Ajinomoto has brought its ReTabell nutrition advice service into AEON Retail’s MySCUE store in Osaka, Japan, extending a programme previously aimed mainly at healthcare and care facilities into everyday retail.

The Japanese food manufacturer announced the partnership on 13 October 2026. The service has been available since July at MySCUE AEON Mall Dainichi in Moriguchi, Osaka. The announcement does not describe a chain-wide rollout.

ReTabell supports customers who find eating difficult or want advice on diet and nutrition. Staff at the MySCUE outlet can ask visitors about their food concerns and suggest recipes and meal ideas based on guidance from nutrition-related professional bodies.

Customers can take the information home through a QR code or web address, creating an opportunity to follow the suggestions beyond the store visit. Ajinomoto says this links conversations in-store with everyday meal preparation and later review.

The retail setting is important. Japan’s ageing population has increased interest in products and services for older consumers, while grocery businesses are looking for ways to serve specific dietary needs alongside ordinary food shopping.

For supermarket buyers, the initiative points to possible links between personalised meal advice and product ranges designed around ease of eating. Soft-textured foods, convenient prepared meals and nutrition supplements may be relevant categories, although the company has not disclosed sales performance or confirmed new listings attributable to ReTabell.

MySCUE was established by AEON Retail in September 2023 to help older people and carers find information, services and products. The Dainichi collaboration adds Ajinomoto’s food expertise to that existing store-based service rather than creating a wholly new retail chain.

Ajinomoto says experience from the retail programme could help it refine ReTabell and assess additional touchpoints in stores and pharmacies. That is a future consideration, not an announced national expansion.

For competing FMCG companies, the commercial question is whether specialist food expertise can become a reason for shoppers to visit particular stores and purchase products suited to their needs. The model also raises practical questions about staff training, product selection and measuring engagement.

The company is already among the major manufacturers discussed in GTN’s overview of FMCG brands in Asia. Its latest move is distinct from a conventional packaged-food launch because the service begins with customer advice rather than an individual product.

The next development to watch is whether Ajinomoto and AEON publish measurable customer outcomes or expand the trial beyond the Osaka location.

Editor’s note: Based on Ajinomoto’s original Japanese-language newsroom announcement dated 13 October 2026. The service began in July; 13 October is the announcement date. The featured image is illustrative, not a photograph of the MySCUE service.