Nestlé Coping with Japanese Nationalism: The establishment and maintenance strategy of a foreign multinational enterprise in Japan, 1913-1945

Abstract

This paper focuses on the strategy adopted by the MNE Nestlé in Japan between the establishment of a branch at Yokohama in 1913 and the end of World War II. It highlights the difficulties encountered by the firm in its attempts to open up and operate production facilities due to strong opposition from local condensed milk makers, supported by the State. Eventually, in 1934, Nestlé opened a factory by founding an incorporated company, ARKK, all of whose shareholders were Japanese working for Nestlé. Although the war drastically curtailed the activities of both Nestlé Japan and ARKK, the organizational facilities set up during the interwar period provided a springboard for Nestlé's post-war success in Japan.