Our Approach
Suntory Group aims "To inspire the brilliance of life, by creating rich experiences for people in harmony with nature," and we are promoting the enhancement of corporate governance in order to improve management efficiency, maintain strong relationships with stakeholders such as local communities, customers, business partners, and fulfill our social responsibilities as a company.
Promotion Structure
Suntory Holdings Limited adopts a two-tier corporate structure that provides dual oversight, with the Board of Directors overseeing business execution and the Board of Auditors carrying out auditing. Additionally, adopting an Executive Officer system allows for the separation of management decision-making functions from business execution, enabling agile management decisions.
Corporate governance structure
Boards Responsible for Group Management
Suntory Group has adopted a holding company structure. The Board of Directors for Suntory Holdings, which is the holding company, is made up of nine Directors, including one Outside Director (as of April 2025). The Board of Directors is responsible for examining, discussing, and making decisions on the overall management issues of the Group, as well as overseeing the business execution of each company within the Group.
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors holds regular monthly meetings and extraordinary meetings as necessary to discuss and make decisions on all important management matters, including Suntory Group's management policies, business plans, organization, and fund procurement. It also receives reports on the status of operations at each Group company and oversees those companies. The term of office for Directors is set at one year in order to respond to changes in the business environment and to quickly build an optimal management structure.
The Board of Directors held 21 meetings in the previous fiscal year. The attendance of each Director is provided below. In addition to the stated numbers, two written resolutions were deemed as approved by the Board of Directors.
| Title | Name | Attendance |
|---|---|---|
| Representative Director, Chairman of the Board | Nobutada Saji | 15/21 |
| Representative Director, Vice Chairman of the Board | Shingo Torii | 21/21 |
| Representative Director, President & Chief Executive Officer | Takeshi Niinami | 21/21 |
| Representative Director, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer | Nobuhiro Torii | 20/21 |
| Representative Director, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer | Shinichiro Hizuka | 21/21 |
| Director, Executive Vice President | Kenji Yamada | 21/21 |
| Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer | Josuke Kimura | 20/21 |
| Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer | Kaneo Oka | 21/21 |
| Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer | Yukihiro Kamakura | 21/21 |
| Director (External) | Takashi Mikuriya | 18/21 |
| Director | Kazutomo Aritake | 21/21 |
The Board of Directors specifically considers various management issues that include management policy, financial strategy, M&A, capital investment, corporate governance, and sustainability. They also look at key issues and the status of business operations for the Group’s core businesses.
The Management Auditing System
Suntory Holdings' Board of Auditors is made up of 4 Auditors, including 2 Independent Auditors (as of April 2025). It audits the execution status of business operations as well as the status of the internal control system. Audit & Supervisory Department was established to aid the audits performed by the Board of Auditors. In addition, Suntory Group has established the Group Auditing Department which acts as an internal auditing division that audits and inspects the execution status of business operations of all Group companies. The external auditors also audit accounts, verifying the appropriateness and legality of accounts and the internal accounting systems from an objective perspective.
Other Committees
Suntory Holdings also has a Global Risk Management Committee, Quality Assurance Committee, and Global Sustainability Committee. The Global Risk Management Committee is responsible for promoting risk management activities throughout Suntory Group, identifying risks, formulating countermeasures and checking the progress of those countermeasures. The Quality Assurance Committee is responsible for promoting quality assurance activities throughout Suntory Group, identifying quality assurance issues, formulating countermeasures, and checking the progress of those countermeasures. The Global Sustainability Committee is responsible for promoting sustainability management throughout Suntory Group, and discusses and supervises the policies and plans of the Group’s sustainability strategy. Furthermore, we have established the Governance, Risk, and Compliance Division to strengthen and promote governance and risk management activities throughout Suntory Group.
Strengthening Internal Control Systems
We are aiming to build a more effective governance structure by strengthening efforts such as compliance, information management, and risk management based on the Basic Concepts and Operations for the Internal Control System enacted by Suntory Holdings' Board of Directors.
For more information, see Basic Concepts and Operations for the Internal Control System
Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd.'s Corporate Governance
Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd., which is listed on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a company with an Audit and Supervisory Committee. This structure was established for the purpose of improving the effectiveness of auditing and supervision through audits by directors who are committee members approved by the Board of Directors in addition to introducing audits that utilize an internal auditing division to facilitate more highly-transparent governance. Three of the eight Directors on the Board of Directors (including Audit and Supervisory Committee Members) are Outside Directors (as of December 2024).
Furthermore, Suntory Beverage & Food has also stipulated the ability to appoint directors for some or all decisions necessary for executing operations with approval at the Board of Directors Meeting. This measure realizes management strategy and achieves management indicators set as goals by conducting more comprehensive and practical deliberation such as debate about management strategy, mid- and long-term plans, and management challenges. It is also for the purpose of allowing for faster decision-making while enhancing supervision functions at the Board of Directors Meeting through decision-making based on the management committee and internal rules for executing each operation. We also disclose compliance status of the corporate governance code on our website.
For more information, see Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd.'s Corporate Governance
