Acquired "Sweet Home Run King" What is Chateraise?

March 23, 19:43

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"Navona is the home run king of sweets." From the 1965s

to the beginning of Heisei, "Kameya Mannendo" is known for the commercials in which Sadaharu Oh appeared.

Many people may have been surprised to hear the news that this long-established Japanese confectionery store was acquired in January.

The confectionery maker "Chateraise Holdings" headquartered in Kofu City was acquired.

I hear people say "I don't know well" because they don't do TV commercials, but Corona is a company that is increasing the number of stores nationwide.

Where is the driving force?

(Kofu Broadcasting Station reporter Kengo Aoyagi)

"Leap forward" in the corona

Chateraise handles about 400 types of Western confectionery such as cakes and cream puffs, ice cream, and Japanese confectionery such as dorayaki.

We sell sweets that we usually eat at snack time at our stores.

Even in the case of Corona, business performance is on the rise, and sales in 2020 are expected to reach 78 billion yen (non-consolidated), an increase of more than 20% from the previous year.

Over the past year, we have opened 52 new stores, and the number of stores in Japan and overseas has expanded to about 660.

Chateraise was originally a small confectionery store that opened in Kofu City in 1954.

Chairman Hiroshi Saito (87) has grown it into a nationwide company in his lifetime.

Its management philosophy has been consistent since its inception.

Chairman Saito:

"If you want to make a profit, you don't make a profit. If you don't want to make a profit and you can make a fan of Chateraise by making your customers happy, you will make a profit. How to make a" strong fan "is our job. What is it? "

Acquire fans by destroying prices

We have been particular about "overwhelming cheapness" since our establishment.

Shortcake with strawberries is 300 yen.

Vanilla and chocolate ice cream costs 60 yen each.

Chairman Saito:

"I thought that prices in Japan are high even in the world. Anyway, when I try to feed children, Western confectionery and ice cream are out of reach. Let's make them reachable. The idea is that we originally started from "price destruction", such as selling 50 yen cream puffs for 10 yen, and even ice cream at the wholesale price to supermarkets. "

What made "price destruction" possible is a unique supply chain that the company calls a "farm factory."

We purchase raw materials necessary for sweets such as eggs, milk, and fruits directly from contract farmers in Yamanashi, and make sweets at our own factory near the farm.

Then, it is a mechanism to deliver directly to stores nationwide without going through wholesalers, wholesalers, or retailers.

It is said that this mechanism, which started in 1985, overturned the common sense of distribution at that time.

Chairman Saito

"I'm a farmer from the beginning, so I can understand the feelings of the farmer. You can do it directly with the farmer without going through a wholesaler. Because we don't go through middlemen, we can buy good ingredients cheaply and serve delicious foods at a reasonable price. "

Experts familiar with the distribution industry analyze this mechanism as follows.

"Japanese and Western sweets don't last long, so it's more common to make them at a store and sell them at a store. The chateraise mechanism is extremely rare, and you can mass-produce things that don't last long. The biggest point is that we are creating a system. "

" If other companies try to do the same thing,

they will create the system from scratch, which

will cost a huge amount of money, and if they do not sell, they will take all the risks themselves. You have to bear the burden. It is common for ordinary companies to not be able to do it because of the high risk. "

Back alley strategy blossoms

There is also a reason for the location of the store that made it possible to destroy prices.

Most Chateraise stores are located in the suburbs, not in the cities.

In addition, we are aiming for a location along the main road, close to the residential area.

Chairman Saito

"It's a back alley strategy. Anyone can do it in a good place. In terms of fishing, it's not a fishing pond, but a place where the flow is fast and there is no fish shadow. It means that you can't sell without product power, including cost. "

If it is a local city, the suburban type has less initial investment and cost, and it is said that it can be rented at about one-third or one-fourth of the city center.

The trade area is supposed to be about 10 minutes by car from the store, which is convenient for people living in the vicinity.

That is the self-restraint of going out due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, and the flowers will bloom.

Sales in April and May of last year, when the state of emergency was declared, increased by about 40% compared to the same month of the previous year.

The number of suburban stores that allow customers to get in a car and visit stores "door to door" and buy products in a short amount of time has increased.

350,000 followers

Efforts to acquire “strong fans” are also reflected in the promotion strategy.

Since our founding, we have emphasized word-of-mouth, saying, "If the product is good, you don't need advertisements."

So far, we have hardly advertised TV commercials.

Instead, we are focusing on SNS.

I post products on Twitter with pictures of sweets almost every day.

The official account has 350,000 followers.

It has more than 100,000 followers than major confectionery makers such as Meiji and Bourbon.

When you find a tweet about your product, you immediately "retweet".

We will also politely "reply" to critical opinions.

We are trying to win “strong fans” by connecting with consumers in both directions rather than one-way promotion.

Chairman Saito:

"Customers are now in an era where they can connect with SNS when they have delicious food. The topic is to produce very delicious food at a reasonable price. This is not word-of-mouth, but" SNS Komi "."

Making fans to the next stage

Chateraise has opened the first store of its new brand "YATSUDOKI" in Ginza, Tokyo, and has expanded to 14 stores so far.

It is a "premium shop" that sells a sense of luxury, and it is also open in front of stations in urban areas, not in the suburbs.

We aim to make people who have never known Chateraise become new fans.

Furthermore, we are accelerating overseas expansion, especially in Asia.

So far, more than 90 stores have already opened in Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc.

With the policy of increasing local production, we plan to build it in Vietnam following the completion of the Indonesian factory.

Chairman Saito:

"I think that if we do what we have done overseas as it is, the local people will be very pleased. We will do it with a high image and at low cost. It is just right to try Chateraise's current strategy overseas. I want to push forward in a way that makes it a "chateraise of the world" at the right time. "

What makes you happy

“The only thing that matters is how to make something that pleases our customers.” The

gentle Chairman Saito said in an interview left an impression on me.

In order to strengthen the Japanese confectionery field, Kameya Mannendo, which was acquired in January, plans to open a new store in Yamanashi Prefecture from the new fiscal year (2021), and will open franchise stores nationwide. It's a plan.

87-year-old Chairman Saito.

At the end of the interview, he said, "I'll do more."

As a company originating in Yamanashi, I would like to continue to pay attention to new initiatives.

Kofu Broadcasting Station Reporter

Kengo Aoyagi

After interviewing the

2017 admission

case, he is

currently in charge of the economic field.