岩瀬コスファ株式会社

What 岩瀬コスファ株式会社 does

Iwase Cosfa Co., Ltd. (岩瀬コスファ株式会社) is a privately-held, family-controlled Japanese specialty trading company founded in 1931 in Osaka, supplying raw materials and formulation support to cosmetic, food, pharmaceutical, and industrial manufacturers. The business is organized into four divisions: a Cosmetic Ingredients business offering more than 5,000 raw materials sourced from a 600+ supplier network spanning 20+ countries; a Wellness business offering more than 2,000 health-food ingredients (including 10+ Foods with Function Claims-compliant materials) plus OEM manufacturing of supplements in jelly, drink, paste, tablet, and capsule formats; a Safety & Efficacy Evaluation business that operates a concierge service connecting clients to a curated network of 125+ contract research organizations; and the Karatsu Wellness Farm in Saga Prefecture, which cultivates white king trumpet and other mushrooms sold through the Uchikara Kirei e-commerce storefront. Proprietary capabilities include taste-masking technology for bitter functional ingredients, emulsification know-how for oil-based materials, and the urchin-shaped titanium dioxide ST-750 SPF booster that won the CITE JAPAN 2025 Silver Award. The company is family-controlled (President Yoshinori Iwase succeeded his father Kenji Iwase in 2015), employs 414 people on a consolidated basis (190 standalone) as of December 31, 2025, and operates nine wholly-owned overseas subsidiaries in China, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, the United States, France, and Morocco. Go-to-market is primarily B2B direct sales through specialized ingredient sales staff, complemented by OEM contract manufacturing on a unit-pricing basis with multi-year commitments (e.g., three-side stick jelly OEM minimum 30,000 units), and direct-to-consumer e-commerce for farm-produced mushrooms. The company is registered with 100 million yen in capital and carries a sustained ESG profile (EcoVadis Gold, top 5% globally, 2021–2024; ISO 14001/9001; RSPO distributor; UN Global Compact signatory since 2019).

Name

岩瀬コスファ株式会社

Legal name

岩瀬コスファ株式会社

Website

https://cosfa.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1931

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Iwase Cosfa is a 90+ year-old Japanese privately-held specialty trading company supplying 5,000+ cosmetic and health-food manufacturers globally through 9 overseas subsidiaries, offering 5,000+ cosmetic and 2,000+ health-food ingredients alongside OEM manufacturing, contract testing, and mushroom cultivation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Osaka

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices14 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Cosmetic Ingredients Sales: Sales and international trade of raw materials for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and household products. The company offers over 5,000 cosmetic ingredients and leverages a global procurement network spanning more than 20 countries.
2. Functional Food Ingredients & Wellness Products: Sales of functional food ingredients, dietary supplement ingredients, food additives, and functional foods. The company offers over 2,000 health food ingredients and more than 10 FFC-compliant ingredients, with OEM manufacturing services for supplements in various dosage forms.
3. Contract Testing Services: Contract research services connecting clients with trusted testing institutions for non-clinical and clinical trials. The Safety & Efficacy Evaluation Department matches companies with appropriate CROs and provides end-to-end testing support.
4. Agricultural Products — Mushrooms: Cultivation and direct sales of white king trumpet mushrooms (white shiitake) and other mushrooms from the Karatsu Wellness Farm in Saga Prefecture, distributed through the Uchikara Kirei EC shop.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Iwase Cosfa is a Japanese specialty trading company that procures and distributes over 5,000 cosmetic ingredients and more than 2,000 functional food ingredients to manufacturers across 20+ countries, supported by in-house R&D laboratories. It additionally provides OEM contract manufacturing of health foods and supplements (jelly, drink, paste, tablet, capsule formats), acts as a concierge connecting clients to 125+ CROs for safety and efficacy testing, and operates the Karatsu Wellness Farm for mushroom cultivation sold via its own EC shop.

Product overview

岩瀬コスファ株式会社 is a comprehensive trading company with four core business divisions: Cosmetic Ingredients (5,000+ raw materials), Wellness (2,000+ health food ingredients + 10+ FFC-compliant materials), Safety & Efficacy Evaluation (125+ CRO partners), and Karatsu Wellness Farm (mushroom cultivation). The company provides end-to-end support from R&D and ingredient procurement through OEM manufacturing of health foods/supplements and contract testing services, operating its own EC shop 'うちからキレイ' for farm products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• 唐津ウェルネスファーム (Karatsu Wellness Farm): Cultivation of wellness mushrooms (enoki, shiitake, white enoki) in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture, launched in 2022.
• うちからキレイ (Uchikara Kirei)

