Together with People and Society
Improving the experience of customers and employees through digital transformation
We want to enrich our customers’ lives and even their futures by making everyday meals more delicious. With this in mind, we are not only focusing on the quality of our products, but also on how to make our customers happy and improving the experience value. Furthermore, we are expanding these efforts not only domestically but also around the world through opening stores overseas.
Aiming to improve the experience of our customers
Our group wants to provide not only delicious food, but also a richer time and life through food. We continue to work on improving the value of our customers’ experience, such as by introducing a system that utilizes digitalization to complete all processes from restaurant reservations to seating and payment without waiting. We have also begun offering a service that digitally recreates the conveyor belt sushi experience while being mindful of food waste.
DX makes everything from reservations to checkout even smoother
Sushiro stores have implemented a variety of digital technologies. Examples include reservations via an app, automated guidance systems for entrance guidance and ticket issuing, as well as touch panels for ordering, self-checkouts, and automated souvenir lockers for takeout. By utilizing digital transformation, Sushiro is not only realizing efficient store operations, but is also working to improve the customer experience by shortening waiting times, making ordering easier, and providing smoother delivery.
Recreating the conveyor belt of sushi using digital vision
Starting in September 2023, we will be trialing the “Digital Sushiro Vision,” commonly known as Dejiro, which combines a large digital vision with a conveyor belt, at three Sushiro stores in Japan. Dejiro recreates the fun of discovering and choosing new sushi by displaying sushi on a conveyor belt on a digital vision. In addition to functioning as a touch panel, it also has features that make dining more enjoyable, such as a system that displays information about the sushi’s special features and quizzes. After receiving positive feedback from customers during the trial, we introduced Dejiro to 16 new stores from early June to the end of September 2024. We aim to install Dejiro in 100 stores by the end of September 2025.
Contribution to the local community
Based on our vision of “Change the taste of everyday life. Spread joy to the world,” we aim to build a rich society and community that will be passed on to the next generation by promoting educational support activities such as food education and scholarship programs. We also focus on contributing to the realization of an inclusive society through sports support activities for people with disabilities.
Disaster relief efforts
In February 2024, in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, which was affected by the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, a total of about 5,000 meals, including Kyotaru inari sushi and rolled sushi, were delivered directly from the Kyotaru factory, and six employees provided them at two locations and city officials provided them at one location. In March of the same year, as the second time of support for the affected areas, six employees provided 2,000 meals of “Yuri”, a box of Kyotaru’s “Chakinzushi”, 500 packs of frozen “Chakinzushi”, and other items at the Wajima City Hall site, and city officials provided them at other local evacuation shelters.
Food education activities "connecting" producers and customers
From June to October 2024, we implemented the “Future Conveyor Belt Sushi Co-Creation Project – Thinking with High School Students about the Future of Conveyor Belt Sushi.” In collaboration with Nippon Travel Agency, our group provided online classes, fieldwork, and interactive classes to learn about on-site visits to Japan’s fishing industry and the efforts of the restaurant industry toward sustainable use of fishing. Seven high schools in the Kansai region, 25 students, and nine teachers participated in this project, and four online classes and two days of fieldwork were conducted. The results were announced to executives at our headquarters, and one of the representative schools made a presentation and was awarded at our group’s kick-off meeting at the beginning of the fiscal year.
Sushiro rice planting and harvesting experience
Sushiro is working to promote food education. One part of this initiative is “Sushi Education,” which teaches children the importance of food through rice planting and harvesting experiences and tours of the farming facilities where yellowtail and hamachi fish are grown. The rice planting and harvesting experience tour has been held since 2015, and participants can experience farming work in the rice fields where “Sushiro’s exclusive rice” is grown. For many children, this is their first time seeing rice ears before they become white rice and the threshing process, and the tour is bustling with families every year, providing an opportunity to foster gratitude towards producers.
TOPICS
Grant-type scholarship system
The “FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES Scholarship Program” was launched in October 2021. We provide financial support in the form of grant-type scholarships that do not need to be repaid so that students do not have to give up on going to university or advancing to the next grade for financial reasons.
Sushiro Manpuku Project
In order to realize its corporate philosophy of spreading the joy of delicious food, the company is distributing digital tickets that can be used at Sushiro to single parents and other families with children through an NPO, in order to help children learn more about delicious sushi.
Support activities for people with disabilities
With the aim of realizing a society of inclusion, we continue to support the NPO Japan Baseball Federation for the Disabled. As part of our efforts to create stores that are popular with the local community, when Sushiro opens a new store, we hold a tasting event inviting people from nearby facilities for the disabled.
