The Surprising Winners of the “Battle without Honor and Humanity” for Survival of the Four Major Conveyor-belt Sushi Chains

Soaring raw material prices and the “Peropero Incident” of sushi terrorism caused serious damage.
In the spring of 2023, a battle has begun in an industry facing headwinds.

The revolving sushi chain, which has long been the king of the restaurant industry, is facing a yellow light. The low price of 100 yen per plate, which has been the lifeline of these chains, is reaching its limits due to the rush to raise the price of raw materials.

Conveyor-belt sushi is supported by the family segment. A few years ago, the total bill for four people would have been 5,000 yen, but now it can exceed 8,000 yen. If the quality of the ingredients declines, it is inevitable that customers will drift to other types of businesses, such as yakiniku and family restaurants.

The “Big Four” conveyor-belt sushi chains in terms of sales are Sushiro, Kurazushi, Hamazushi, and Kappa Sushi. Of these, Sushiro has raised its minimum price to 120 yen and Kurazushi to 115 yen, and some items are now priced in the 300 yen per piece range. Conveyor-belt sushi, which has made the “special occasion” feast much more accessible, is now often called “un-cost-effective.

The industry’s credibility has been shaken by a series of scandals involving the “Big Four” sushi restaurants. The conveyor-belt sushi industry, with a market size of over 700 billion yen, has suddenly turned around and entered a period of warfare for survival.

The following is a chronological order of the successive scandals that have occurred. In April 2010, a male manager in his 30s committed suicide by burning himself to death in the parking lot of a Kura Sushi restaurant. (1) In April 2010, a male manager in his 30s at Kurazushi burned himself to death in the parking lot of the restaurant, reportedly due to power harassment by his superiors. In March 2011, three customers of Kura Sushi were arrested for posting a video on the Internet showing them eating sushi from a lane with their hands.

Then, at the end of March of this year, allegations were reported that Hamazushi had been serving expired expired items. Of these incidents, the one that had the greatest impact on the public was the aforementioned “peropero incident. An employee of a conveyor-belt sushi chain said, “Immediately after the video was circulated, the restaurant was scandalized.

Immediately after the video was circulated, the number of customers dropped sharply for about a week. After that, as the heat subsided, the number of customers returned, but we have been receiving an increasing number of inquiries asking if the restaurant is safe.