Hiroko Gon: For the Future of Children 20 Years from Now

2023/12/18

I currently produce additive-free food for children, but I originally worked at a tax accountant's office and then spent nearly seven years at an American brokerage firm. After that, I gave birth in my mid-30s. Since having my child, as their meals transitioned from baby food to toddler food and became more like adult meals, I was shocked by how chemical-laden the children's food sold in supermarkets was. Driven by a sense of urgency, I founded "Kodomo no Shokutaku."

Having been in the world of securities until then, I had no connections or experience in the food industry, and searching for a factory felt like a daily ascetic practice. Every day, I called one factory after another that could produce frozen side dishes. It was a difficult time, carrying my young child on my back, but I managed to create frozen foods through crowdfunding. Later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, as I began making seasonings and snacks, "Kodomo no Shokutaku"—which I started alone—gradually grew. As products were completed and my message about the importance of food during a child's taste-forming years and my desire to "create things I want to feed my own child" reached people, many Keio University alumni stepped forward to help me along the way.

I cannot list everyone here, but I am particularly grateful to Mr. Ken Yamaguchi, the head of "Aji no Techo," for giving me a valuable opportunity for a serialized column to reach more people. Also, when I held a pop-up at the Isetan Shinjuku main store, Mr. Yuki Higo, a senior from my university club, happened to be in charge of the food department at the time. This led to an incredibly honorable bento collaboration between "Kodomo no Shokutaku" and "Kitcho," a long-established Japanese restaurant where my Chutobu Junior High School classmate, Ms. Taeko Yuki, serves as the young proprietress. Above all, the person supporting the overall administrative headquarters of Kodomo no Shokutaku today is Ms. Takako Maeda, a senior from Professor Kazuhiro Taniguchi's seminar in the Faculty of Business and Commerce, where I studied business management.

While working hard and running headlong into new challenges every day, the number of stores carrying our products—such as Isetan, Kinokuniya, Bio c' Bon, and Life BIO-RAL—has gradually increased in the five years since our founding. I truly feel that "food safety for children" is being protected, and I am deeply grateful every day for the connections made through Keio University.