Educational support activities
Under the theme of SDGs, we work with primary industry businesses, local communities, and companies to create learning opportunities for children and cooperate with school classes.
Food safety and security
In order to allow our customers to enjoy a fulfilling meal, it is essential that the processes related to food ingredient management and cooking are safe and secure. In addition to managing the hygiene of people, places, tools, ingredients, etc., we implement measures to prevent food poisoning by properly understanding possible risks at every stage from the raw materials to serving them to customers.
Our approach to food safety and security
To realize our vision of “Change the taste of everyday life. Spread joy to the world,” we have set the following guidelines: “Single-minded sincerity. Face people’s health, safety, and security head-on. And the precious global environment.” In order for our customers to enjoy a fulfilling time through food, it is essential that the processes involved in food management and cooking are safe and secure. In addition to managing the hygiene of people, places, tools, and ingredients, we implement measures to prevent food poisoning by properly understanding the potential risks at every stage from the raw materials to serving them to customers.
Quality assurance system based on HACCP principles
HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) is a basic concept that involves analyzing where and what risks exist from the time raw materials are used until the product is delivered to the customer, planning how and at what stage to manage and avoid risks, continuously checking and visualizing the implementation status, and taking action to improve the situation if any problems are found and reviewing the plan as necessary. We will manage the entire supply chain based on this concept.
Supplier quality and hygiene management
Our Group purchases products from approximately 170 companies (as of the end of September 2024). When starting new transactions, we position food safety as a particularly important issue. We check whether the supplier’s processing plant has GFSI certification, an international standard for food safety management, and if it does not, our specialized department visits the processing plant directly to check the management situation in detail in accordance with our Group’s requirements and confirms that it meets the passing standards before starting transactions. Even after starting transactions, we continue to ensure safety and security by conducting inspections and visits to processing plants on an irregular basis.
Quality and hygiene management in stores
In addition to complying with food safety laws and regulations in the countries and regions in which we operate, our stores also conduct hygiene management based on the HACCP approach, an international hygiene management method. As our group’s main menu item is sushi and we handle a lot of raw food, hygiene management of employees engaged in cooking is particularly important. At Sushiro, our core business, we check the health and appearance of each employee before they start work. We have also introduced a “third-party hand washing confirmation” system to ensure that all employees wash their hands correctly at important times, such as when entering the store or after using the toilet. To check whether this system is functioning properly and whether all employees wash their hands correctly, cameras are installed at the hand washing sinks and monitoring is carried out at the head office. We have formulated a HACCP hygiene management plan to make hygiene management efforts visible, and we are making them known to employees through educational activities. In addition, hygiene inspections are conducted twice a year by an external hygiene inspection agency at all stores to evaluate whether management is being carried out in accordance with the hygiene management plan. For stores with low ratings, our specialized department visits the store to check for improvements and provide guidance, so that all stores can maintain a certain level of safety.
Allergen and origin information
In order to accommodate a wide variety of customers, we provide updated allergen information for our main menu and promotional items. We also disclose the origin of the ingredients in each product in accordance with the “Guidelines for Country of Origin Labeling in Restaurants” published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. We only use ingredients imported from overseas that meet domestic standards.
*Other allergens not originally included in the menu may unintentionally become attached or mixed in during production at the factory or during cooking in the store.
*Desserts, drinks, and toppings (sauces, seasonings, etc.) are not subject to labeling.
*Due to weather conditions or procurement circumstances, we may source from other countries.
Enhancement of human capital management
The word “COMPANIES” in our company name “FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES” means colleagues who work together to realize our dreams. We believe that each employee with a diverse background can create new value by working in an organization in their own way, so we have established a DE&I Promotion Committee and various career development support systems.
F&LC Human Rights Policy
Our group aims to create a sustainable society and grow as a company. Based on our VISION, “Let’s change the taste of everyday life. Let’s spread joy to the world,” we believe that solving social issues through our business will lead to sustainable growth.
Our Group has formulated this policy based on our responsibility to respect human rights in our business activities. Important issues for our Group include not only the sustainability of marine resources and agricultural products, but also issues related to “people.” In addition to promoting human resource development and DE&I initiatives, we will work to respect the human rights of a wide range of stakeholders (employees, customers, local communities, suppliers and business partners).
Promoting DE&I
FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES aims to realize its corporate philosophy, VISION: “Change the daily deliciousness. Spread joy to the world.” One of the driving forces behind this is the promotion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I). We promote DE&I by setting “Diversity is based on individuality. To infinitely increase the group’s strength. Let’s accept each other’s individuality. Let’s demonstrate our diverse strengths.” as one of our PRINCIPLES (action guidelines).