‘Be a pioneer – if you open a door, others will follow’

Suntory Holdings, the Japanese conglomerate behind Ribena and Lucozade, as well as Jim Beam whiskey, was founded in 1899 by a man called Shinjiro Torii with a rallying call to dream big, take on challenges and never give up. This ethos, encapsulated as the phrase “Yatte Minahare” in Japanese, still underpins the company today.
Makiko Ono, who has spent her entire 40-year plus career at the multinational group, put principle into practice early on when she applied for a job in France after helping to buy a winery in the country. Yet the HR department at Suntory said “no”. Undeterred, by 1991 she was working in Paris for the company, making her the group’s first female expat. Eventually, she ended up becoming chief operating officer of Suntory Beverage & Food France.
Last year, Ono, 64, was appointed chief executive of the whole of Suntory Beverage & Food,the arm of the group that includes Orangina, Ribena and Lucozade in Europe and a range of mineral water, coffee, tea and health drinks in Japan and Asia. Her accolades include being named as one of the most powerful women in the world by both Time and Fortune publications.
I feel some trepidation at interviewing such a high-flyer but it turns out I needn’t have worried. We meet in Holborn Dining Room where she is instantly welcoming, handing me some samples of ‘minus 196’, the pre-mix alcohol brand which was launched in the UK this year. It marks the first foray ofSuntory Beverage & Food GB&I into ready-to-drink cocktails.
The drink is made by freezing fruit using liquid nitrogen. The frozen zest, pulp and juice are then crushed and mixed with Japanese beverage shochu plus vodka. I joke that it is a bit early to try something with 6 per cent alcohol but it turns out that I’ll be drinking soon enough. Ono has chosen Holborn Dining Room because of its 500-strong gin bar which stocks Roku, a Suntory gin infused with Japanese botanicals.
Once at our table, she persuades me to try the gin instead of having water with lunch — not that I need much persuading as a firm lover of a G&T. Roku is delicious served with lemon and a London Essence, a premium mixer that Ono hasn’t come across before. With a ‘kanpai’ (cheers!), we sip it slowly otherwise going back to the office is going to be hard for me while she has investor meetings to go to.
Time is tight so we opt for main courses only. We both choose the salmon with potato salad and pickled cucumber but it seems a shame not to try more of the modern British menu, so I switch to corn-fed chicken breast with peas and woodland mushrooms. It is either that or the shrimp burger with sriracha mayo, which sounds intriguing, but the chicken wins out.
As we relax into the red leather upholstery, Ono asks me if she may go back in time to tell her story.
She started working for Suntory in 1982, straight out of university in Tokyo where she had studied Portuguese because of her love of Bossa Nova samba music from Brazil. She speaks French, too, after two spells in the country.
Ono, who travels a lot, tells me that she is always happy to come back to London. “There are a lot of changes: the new buildings and heavier traffic.” We talk about how much the food scene has improved over the years and that restaurants have come and gone in the pandemic and its aftermath.
She was on the team that bought Orangina for Suntory and was also close to the deal that saw Ribena and Lucozade acquired from GSK 10 years ago for £1.35 billion. Suntory had bought the brands and a “very good team” but was effectively creating a new company from scratch. The challenge was to make the newcomers understand the company’s philosophy and think for the long-term. Today, the unit employs 695 in Britain and Ireland.
Ribena, which dates back to 1938, is her favourite of the two much-loved British drinks. A decade on from their acquisition by Suntory, it surprises me that such well established brands are still growing but they are, something of which Ono is “proud”. Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I, which has a factory in Gloucestershire, posted a pre-tax profit of £109.1 million for 2023, an increase from the previous year’s £100.7 million, according to accounts on Companies House. Turnover rose from £518 million in 2022 to £543 million last year.
Innovation plays a big part in the ongoing success of the drink. The Ribena range now includes strawberry, pineapple & passion fruit, and a no-added-sugar alternative. If Lucozade is your thing, there’s a new blue-hued version. “We need to find out what will come next and invent,” Ono explains.
Ono has spent her first year as chief executive visiting places “where the value is created”, or “gemba” in Japanese. We might call it the factory or shop floor but it is more than that. The visits are about gaining insight on the needs of consumers, customers and colleagues, as well as identifying new opportunities. Gemba is “the most important part of our business.”
Each market around the world is different: Suntory Holdingshas ten factories in Japan, a licence to sell in China, and owns a Pepsi bottling venture in North Carolina in the US. Growth may be organic or through M&A and it has drawn up a shortlist of targets.
In the UK operations, it has a route to market for drinks from sister companies or new partners. Popular in Japan, minus 196 came to Tesco in October in the hope of raising its profile among consumers. Another new addition is Celsius, an energy drink with a healthy image that has a distribution tied up with Suntory. More drinks are likely to follow as the group chases “mid single-digit” growth by 2026. I hope it includes Suntory’s Boss coffee which comes in a can, including one that is heated in winter.
It’s not all work for Ono, however. She has a love of opera, which came about when she was working in Paris full-time. She enjoys fine wine ever since the Château Lagrange winery takeover and plays golf at weekends.
Ono is single with no children. Her move to France decades ago made her something of a pioneer in the Japanese business world. She encourages women who complain that they do not see role models “to be a pioneer themselves”. “If you open a door, others will follow. Don’t be afraid if you have a chance; you have others around to help you.”
She has noticed greater numbers of women in business being posted overseas with their spouses in tow. It is a sign of how the once conservative Japanese business culture is changing. At Suntory, the aim is for 30 per cent of all managers to be female by 2030; today, that figure is just 12 per cent.
Despite being a trailblazer, she says she was “surprised” to be made chief executive of the food and beverage arm. She received lots of messages of support from other women, particularly from abroad.
We touch on sustainability and climate change. Japan is experiencing more rain and snow, she says. She wants to prepare the company to be sustainable for the changes likely to come over the next 10 to 20 years. This brings us to another core company value, “growing for good”, a commitment for positive change inside and outside the company. For example, Ribena, the blackcurrants for which are all grown in the UK, was the first British soft drink brand to use 100 per cent recycled plastic bottles.
All too soon our lunch comes to an end with some lovely petit fours. As well as learning a few Japanese phrases, I feel like I have had a glimpse into another business culture, all the more remarkable for still drawing on founding values which are 125 years old. And it makes Ono’s achievements in a traditionally male dominated world even more impressive.
1982 — joined Suntory after graduating from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Apr 1982-1986 — member of M&A team that bought Château Lagrange winery in France
April 2001 — executive manager, marketing department, Häagen-Dazs Japan
April 2013 — deputy chief operating officer, international division, leading the acquisition of Lucozade and Ribena brands
January 2020 to December 2021 — chief executive of Suntory Beverage & Food France
January 2022 — chief sustainability officer at Suntory Holdings
March 2023 to present — CEO Suntory Beverage & Food
Holborn Dining Room
1 bread £4
1 salmon fillet £34
1 chicken breast £36
2 Suntory Roku £28
2 Indian tonics £7
1 Hildon sparkling water £5.50
1 expresso £5
1 cappuccino £6.50
Total: £126
20 per cent Vat £25.20
Service 15 per cent £22.68
TOTAL: £173.88