Myanmar Ajinomoto Foods (MAF), a subsidiary of Japanese food seasonings manufacturer Ajinomoto, has completed the construction of a new packaging facility for its umami seasoning AJI-NO-MOTO.

Umami seasoning is used in home-cooked dishes, mainly for stewed and boiled foods and curry dishes in Myanmar.

Construction on the new $10m packaging facility started in October last year. The two-storeyed structure covers 5,250m² of total floor space, including 615m² of total floor space in the manufacturing area.

With the completion of the new facility in the country’s Thilawa Special Economic Zone, MAF intends to further strengthen its presence in Myanmar by expanding and enhancing other product categories as well as carrying out various marketing activities.

The facility has already started operations last month and sales in the country, which has an annual umami seasoning consumption of approximately 52,000t.

Ajinomoto noted that Myanmar is the fourth largest market in the ASEAN region following Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.

"The facility has already started operations last month and sales in the country, which has an annual umami seasoning consumption of approximately 52,000t."

In 1996, the Japanese firm established Myanmar Ajinomoto Industry but due to the changes in business conditions business activities in the country were suspended in April 2000.

Following a policy to open up Myanmar’s economy in 2011, Ajinomoto Thailand started exports of its product for sale in the country in 2012.

Finally, MAF was established in February 2016 to re-start the local packaging and sales of its seasoning.

Furthermore, Ajinomoto is planning to add a new production line for Ros Dee flavour seasonings at the packaging plant next year.