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Kyodo

Operators of conveyer-belt sushi restaurants in Japan are diversifying their menus and speeding up the delivery of dishes amid rising competition and costs.
"This restaurant offers a variety of food at low prices and we never want to stop coming here," said Yuki Suda, a 17-year-old at a Muten Kura Zushi restaurant in Tokyo's Itabashi ward.
On top of sushi, Muten Kura Zushi restaurants, operated by Kura Corporation, also offer reasonably priced ramen.
The company has sold more than 10 million bowls of ramen since launching in the fall of 2012.
It also offers tendon bowls of rice with deep-fried shrimps, and for a limited time, unadon rice with grilled eel. A rice bowl with Iberico pork from Spain was added to its menu in March.
Among other popular items at Muten Kura Zushi are cups of coffee brewed in an espresso machine billed as having cost one million yen (HK$72,200) and low-priced sweets, according to the company.
"We aim to become a general restaurant attracting a broad range of customers with a full-fledged food menu that can compete with any kind of restaurant," a senior official of Kura said.
The company planned to raise the ratio of sales from non-sushi dishes to 30 per cent of overall revenues, the official said.
One competitor is the Uobei sushi chain, which is operated by Genki Sushi, mainly in eastern Japan. Its restaurants do not use rotating conveyor belts, although their sushi is inexpensive.
At Uobei, customers place orders on a touch panel in front of their seats. Sushi dishes are delivered in about 90 seconds on average, some 10 times faster than on a conveyor belt.
The dishes are delivered on miniature shinkansen bullet trains or sports vehicles running on a track, a feature that helps attract children.
"Customers can enjoy fresh food without the stress of waiting," a Genki Sushi official said. "As a result, it has helped boost the turnover rate and shorten waiting times at the restaurant."
The official said that the company would replace conveyer belts at sushi restaurants of other brands with "high-speed tracks" as well.


Japan's sushi bars chop and change the menu as competition bites

Japan's sushi restaurants are diversifying their menus. Photo: Edward Wong

Japan's sushi restaurants are diversifying their menus.

News

Asia

Operators of conveyer-belt sushi restaurants in Japan are diversifying their menus and speeding up the delivery of dishes amid rising competition and costs.


Japan's sushi bars chop and change the menu as competition bites

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Operators of conveyer-belt sushi restaurants in Japan are diversifying their menus and speeding up the delivery of dishes amid rising competition and costs.

Operators of conveyer-belt sushi restaurants in Japan are diversifying their menus and speeding up the delivery of dishes amid rising competition and costs.