Counterattack "stir-fried vegetables" -The key to economic revival is food!

~ February 22, 17:33

The menu is a heap of "stir-fried vegetables".

Last December, such a unique restaurant opened in Tokyo.

Rich taste with meat and lard topping.

It is possible to use vegetables as well.

It's popular to have a line at lunch time, but it wasn't the restaurant chain that opened this restaurant.

When I interviewed behind the scenes of a new challenge, I could see the situation of the food service industry, which was swayed by the corona disaster, and hints for the revival of the Japanese economy.

(Reporter of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Maiko Oe)

One game with a heap of stir-fried vegetables!

I visited a specialty store for stir-fried vegetables that opened in a corner of downtown Shibuya, Tokyo.

The sound of cutting a large amount of cabbage echoes from the kitchen prepared with "Zaku, Zaku ..."

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Add bean sprouts, carrots, and onions to the cabbage and heat it in a hot iron pan. In no time, a heap of vegetables that are likely to spill from the plate is fried.

The menu of the store is a game of "stir-fried vegetables".

The amount of vegetables is 400 grams even in a normal serving, and you can eat a sufficient amount of vegetables that exceeds the daily vegetable intake target of 350 grams for adults.

There are three types of seasoning: soy sauce, ponzu sauce, and miso.

You can customize the taste to your liking by adding meat and lard toppings and increasing the amount of vegetables up to 600 grams.

There are curry powder and seasonings mixed with red pepper and garlic on the table, so it is possible to change the taste.

Repeaters do not get bored, and we are thoroughly committed to getting more vegetables to be eaten.

Atsushi Takekawa CEO

"There are many shops for people who want to eat meat and fish, but when you want to eat vegetables, it's not hard to think of where to go. But I think the people who want to eat vegetables are messed up, so I hope this store will be in one category. "

New entry into eating out by different industries

"Vegetable stir-fry specialty store" has become popular and can now be lined up.

However, Mr. Takekawa's main business is not eating and drinking.

Actually, this company is a commercial vegetable wholesale company that wholesales vegetables to restaurants such as izakaya mainly in the metropolitan area.

The food service industry is in a situation where the effects of the corona disaster have been prolonged and the headwinds have not stopped.

What is the aim of the vegetable wholesale company itself to open a new restaurant at this time of year?

Swung around by the corona ... There is a risk of vegetable waste

First of all, I would like you to see this graph.

It shows the changes in sales of major restaurant chains nationwide.

Sales dropped sharply in the spring of 2020, when the infection with the new corona spread for the first time.

After that, it will recover as the number of infected people decreases, but it can be seen that the situation where sales decrease again when the infection spreads again is repeated.

The food service industry is not the only one swayed by the corona infection.

Mr. Takekawa's company wholesales vegetables at about 5,000 restaurants such as izakaya.

For this reason, if the restaurant of the customer is closed or closed due to the corona disaster, the order of vegetables from the company will decrease.

Since October last year, when the state of emergency was completely lifted, the company's sales have recovered to about 90% of the level before Corona, but the situation has changed completely due to the re-expansion of infection by the Omicron strain.

Last month's sales plummeted to less than half of what it was before Corona.

However, the vegetables handled by the company have been cultivated by contract farmers nationwide for several months, so even if the number of orders from restaurants decreases, we cannot stop shipping suddenly.

For this reason, vegetables grown by farmers with great care can be stored in warehouses if there is no wholesaler, which may lead to disposal.

The person in charge of the company

"In the past, vegetables may temporarily stay in the warehouse due to a state of emergency, but if they continue to stay, they may be discarded. Producers work hard to make them. It's very painful not to be able to deliver the stale vegetables to the restaurant, so I thought I had to take some action. "

Increase the consumption of vegetables!

How can we connect "vegetables" and "consumers" who have lost their place due to the corona disaster?

Actually, there were some twists and turns before the opening of the "Vegetable Stir-Fry Specialty Store".

