Together with people and society

Increase customer experience value using DX and other means Community development and involvement Food Safety and Security Enhance human capital management Respect for human rights Promoting diversity and inclusion (D&I)

MaterialityIncrease customer experience value
using DX and other means

Our goal is to bring delicious food to everyday meals and provide enriching experiences to our customers. With this in mind, we are focusing on the quality of our products as well as on how to make our customers happy and improve the value of their restaurant experience. In addition, we are expanding these efforts not only in Japan but also around the world through overseas restaurant openings.

Aspiring to Increase Customer Experience Value

We provide not only great tasting foods, but also enrich customers’ time and lives through food. In addition to our reservation booking process, we continue to work to improve the value of the customer experience, such as using a DX system at restaurants that allows customers to complete everything from seating to payment without waiting. Considering food loss and waste, we have also started to develop a service that digitally reproduces the conveyor belt sushi experience.

Streamlining the Process from Reservation Booking to Payment using DX

A variety of digital technologies have been introduced at Sushiro restaurants, such as app-based reservations, seating and ticketing machines and automated instruction systems when entering the store, touch panels for ordering once seated, and automated lockers for self-checkout and takeout. The use of DX will not only enable efficient restaurant operations, but will also improve customer experience value, i.e., reducing waiting times and providing easy ordering.

New Model for Kaiten Sushi

In September 2023, we introduced Digital Sushiro Vision, nicknamed Digiro, which combines a large-scale digital screen and a conveyor belt line, on a trial basis at three restaurants in Japan. Using Digiro, sushi moves on a virtual conveyor belt line on a digital screen, allowing customers to enjoy an unprecedented dining experience, including menu search and games. In addition to the role of a touch panel, such as searching and ordering menu items, the screen also offers functions that enliven the dining experience, such as information about the sushi available and a quiz.

Expanding Japanese Kaiten Sushi Culture around the Globe

Since the opening of its first restaurant in South Korea in 2011, Sushiro has been actively opening restaurants overseas, mainly in Asia, including South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, and mainland China. When opening a restaurant overseas, we focus not on localization to suit local palates, but rather to provide the authentic and exacting taste of Japanese sushi. Through sushi, we aim to share Japanese food culture globally and provide customers around the world with an exciting experience.

Spreading the Great Taste of Sushi to Indonesia and the United States

Overseas, Sushiro reached 100 restaurants in December 2022, up from 12 in 2018, and the brand is now promoting greater expansion globally. In particular, from 2021, we accelerated the opening of restaurants in mainland China, expanding to 34 as of the end of September 2023.Overseas business is an important part of the Group’s growth, and we aim to increase the ratio of overseas sales to 40% by 2026, with an eye on Muslim-friendly demand and restaurant openings in the United States.
In order to maintain and improve quality, we are focusing on human resource development and recruitment, while also promoting labor-saving solutions at overseas restaurants, introducing our know-how in Japan for sales promotion, and promoting efficient operations. Going forward, we will continue to invest in focused growth and share the great taste of sushi with the world as a global restaurant brand originating in Japan.

Revitalization of Local Industries and Job Creation

We believe that creating jobs in areas where we do business overseas is an initiative that benefits local communities. The Group employs foreign nationals in a variety of positions not only in Japan but also overseas. They are active in supporting our overseas restaurant operations by making use of their native-level proficiency in the local language.

Community development and involvement

With the aim of creating a prosperous society for the next generation, we are promoting educational support activities such as initiatives on the theme of food education and a scholarship program. We are also focusing on giving back to local communities through sports support activities for people with disabilities and tasting events at our restaurants.

Food Education land Rice planting tour Activities Connecting Producers and Consumers

Sushiro holds the Go! Go! Kids Project as an initiative to promote food education. As part of these activities, we provide “sushi education” that teaches about the importance of “food” through rice planting and harvesting experiences and tours of aquaculture facilities where Japanese amberjack (or yellowtail) are raised.
We have hosted rice planting and harvesting tours since 2015, providing consumers with direct insight into the farming work that goes into rice fields where “Sushiro’s exclusive rice” is grown. Many children see the rice husks and threshing for the first time before they become white rice, as these tours fill up with many families every year. The tours also provide an opportunity to develop a sense of gratitude toward the producers.
At our aquaculture facilities, visitors can experience the importance of fishery resources by observing the process of raising, catching, and processing ingredients for sushi.
In 2021, we held our first online class, “Sushiro’s Online Kids Class: Part of Your Community,” teaching about the ecology of the local community provided by Sushiro and the ingenuity behind our feed.

TOPICS

Grant-based Scholarship Program

In October 2021, we launched the Food & Life Companies Scholarship Program. To avoid situations where students are forced to give up on university or advancing to a higher level due to financial reasons, we provide financial assistance through grant-based scholarships that do not need to be repaid.

Children’s Sushiro Manpuku Project

To realize our corporate philosophy of “Discovering new tastiness, sharing moments of joy,” we gift digital meal tickets that can be redeemed at Sushiro brand restaurants to single parents and other families raising children through an NPO with the hope of providing children with the opportunity to discover the delicious taste of sushi.

Supporting People with Disabilities

With the aim of realizing an inclusive society, we continue to sponsor the Japan Dream Baseball League, an NPO. As part of our efforts to create a restaurant that will be appreciated by the community, whenever we open a Sushiro brand restaurant, we hold tasting events for people from nearby facilities for people with disabilities.

