Yasutaka Kawamura, President and CEO of Yoshinoya Holdings Co., Ltd.　

Background and purpose of the "#EatingOutisPowerful" project

■ Profile

Born in Osaka in 1968. After graduating from high school in Hiroshima in 1987, he worked part-time before joining Yoshinoya D&C in 1993. In 2001, he was assigned to the Group Planning Office of Yoshinoya D&C. In 2004, he was seconded to Hanamaru, where he contributed to the company's business restructuring, and in 2007 he became the company's Representative Director and President. In 2012, he became President of Yoshinoya HD, and in 2014 he concurrently served as President of Yoshinoya. Under the long-term management vision NEW-BEGINNINGS2025, he is working to "redefine the food and beverage industry."

The restaurant industry, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, is uniting behind the "#EatingOutisPowerful" project and is beginning to see renewed excitement. We spoke with Yasutaka Kawamura, President and CEO of Yoshinoya Holdings Co., Ltd., about the background and purpose of the project, and why it has been successful in getting so many restaurants involved.

The appeal of the food industry is that customers' reactions are direct

Due to the spread of the coronavirus, the streets have been deserted for a long time. In the past, there have been events that had a major impact on business, such as the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Lehman Shock, but there was a sense of excitement as everyone came together to work hard towards recovery. However, with the current spread of the coronavirus, people are unable to come into contact with each other, so that kind of movement is not happening, which is a big difference from previous events.
On the other hand, it has also encouraged various changes. For example, it has sped up the introduction of touch panels and self-checkouts to avoid contact. Also, as for Hanamaru Udon, the ratio of takeout orders was almost zero until now, but sales have now increased significantly.
In this situation, it is the large stores that have been hit harder. Because the subsidies are uniform regardless of the size of the store, small stores are benefiting, but large stores have been hit so hard that they cannot recover.
Additionally, the entertainment and sports industries are still facing tough times. Because of these changes, I don't think things will ever go back to exactly the same as they were before COVID-19. Another appealing aspect of working in a restaurant is that you cook the food and serve it on the spot, so you get to feel the customers' reactions directly. You can see both positive and negative reactions right there, which I think makes the job very rewarding.

■ Background and purpose of the "#EatingOutBecomesPower" project

With "no one on the streets," Yoshinoya alone could do nothing. However, workplace vaccinations began around June 2021, and vaccinations progressed at a pace faster than expected. We thought that if new positive cases continued to decline at this rate, people would start to feel more comfortable eating out. The idea of ​​starting a movement to encourage people to do so led to the launch of the "#EatingOutBecomesPower" project. This project is a cross-cutting restaurant project undertaken by restaurant companies and companies that support dining out. Japanese people tend to be driven by their atmosphere, so we decided to first change that atmosphere. Since restaurants are often located in commercial facilities, we prioritized bringing people back.

■A major movement made possible precisely because of the COVID-19 pandemic

However, this is something that cannot be achieved through the efforts of one company alone, so we first reached out to other companies to start a movement. In this project, each restaurant sets its own unique benefits to make dining out even more enjoyable for customers. Yoshinoya itself ran a campaign offering 10% off in-store purchases, which led to an increase in customer numbers and a positive profit. However, the numbers have yet to return to pre-COVID levels of 2019. Other restaurants were free to set their own campaign content, such as greeting customers with a smile or offering free drinks for posting on social media, and there were no major restrictions, so the barrier to participation was lowered and more companies agreed to join.
Also, because the project's contents were very simple, other companies were not turned away. As a result, the number of participating stores has grown from 9,800 at the beginning to around 18,000 today.
The timing of the project announcement was difficult. Since the goal was to create a movement, there was a high possibility of criticism if it was announced too early. However, if it was announced too late, people would think, "Why now?" and it would not attract their attention. Furthermore, if it overlapped with other events or happenings such as elections, it would not be talked about, so it was a lot of work to secure and coordinate the schedules of each company's president every month. However, this opportunity allowed us to build a large network, and there are now talks of starting something together.
These efforts were only possible because of the tight situation facing the restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I believe they would not have been successful if we had called for them in normal times. Above all, I am pleased to have been able to initiate this project and get involved, and I think it was good that it gave our employees pride in their company.

The restaurant industry is likely to become more polarized in the future

I think the restaurant industry will polarize in the future. One is stores that are increasingly becoming unmanned, and the other is stores that value human intervention. Yoshinoya is aiming for the latter. There are questions such as, "Is it really fun for people to do things that machines can't do? Is that really human work?" Do you really want to do a job that is not rewarding? With this in mind, Yoshinoya wants to cherish the value that is created by human intervention. In that regard, I tell my employees, "It will be over if people start saying, 'We can do it with robots,' including in customer service."

■ Have hope for the future

I urge all university students to be in a position to create jobs in the future. Also, have hope for the future. And do the things you can only do now. If you're unsure, I think it's best to prioritize the things you can only do now. I also think there are many people who are interested in many things and can't narrow down what they want to do. In that case, I recommend taking a step further in the thing you're interested in, trying to open another door. I also urge you to work hard for the first three years after you start working. If you keep searching for yourself forever, you'll never achieve anything. No matter which company you join, the first thing you do is the same. I think it's important to first learn basic etiquette as a working member of society. I also encourage you to meet a variety of adults other than your parents and teachers and acquire a variety of ways of thinking.

Interview with Student Newspaper Online on December 23, 2021 by Koji Ishida, a second-year student at Nihon University