In April 2020, in the midst of the first state of emergency, this company first worked on "Drive-Through Greengrocer".

The idea was to prevent "vegetable surplus" while the restaurants of our business partners were in a situation where they could be said to be closed all at once.

The style of avoiding contact with people and being able to buy vegetables while in the car has gained popularity, and the number of users of this service, which has been implemented in up to 30 locations mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area, is about 6 in two months. It went up to 10,000 people.

However, it is said that the number of users gradually decreased as the spread of infection subsided.

The company recalls, "At that time, the infection spread for the first time, and the use was widespread because it was a special situation where the whole family was at home due to the thorough closure of school and working from home."

Next, we started a "home delivery service" that delivers vegetables to our homes.

By taking advantage of the vacant cargo bed of trucks with reduced delivery volume, we have tried to reduce the delivery fee to 500 yen per case and increase the consumption of vegetables by that means.

Mr. Takekawa:

"We have made various efforts with the Corona virus. However, services such as drive-through greengrocers were" received by consumers because they are in the state of corona. " I thought that we had to work on a “highly continuous business format that would continue even after Corona”. ”

What is strong management against corona?

How can vegetables be distributed stably regardless of the infection situation?

Here is the data to decipher the key.

Although it was before the priority measures such as spread prevention were applied in December last year, the sales of eating out as a whole did not recover to the level before Corona, and the sales of "pubs and taverns" in particular continued to drop to about half. increase.

According to Tokyo Shoko Research, there are 5844 stores operated by 14 major izakaya chains at the end of 2021.

It has decreased by about 20% in the last two years from 7,200 stores at the end of 2019 before Corona.

On the other hand, "fast food" and "grilled meat" are increasing sales from before Corona.

There are also a series of moves from izakaya to fried chicken, which is easy to take out, and to a yakiniku restaurant that is popular with families.

In other words, it shows that the demand for eating out is changing from "danran" and "friendship" with a large number of people to "a place where you can eat delicious food with a small number of people" and "a place where you can easily take out". ..

The target is "one person"

Mr. Takekawa's company pays attention to the situation of such restaurants.

By developing a restaurant chain that is not easily affected by the infection situation, we wanted to create a new business model that would realize "stable sales" and "mass consumption of vegetables" at once.

For this reason, the stores that have opened are mainly counter seats, not table seats.

We have captured the so-called "one person" demand, and have set up a store that is easy to visit even if the corona is bad.

The vegetables consumed at the store are 200 kg per day.

This consumption is equivalent to 10 restaurants of the same size, and we plan to further expand the number of stores in the future.

Mr. Takekawa

"Sales of our business partners are also declining where they drink alcohol, but there is a sense of stability in the business format that does not involve much alcohol. For this reason," one person "customers who are not easily affected by corona sickness If you are a specialty store for stir-fried vegetables, you can consume about 10 to 20 restaurants' worth of vegetables at one store. To distribute vegetables from Japanese farmers , I want to not only do simple wholesale, but also ingenuity and excitement. "

Food is the key to the revival of the Japanese economy!

The Japanese economy is "bumpy" with repeated declines in business performance due to the spread of infection and subsequent recovery.

One of the factors behind the ups and downs is "personal consumption," which accounts for more than half of GDP, especially the food service industry.

The scale of the restaurant industry is 26 trillion yen a year at the level before Corona, and if you include the wholesalers of ingredients, the skirt will expand further.

Looking back on my own life, eating out with a large number of people has been reduced due to the corona virus, and most of the meals are at home or with a small number of people.

As lifestyles change, I feel that the demand for eating out is changing to "you can eat alone" and "you can eat what you are particular about at specialty stores."

I felt that the key to the revival of the Japanese economy would be for professionals involved in food, such as "stir-fried vegetables specialty stores," to create food styles that suit the new era and to metabolize the industry. rice field.

Reporter of the Ministry of Economic Affairs

Maiko Oe

Joined in 2009

After working at the Mito Bureau and the Fukuoka Bureau, she is currently affiliated.