Happy New Year.

I sincerely hope that this year will be a healthy and happy one for you all.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to all of our customers, business partners, related parties, and employees for all your support last year. Although there were some things that went well in our business throughout the year, and some things that did not go as planned and caused inconvenience, we were able to make it through the year. It is truly thanks to all of you. Thank you very much.

In 2025, we will continue to clarify the path we should take, strengthen our company, and work hard to create a company that can contribute even more to society. We appreciate your guidance and encouragement.

Although we are constantly seeing dark news in the world, we actually received some positive news at the end of last year.

ARK Group has been selected as the winner of the first "2024 Domestic Fertilizer Resource Utilization Expansion Award, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Livestock Bureau Director-General's Award"!!!

Award details are as follows:

The purpose of the awards is to recognize businesses from across the country that have made outstanding achievements through initiatives to proactively switch from fertilizers that rely on imported raw materials to fertilizers that utilize domestic resources such as compost and sewage sludge, and initiatives that promote efficient resource circulation in the region, and to promote the nationwide spread of domestic resource fertilizers and improved productivity.

Great fresh news for the end of the year!

Our core business is pig farming, which we have cultivated over the course of 53 years. As an Ark Group, we have been engaged in a wide range of agriculture-based businesses from pork production and feed manufacturing to the processing and sales of ham, sausage, and other products made using our own ingredients, the cultivation and sales of vegetables, grains, and herbs, organic restaurant and farm market businesses, online shops, corporate sales, a recycling business that produces organic fertilizer, and employment support services in collaboration with agriculture and welfare.

Among these, the company has been recognized for its resource-recycling agriculture within the group, such as using pig waste and livestock waste from the local area as valuable raw materials to produce organic fertilizer, utilizing it in its own fields to promote the sixth industrialization of agriculture, and cooperating with local farmers to produce feed rice, etc. Then, using that feed rice as a raw material to manufacture pig feed.

It makes me happy to see the results of our daily work being recognized on such a big stage, and it reminds me that the path we have believed in and followed is not wrong. I truly hope that all our employees will be happy. At the same time, it reminds me of the mission and role we must play in the world, and it also motivates me to continue to work even harder in the future.

All of our employees will continue to work hard in 2025.

Once again, we would like to thank you for your continued support this year.

Tomoatsu Hashimoto

P.S.: The first sunrise from the ranch this year was also very beautiful! ↓↓