Products and services

• Cosmetic Ingredients (Personal Care Department) Over 5,000 cosmetic ingredient raw materials sourced from 20+ countries and supplied to cosmetic, skincare, haircare, and quasi-drug manufacturers. Includes UV protection actives, moisturizers, pearlizing agents, amino-acid-based humectants, and specialty functional ingredients. Backed by in-house R&D formulation support.
• Wellness / Functional Food Ingredients Over 2,000 health food and functional food ingredients supplied to supplement and functional food manufacturers, including more than 10 FFC-compliant materials. Covers amino acids, vitamins, plant extracts, fermentation-derived ingredients, and specialty dietary ingredients with regulatory documentation support.
• Health Food & Supplement OEM Manufacturing Contract OEM manufacturing of supplements and health foods in jelly, drink, paste, tablet, soft capsule, and hard capsule dosage forms. Uses proprietary taste-improvement technology for bitter functional ingredients and emulsification technology for oil-based ingredients. Partner factories are GMP-certified for health food manufacturing.
• Safety & Efficacy Evaluation Services (BIOX) Contract research services that match clients with appropriate testing institutions for non-clinical and clinical safety and efficacy trials. Provides end-to-end testing coordination including protocol design, CRO selection, and result interpretation across cosmetics, food, pharma, medical device, agrochemical, and household product categories.
• Karatsu Wellness Farm Mushroom Products Cultivation and direct sale of premium wellness mushrooms — including white king trumpet (white enoki), enoki, shiitake, and nameko — from the company's Karatsu Wellness Farm in Saga Prefecture, marketed for dietary fiber, vitamin content, and immune function support. Spent cultivation substrate is recycled back into mushroom production for a zero-waste approach.
• Urchin-Shaped Titanium Dioxide ST-750 (SPF Booster) Proprietary 1μm large-particle-diameter titanium dioxide with urchin-shaped morphology, designed to boost SPF when combined with UV absorbers. Enables non-chemical sunscreen formulations with high UV protection, good texture, and high transparency. Winner of the CITE JAPAN 2025 Silver Award in the Environmental Category.
• Camellia Seed Extract IC Functional Food Ingredient Proprietary functional ingredient derived from camellia seeds, formulated for use in diet support products. Used as the active component in a Foods with Function Claims (FFC) notified functional food application targeting the weight management / diet support category.

Quantifiable outcome

• EcoVadis Gold Medal — Top 5% globally in sustainability assessment (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Local Employment Support Facility in KaratsucoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022The Karatsu Wellness Farm partners with local employment support facilities in Saga Prefecture to provide work opportunities for people with disabilities, promoting social participation and regional community development. This collaboration also supports the Nou-Fukku JAS (Agriculture with褥福) certification obtained in September 2024.
• BHN Co., Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021BHN Co., Ltd. (6F Ichigo Kanda Nishikicho Building, 1-16 Kanda Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) specializes in the development, manufacturing, and sales of functional food ingredients, dietary supplements, food additives, and cosmetics. Iwase Cosfa acquired management rights of BHN in 2021 to create synergies between both companies' R&D, manufacturing, and sales capabilities in the functional food sector.
• United Nations Global CompactcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2019Iwase Cosfa became a signatory to the UN Global Compact in November 2019, reaffirming commitment to its ten principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption through its annual CSR reports.
• Dainihonkasei Co., Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDainihonkasei Co., Ltd. (1-7-10 Doshomachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka) is a group company engaged in the manufacturing and sales of cosmetic ingredients, cosmetic intermediates, and dietary supplements.
• Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAs an RSPO member (License: 2-0751-17-000-00), Iwase Cosfa actively promotes sustainable sourcing practices and fully endorses the NDPE (No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation) principles, committing to align procurement activities with these standards.
• 125+ Testing Partner Institutions (CROs)coreOthersThe Safety & Efficacy Evaluation Department maintains a global network of 125+ partner institutions (including 27 international partners) spanning the cosmetics, food, pharmaceutical, medical device, agrochemical, and household product testing sectors. This concierge service connects companies with appropriate CROs for their testing needs.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves17 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• IMCD N.V. Global specialty chemicals and ingredients distributor with deep presence in personal care, food, and pharma markets. Directly comparable to Iwase Cosfa's trading-plus-formulation-support model, though at significantly larger scale (€4B+ revenue).
• Azelis S.A. Belgian-headquartered global distributor of specialty ingredients for personal care, food, pharma, and industrial markets. Closely mirrors Iwase Cosfa's B2B ingredient trading model with proprietary formulation laboratories in multiple regions.
• DKSH Holding AG: Swiss-listed Market Expansion Services provider with strong Asia-Pacific distribution for consumer goods, personal care, and food ingredients. Directly comparable due to its trilateral trade focus, Asia-heavy footprint, and ingredient sourcing/procurement activities.
• Nagase & Co., Ltd. Japanese specialty chemicals and trading company with personal care, food ingredients, and OEM capabilities — a domestic Japanese peer with similar B2B trading-plus-formulation DNA and global subsidiary network.
• Cornelius Group: UK-based specialty raw material distributor focused on personal care, home care, and health ingredients. Similar mid-sized distributor profile with proprietary formulation support and Europe-led supplier network.

Broad incumbents

• Brenntag SE: World's largest chemical distribution company with broad portfolios across personal care and food ingredients. Overlaps with Iwase Cosfa in ingredient distribution but operates at vastly larger scale and broader geographic coverage.
• Univar Solutions: North American-headquartered broad-line chemical and ingredient distributor serving personal care, food, and industrial markets. Comparable trading-plus-services model with similar testing/technical-support capabilities.
• Sojitz Corporation: Japanese general trading company (sogo shosha) with significant chemicals and food ingredient operations. Compares to Iwase Cosfa in product categories but operates at significantly larger scale with broader portfolio diversification.

Emerging players

• Manuchar International: Belgian-headquartered specialty distribution platform with growing presence in personal care and food ingredients in emerging markets. Comparable trading/distribution model, particularly relevant given Iwase Cosfa's Morocco/Africa expansion.
• Oleosens SAS: French specialty distributor of natural cosmetic and personal care ingredients with formulation support. Comparable niche B2B distribution-plus-formulation model serving European cosmetic manufacturers, parallel to Iwase Cosfa's European subsidiary operations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/uchikarakirei

Compliance10 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 岩瀬コスファ株式会社