水落 隆博, くら寿司、台湾でも「ビッくらポン」で勝負; 成長シナリオを占う重要な試金石に. 東洋経済, Dec 20, 2014.
toyokeizai.net/articles/-/56192
Note:
(a) Toyo Keizai (株式会社) 東洋経済 (新報社)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyo_Keizai
(a book and magazine publisher)
does not publish newspapers.
(b) The report carries two photos: two conveyor belts by a table, and dish disposal in a slot by the table.
(c) “くら寿司は、2009年に初めての海外店舗を米国にオープンした。ただ、現地では生ものを食べる人が少なく、寿司といってもロール巻きが中心。日本で蓄え たノウハウをそのまま生かせるマーケットではない。一方、今回の台湾進出では、鮮度を保つ寿司キャップ「鮮度くん」や、水で皿を回収し精算もスムーズとな る「水回収システム」など、日本と同じシステムを海外店として初めて導入した。”
translation: Kura Sushi opened its first oversea restaurant in US in 2009. Yet, there few people eat raw food. Even so called sushi centers on roll sushi [such as California roll]. As (it) is, [the company] cannot make the best use of the knowhow gained in Japan and applies to that market. On the other hand, this expansion into Taiwan for the first time allows identical systems used in Japan for an oversea store: 鮮度君 (the cap [cover] that keeps sushi fresh), the precision to collect [empty] dishes with water, etc.
* ロール巻き: ロール (katakana for “roll”) = 巻き
* sushi
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushi
(section 2 Types, section 2.3 Makizushi 巻き寿司)
(d) "成功店のモデルフォーマットを作ったうえで、「一挙に数十店規模にまで拡大させたい」(くらコーポレーションIR担当者)と意欲的だ。"
Based on a successful model format, a person in Kura Corp in charge IR [international relations] wants to establish as many as scores of stores [in Taiwan], with a single swoop.
(e) "進出先に台湾を選んだ理由は、親日国であり、日本で流行りの製品や文化が受け入れられやすい下地があることや、政府も誘致に積極的なことが挙げられる。決め手は、すでに回転寿司市場が形成されており、新規参入しても評価が得やすいと考えた点。くら寿司によると、台湾には数百億円規模の回転すし市場があるという。"
The reason Taiwan is selected as the place of expansion is: pro-Japan, accepting goods and culture popular in Japan, cheap [inexpensive], [Taiwan] government's incentives and so on.The decisive factor is the already formed conveyor-belt sushi market, so such so that even a new entrant can easily gauge [the market]. According to Kura Sushi, the Taiwan market for conveyor belt sushi amounts to tens of billions yen.
(f) "その中で断トツの存在感を示しているのが現地企業の「争鮮回転寿司」(Sushi Express)で、店舗数は200以上を誇る。くら寿司の日本での店舗数が2014年10月期末で344だから、かなりの大規模チェーンであることがわかる。"
In the [Taiwan] market, 争鮮回転寿司 Sushi Express is one local enterprises with commanding lead and boasts 200 plus stores. Kura Sushi has 344 stores in Japan by the end of October 2014, so we understand that [Sushi Express] is relatively large in scale.
(g) "ただ、同じ回転寿司といっても、レーンの中に人がいて、ロボットが握ったすしをサーブしたり、お客から声がかかれば注文を受けたりと、台湾の現状はさながら昔の日本の回転すしのようだという。日本のいわゆる100円均一店では、注文はタッチパネル方式でレーンは直線と、効率化や厨房の省人化では台湾の先を行く。"
However, though [Sushi Express] is in the same business of conveyor belt sushi, [in its stores] people [diners] sits inside the lane, having the sushi [whose rice] robots knead into shape, and orders by shouting. The current Taiwan is, so to speak, Japan in the past as far as conveyor belt sushi is concerned. The so called 100 yen uniform-price [Kura] store [ie, dollar store, where every item costs $1]--with orders by touch panel, straight lane, efficiency, and few people in kitchens--will be destined for Taiwan.
(h) "デフレ時代の勝ち組と言われた回転すし業界だが、魚介価格の高騰に急速な円安が追い打ちをかけ、各社の経営環境は厳しさを増している。そんな中、くら寿司が12月12日に発表した2014年10月期決算は、最終利益が前期比約2割増の30億円と過去最高を記録。 * * * 台湾を橋頭保に海外 [東南アジア] 拡大へ [section heading] とはいえ、くら寿司の顧客の中心は子供連れの30代ファミリー層。長い目で見れば、少子高齢化が進む国内だけでは市場は先細りのおそれがある。* * * 日本に比べて原材料費や人件費が安く、おまけに法人税も17%と低い。 * * * くら寿司によれば、台湾のオープン初日は「大盛況だった」と、上々のスタートを切ったようだ。業績が絶好調とはいえ、回転すしは外食の中でも原価が高く、薄利多売のビジネスであることに変わりはない。
Though conveyor belt sushi is a winner in the era of deflation [in Japan], the rising costs of fish and shellfish [seafood, in a word] and yen depreciation [possibly Kura Sushi imports] increases the hardship of the business. In the midst of that, on Dec 12 Kura Sushi published its financial report for October, with profit hiking by 20% or 3 billion yen. * * * Taiwan as beachhead to expand into Southeast Asia [heading] Even so, the customers of Kura Sushi are around the thirty something [age] families with children. In the long term, relying solely on the domestic market, which is progressing to few children and old age, brings fear of a dwindling market. [So Kura Sushi must go out.] * * * Compared with Japan, raw material and labor [in Taiwan] are cheap. What's more, corporate tax of 17% is low. * * * Kura Sushi says, the grand opening day saw great success ( or, packed-out) 大盛況, which makes a superb start. Although performance is top form (despite good business), high 原価 cost of good sold of revolving sushi [on conveyor belt] among food service industry 外食 [literally, dining out] makes this a business of small profits with large volume, a fact that will not change.
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