Seafood maker Natori Co. said Tuesday it will set up a joint venture with Waseda University to develop food items for the elderly.
The new company, tentatively called T.M.L., will be capitalized at 10 million yen, Natori said.
It will be owned 40 percent by Hiroo Yamakawa, a researcher at the private university's research institute on social system engineering, and 20 percent by Natori, the company said. Yamakawa will become president of the new company.
The joint venture, to be established Thursday, will develop products designed to improve the quality and convenience of the daily diet of elderly people, Natori said.
It aims to post a pretax profit of 18 million yen on 271 million yen in sales in the year to next March 31.