Farmind Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Tatsuo Horiuchi; hereafter, “Farmind”) and Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo: Representative Director: Sakae Noguchi; hereafter, “ZEN-NOH”) and the Norinchukin Bank (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo: President and Chief Executive Officer: Oku Kazuto; hereinafter, "The Bank") announce that they had entered into a capital alliance agreements.

In August 2021, Farmind and ZEN-NOH entered into a business alliance agreement under which they entered into tie-ups for (1) Joint distribution of domestic fruits and vegetables in production/consumption areas (2) Mutual use of distribution bases in production/consumption areas (3) Joint distribution in domestic fruits and vegetables export (4) Efforts to promote production by stable sales of domestic fruits and vegetables.

Farmind, ZEN-NOH and The Bank have concluded a capital alliance agreement to ensure more effective achievement of the objectives of this business alliance. ZEN-NOH and The Bank agreed to take an equity stake in Farmind, and recently underwrote a third-party allotment of shares to acquire common stock.

Farmind Group and ZEN-NOH will also launch a new production and sales business (PFC (Platform Center) business) equipped with storage in production areas to ensure stable sales of domestic fruits and vegetables. ZEN-NOH will invest in PFC Nagano Inc., which Farmind Group will establish in January 2022, and will commence joint business operations in June 2022.

Farmind has constituted a comprehensive platform that provides functions and services to connect fruits and vegetables distribution from upstream to downstream, which is mainly the cold chains constituted by 14 processing centers nationwide and a nationwide logistics network. Based on those network, Farmind is expanding its handling of domestic fruits and vegetables in addition to imported fruits and vegetables which have been its main products over the years and aims at contributing to the promotion of domestic agriculture.

Through a series of alliances, Farmind will maximize synergies by Farmind group's comprehensive fruits and vegetables distribution platform and the ZEN-NOH group's locally rooted producer network, and support domestic agricultural production by significantly improving the efficiency of fruits and vegetables distribution and ensure a stable supply of high-quality fruits and vegetables to consumers.

Based on Farmind’s corporate philosophy of "linking farmers with consumers", Farmind will continue to strengthen the supply system of fruits and vegetables in Japan and overseas and improve the quality through its nationwide cold chains, deliver fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables from farms to consumers, and contribute to the development of domestic and overseas fruits and vegetables distribution from various perspectives.

Overview of related companies and organizations

Name	National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (Representative Director Sakae Noguchi)
Address	JA Bldg., 1-3-1 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Role	Supply of materials necessary for the menber's business or life, transport, processing, storage or sale of materials produced by the members, etc.
Establishment	March, 1972
Members	898 organizations (As of March 31, 2021)
Amount of the total consolidated assets	1,913.4 billion yen (As of March 31, 2021)

Name	the Norinchukin Bank (President and Chief Executive Officer Oku Kazuto)
Address	13-2, Yurakucho 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Role	A nationwide financial institution of a cooperative organization whose membership is a cooperative organization of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries that contributes to the development of Japan's agriculture, forestry, and fisheries industry.
Establishment	December, 1923
Members	Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA), Japan Fishery Cooperatives (JF), Japan Forest Owners’ Cooperatives (JForest), and related federations, as well as other agricultural, fishery and forestry cooperative organizations that have invested in the Bank
Amount of the total consolidated assets	107,647.8 billion (As of March 31, 2021)

Name	PFC Nagano Inc. (to be established in January 2022)
Address	Head Office: Kandaizumi-cho Bldg. 8F, Kandaizumi-cho 1, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Business Facilities: 3-3, Ichiba, Nagano-City, Nagano, 381-2202 Japan
Description of Businesses	Storage and sales of fruits and vegetables, small packages of fruits and vegetables, logistics arrangements from production areas to consumption areas, etc.
Launch of business	January, 2022 (plan)

<Inquiries>

Corporate Planning Department, Farmind Corporation
TEL: +81-3-5835-1794