Meiji Holdings is set to close three yogurt factories in Japan and replace them with a new site. The Japanese food group is to invest around Y40bn ($279m) in the construction of the plant.

Yoshitsugu Nagata, an official in charge of elderly policies, said Itooka died on Dec. 29 at a care home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan. Itooka, who loved bananas and a yogurt-flavored ...