Kao is the Only Asian Company Recognized as One of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® for 19th Consecutive Year

• Kao has been recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies^® in 2025 by Ethisphere, marking 19 consecutive years of recognition since the award’s inception in 2007.
• Kao is one of only six companies worldwide and the only Asian company to have received the award for 19 consecutive years.

Kao Corporation (TOKYO:4452), a leading manufacturer of personal care and household products, cosmetics and specialty chemicals, has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies^® 2025 by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. The World’s Most Ethical Companies^® list honors companies excelling in transparency, integrity, ethics, and compliance. Kao is one of only six companies worldwide and the only Asian company to have received the award for 19 consecutive years since it was established in 2007. In 2025, 136 companies in 19 countries were selected from 44 business categories with Kao standing as the sole recipient in the Health and Beauty Care category to be honored every year.

Yoshihiro Hasebe, Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer, expressed gratitude for the accolade: “We are honored to have been selected as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies^® for 19 consecutive years. ‘Integrity as the only choice’ is at the heart of our corporate philosophy, the Kao Way, and external recognition such as this is invaluable to us. We remain committed to tackling challenges with courage as we strive toward ambitious goals, aiming to lead our industry and fulfill our purpose—creating a Kirei world in which all life lives in harmony.”

Ethisphere’s Chief Executive Officer, Erica Salmon Byrne, said: “We are, once again, delighted to honor Kao as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies^®. Kao is one of only six companies to have received this recognition from its inception—19 times. This achievement is a testament to Kao’s dedication to continually advancing best practices for ethics, compliance, and governance. We look forward to seeing Kao’s continued leadership in furthering business integrity across the industry and globally.”

Committed to Integrity by Upholding the Kao Way

The Ethisphere accolade is based on an assessment of companies’ efforts in the areas of transparency, integrity, ethics, and compliance—values that are deeply ingrained in Kao’s heritage and culture. The Kao Group upholds “Integrity as the only choice” as one of the fundamental values that form the basis of its corporate philosophy, the Kao Way. The word “integrity” is derived from the Japanese phrase seido wo ayumu, which was coined by Kao’s founder and literally means “walk the right path.” This signifies acting in accordance with the law to conduct honest, ethical and sound business activities. To implement the Kao Way, the Kao Group worldwide shares the Kao Business Conduct Guidelines. The company operates in alignment with these Guidelines, which act as a guide in times of uncertainty, a core principle in daily work and a foundation for achieving sustainability for both the company and society.

Kao Business Conduct Guidelines

Related Information

Kao sustainability website

Kao Integrated Report 2024

Kao Sustainability Report 2024

World’s Most Ethical Companies^®

About the Kirei Lifestyle Plan

Over the past 130 years, Kao has worked to improve people’s lives and help them realize more sustainable lifestyles—a Kirei Lifestyle. The Japanese word “kirei” describes something that is clean, well-ordered, and beautiful all at once. For Kao, this concept of “kirei” not only describes appearance but also attitude—a desire to create beauty for oneself, for other people, and for the natural world around us. Aiming to realize a more sustainable way of living, in April 2019, the Kao Group established its ESG strategy known as the Kirei Lifestyle Plan. By 2030, Kao aims to empower at least 1 billion people, to enjoy more beautiful lives. Kao also strives to have 100% of its products leave a full lifecycle environmental footprint that science says our natural world can safely absorb.

Please visit the Kao sustainability website for more information.

About Kao

Kao, a Japan-based manufacturer of personal care and household products, cosmetics, and specialty chemicals creates high-value-added products and services that provide care and enrichment for the life of all people and the planet. Through its brands such as Attack laundry detergent, Bioré and Jergens skin care products, Laurier sanitary products, Curél, SENSAI, and MOLTON BROWN cosmetics, and Oribe hair care products, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people across Asia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Combined with its chemical business, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,630 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 32,600 people worldwide and has more than 130 years of history in innovation. As an enterprise that provides products people use on a daily basis, the Kao Group takes responsibility to actively reduce the environmental footprint of its products throughout the product lifecycle. This is laid out in Kao’s ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan, which launched in 2019.

Please visit the Kao Group website for additional information.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250323969786/en/

‘Integrity as the only choice’ is at the heart of our corporate philosophy, the Kao Way, and external recognition such as this is invaluable to us.