Education Support Activities

Under themes such as the SDGs and other issues, we are working with primary industry operators, local communities, and companies to create opportunities for children to learn and cooperate with school learning.

MaterialityFood Safety and Security

In order for customers to enjoy their dining experience, it is essential that the processes related to food ingredient management and cooking are safe and secure. In addition to hygiene management of people, places, tools, and ingredients, we are taking steps to prevent food poisoning while correctly identifying potential risks at all stages, from raw materials to serving prepared dishes to customers.

Approach to Food Safety and Security

One of our action guidelines to realize our Vision of “Discovering new tastiness, Sharing moments of joy.” states “Dedicated/Single-minded sincerity. Our priority is the safety and well-being of people and the environment.” Based on this, we promise to continue to address the safety and security of our customers and the global environment throughout the entire supply chain, from raw materials to serving the final products to our customers.

Quality Assurance System Grounded in HACCP Concepts

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a system that analyzes where and what kind of risks exist from raw materials to delivery of final products to customers, plans how to manage and avoid these risks at which stages, and continuously checks and visualizes implementation. The basic idea is to carry out improvement activities in the event of a problem and to review the plan as necessary. We manage our entire supply chain based closely on this approach.

PDF Click here for quality control system
based on the idea of HACCP

Carefully Managing the Quality and Hygiene Controls of Suppliers

As of September 30, 2023, the Group purchases products from approximately 170 suppliers. When starting a new business relationship, food safety is a particularly important issue. We ensure that a supplier’s processing plant has obtained GFS I certification, which is an international standard for food safety management, or if it does not, members of our specialized department go directly to the processing plant to check the operations in detail in accordance with the requirements of the Group, and to confirm that it meets the acceptance criteria before doing business with them. Even after the start of transactions, we continue to conduct inspections and visits of processing plants on an irregular basis to ensure safety and security.

Quality and hygiene control in stores

In addition to complying with the laws and regulations related to food safety in the countries and regions in which we operate, our restaurants also carry out hygiene management based on the concept of HACCP, an international hygiene management method.
The Group’s main menu item is sushi, and since we handle a large amount of raw food, hygiene management of employees engaged in food preparation is particularly important. At Sushiro, our core restaurant brand, we check the health and grooming of each employee before they begin work. In addition, we have introduced a system for “third-party handwashing confirmation” so that all employees wash their hands according to the correct way at important intervals, such as washing their hands when entering the restaurant and after using the restroom. In order to ensure that this system is functioning correctly and that all employees are washing their hands in the correct way, we have installed cameras at handwashing sinks and monitor behavior at the head office.
We have formulated a HACCP hygiene management plan to visualize hygiene management initiatives, and we are disseminating this through employee training. We also conduct hygiene inspections twice a year by an external health inspection agency at all restaurants to evaluate whether hygiene management is being carried out in accordance with this plan. For restaurants that receive low ratings, members of our specialized department visit stores to confirm improvements and provide instructions, so that all our restaurants can maintain a certain level of food safety.

Allergen / origin information

In order to respond to various customers’ visits, we provide allergen information to the grand menu and promotional products while updating it from time to time. In addition, in accordance with the “Guidelines for Labeling the Origin of Eating Out” published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, information on the origin of raw materials for each product is also disclosed. We use only ingredients imported from overseas that meet domestic standards.

* Other allergens that are not originally included in the menu may unintentionally adhere or mix during factory manufacturing or store cooking.
* Desserts, drinks and toppings (sauces, seasonings, etc.) are not displayed.
* We may purchase from other countries due to the influence of the weather and the convenience of procurement.

MaterialityEnhance human capital management

The word “companies” in our company name “Food & Life Companies” means that we are colleagues looking to realize our dreams together. We believe that each employee with their diverse backgrounds can create new value by working in an organization while remaining true to his or her own self. Toward this end, we have established the D&I Promotion Committee and various systems to support career development.

F&LC Human Rights Policies

The F&LC Group seeks to achieve a sustainable society and corporate growth. We believe that solving social issues through business operations based on our Vision, “Discovering new tastiness, sharing moments of joy,” should lead to sustainable growth.
The F&LC Group established its F&LC Human Rights Policies (hereinafter, the “Policies”) in consideration of its responsibility to respect human rights in its business activities. Important issues for the F&LC Group include issues related to people as well as the sustainability of fishery resources and agricultural products. In addition to promoting the empowerment of human resources and D&I initiatives, we will stay committed to respecting the human rights of the many different stakeholders including our employees, customers, local communities, suppliers and business partners.
The F&LC Group supports and respects the UN International Bill of Human Rights and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The Policies were formulated referencing the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact and based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Click here for more information
about our human rights initiatives

Promoting diversity and inclusion (D&I)

At FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES (F&LC), we aim to achieve our Vision, or our corporate philosophy:Discovering new tastiness, sharing moments of joy.
A driving force behind it is the promotion of diversity and inclusion (D&I). We promote D&I guided by one of our Principles (action guidelines): Personal qualities are essential for diversity — Let’s respect each other’s personal qualities and demonstrate our diverse characteristics to infinitely increase our capabilities at F&LC.

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about Promoting diversity and inclusion (D&I)

Sustainability

CEO Message Value Creation Process Framework for
Sustainability Management Together with the Global Environment Together with people and society Strengthening governance structure