On Wednesday, October 24, 2018, the first harvest of apples was held on the process of Ai-Apple (Shinonoiai, Nagano City; Chairman: Mr. Toshio Kubota), in which we formed an alliance for the cultivation of apples for cutting fruit in Farmind. Mr. Tatsuo Horiuchi, President and CEO of the Company, attended the harvest.

Ai-Apple is a group of producers established in 2016 for the purpose of combating unused devastated land and finding new farmers who return to the mandatory retirement age. In 2017, Ai-Apple began producing apple varieties suitable for cut fruit through dense planting and cropping (*). All apples harvested for the first time will be selected and processed at our center and sold as cut fruit for convenience stores.
(*) Highly densely planted saplings grown in smaller trees than usual are densely planted, and the cultivation method is expected to result in an early increase in yield and labor savings.

On the day of the tour, representatives from JA ZENNOH (National Federation of Agricultural Co-operative Associations) Nagano, and JA Green Nagano, which provide sales and production support to Ai-Apple, participated in the tour. They also participated in an apple harvest experience under the guidance of Ai-Apple and toured the fruit picking work at our Nagano Center. They exchanged views on how we can contribute to the future development of Ai-Apple and the match between diversified producers and consumers.

We will continue to contribute to the development of fruit and vegetables distribution in Japan and overseas from a variety of perspectives, based on our corporate philosophy of "Bringing producers and consumers together," through such direct initiatives with JA and producers. We will continue to strengthen our fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables supply system in Japan and overseas, and improve quality through the cold chain, so that we can deliver fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables from producers to consumers.

Members of producers (Ai Apple) and President Horiuchi (right).	Harvesting experience for President Horiuchi (left) and others with Chairman Kubota (right).
Members of Ai-Apple, JA ZENNOH Nagano, JA Green Nagano and our employees	Apple selection at our Nagano Center