Industry Overview 9: How Food Companies in Japan Use DAM?

CIERTO DAM

2026-05-25

Data Management
Brand Management
Industry Insights

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Japan owns a ton of well-known food companies, which I believe you can also list some of the brands you are purchasing their products in every-day life. How can Japanese food companies always be the leaders in the world? Having strict quality assurance and maintaining a strong brand image through sophisticated marketing are indispensable factors. Especially for now, the proper management of digital content such as product and nutritional fact sheets has become increasingly critical due to the diversification of sales channels and stricter regulatory requirements. However, even with a high quality of service, many companies are still struggling with information silos, where data is fragmented across departments, leading to risks of update omissions or the accidental use of incorrect data.

Today, we will focus on digital content management within the food industry, identifying common challenges and exploring strategic approaches to resolve them. Furthermore, we will delve into a specific case study of a major confectionery manufacturer in Japan to explore how they can resolve the challenges through implementing CIERTO.

1. The Challenges of Data Management in Food Industry

i. Operational Inefficiency Due to Data Fragmentation
For the food industry, product lineups and the preference of customers change constantly. It is necessary to keep the packaging designs, advertising media, product image and nutritional fact sheets updated. However, the information is frequently scattered across multiple systems and storage drives. The data fragmentation leads to excessive time spent searching for assets, dragging down operational efficiency and making it nearly impossible to confirm all the data distributed are unified and accurate.

ii. Inadequate Quality Control of Asset Data
Poor management of the accumulated asset data and version control can be risky for brand management: marketing materials might accidentally feature an old package design even after renewal, and outdated nutritional tables may also be published, providing consumers with incorrect information.

iii. The Burden of Traceability and Regulatory Compliance
Especially in the food industry, raw materials, ingredient data, and allergen information must be strictly managed in accordance with evolving regulations. When these updates are handled manually, the process becomes a breeding ground for errors which will greatly affect the brand image. Furthermore, managing the complexity of varying food labeling standards across different countries and regions becomes increasingly difficult without a centralized, automated system.

iv. Lack of Cross-Departmental Collaboration
Food production is not a single, simple job, it also involves marketing, quality assurance (QA), and sales. If the communication between the departments is inadequate, marketing teams may struggle to provide the latest campaign assets to the sales in real-time, and the boundaries of responsibility (who owns and manages specific data points) can become dangerously blurred.

2. Using DAM for Problem Solving

To tackle the problems above efficiently, we recommend food companies using the DAM (Digital Asset Management) system. DAM is a centralized data management system which helps companies to manage (including storage, usage, searching and workflow management) the digital assets. Here we summarized the benefits of how DAM brings positive effects to the food companies.

i. Streamlining workflow through central data management
Centralizing digital content including image, advertising assets and recipe videos originally scattered in different file systems drastically reduces the time spent on searching for and sharing materials. DAM accelerates the speed of product launches and campaign rollouts, allowing brands to respond nimbly to shifting market trends.

ii. Easy Access to the Latest Information
DAM prevents the accidental use of outdated visuals or incorrect data by providing an environment where all stakeholders always have access to the most updated and approved assets. It ensures the consistency of the products distributed to multiple platforms, preventing the risk of misinformation.

iii. Enhanced Regulatory Compliance and Traceability
The food industry is subject to stringent labeling standards that vary by country and region. With DAM, companies can establish a robust framework to accurately manage, update, and track regulatory data including ingredient lists and allergen information.

iv. Building Cross-Departmental Collaboration
By providing a shared platform for marketing, quality assurance, and sales, DAM smoothens inter-departmental communication and clarifies areas of responsibility.

In the next part, we will introduce you to a case study of a major confectionery manufacturer: how DAM helps their business?

3. Case Study: The Implementation of DAM

Previously we have introduced the DAM system provided by VPJ, CIERTO, about its functions and effectiveness. This time why don’t we just see an actual case study to see how powerful CIERTO is?

【Challenges BEFORE implementing CIERTO DAM】

One of our customers is a major confectionery manufacturer, which has a long history in Japan and runs their business successfully in both Japan and overseas. However, they are also confronting problems with their data management.

The company previously managed product data across multiple systems and tools without unified rules. The marketing department used an image management system, while the design department stored productions and images in department folders within Box. Although a Product Information Management (PIM) system was already in place, the product data (e.g. names and allergens) was not linked to the actual images or promotional materials. It led to several issues:

i. Fragmented Information and Siloed Management
The sales often felt difficult to find specific data across several systems, creating a heavy administrative burden.

ii. Inefficient Search Processes
With approximately 800 new or updated images added annually (averaging 6–7 images per product), the sheer volume of data across Box, file servers, and search systems made retrieval exhausting. Furthermore, since images and product specs were not linked, staff creating proposals had to jump between systems: finding an image in one place, then searching another system to verify dimensions or allergen information.

iii. Risk of Human Error
All the management relied heavily on manuals. Without strict control over access rights or expiration dates, there was a constant risk of postponement of the product release, or leaking confidential pre-launch product information.

iv. Poor Data Reusability
Lacking standardized management formats meant designers and marketing staff had to manually create and upload multiple versions of the same image in various sizes and formats to different platforms every time when there was renewal. It was time-consuming and inefficient.

【Effectiveness AFTER implementing CIERTO DAM】

By implementing CIERTO DAM, the company achieved the following results:

i. Centralized Marketing Assets
By consolidating all images and metadata within CIERTO, staff can now find everything they need in a single location. Furthermore, by linking with the existing PIM system, they can easily combine both media assets and product information, to maintain the integrity of the data.

ii. Advanced Search via Product Data Integration
Users can now locate assets instantly using synced data like product names or codes, and can even sort by launch dates. Sales representatives can now view an image and its corresponding allergen/ingredient info simultaneously, drastically speeding up the creation of sales proposals and internal meeting materials.

iii. Enhanced Information Security
CIERTO allows for granular control over access rights and expiration dates. Admin users can restrict the access to specific data to protect intellectual property. In addition, metadata-driven expiration management prevents the accidental use of outdated materials, ensuring high content security.

iv. Improved Data Versatility
CIERTO allows users to instantly convert high-resolution design files into lightweight formats like JPG or PNG before downloading the data. Users do not need to manually pre-process and register multiple versions of the same file anymore.

If you are having the same issues with the company mentioned in the case study, we strongly recommend you to try CIERTO DAM to maintain a good data management environment. It will also bring you a foundation of successful business and strengthen your brand image.