system is not supported by a single company alone, but through collaboration with diverse stakeholders.

Recycling Centre Overview

Visualizing Value through the “Circular Economy of Food”

For customers (including businesses and local governments) who have adopted the MERRY’S SYSTEM, we undertake initiatives not only to reduce costs but also to visualize and deliver the environmental contributions generated through the operation.
We aim to expand overseas with a package service combining these elements.

Vegetable Residue Cutting Process

What kind of international cooperation and overseas business expansion has your company undertaken to date?

Well Create has collaborated with Kitakyushu City and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), among others, dedicating many years to environmental business and international cooperation in the Asian region.

The Challenge in Cameron Highland, Malaysia

In Cameron Highland, one of Malaysia's leading highland vegetable-producing regions, the large-scale disposal of vegetable waste and the severe decline in soil fertility due to crop rotation problems had become critical issues. Through JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) initiatives such as the SME Support Dissemination and Demonstration Project, our company collaborated with local entities including the waste management corporation (SW-Corp). We worked to establish a recycling loop: producing compost from local food waste and using this compost to cultivate and ship reduced-pesticide vegetables. This initiative is regarded by the Malaysian government as a model that simultaneously reduces environmental impact and enables sustainable agriculture, generating considerable anticipation.

Forester System Installed in Malaysia

Courtesy visit to Vice Minister of Ministry of
Economy, Malaysia

What are your company's future prospects?

Securing stable supplies of food and fertilizer has become a global challenge due to geopolitical risks and climate change. Well Create contributes to realizing sustainable food systems through circular mechanisms.

Expansion of “Regional Recycling Hubs”

We are currently promoting the widespread establishment of regional recycling hubs in Japan. These facilities produce higher value “organic fertilizers” by blending primary fermentation products from food waste with underutilized local biomass resources such as chicken manure. Operations commenced in Osaka and Saitama in 2025, followed by Kitakyushu City in 2026, with plans for nationwide expansion.

Towards a Self-Sufficient Society with Local Resources

By circulating readily available resources rather than relying on imported fertilizers, we safeguard future generations' food supply. This approach of supporting local food systems with local resources contributes to solving the global environmental challenges we currently face: the triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental pollution. We are currently undertaking initiatives to visualize the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) generated by our operations, improvements in recycling rates, and contributions to biodiversity.
While advancing the sophistication of food resource circulation, we will expand our services from Kitakyushu City to Asia and the world, continuing to create an exciting and sustainable circular society.

Organic Fertilizer

Compost Utilization: Hirokawa Farm

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