Latest Business Report] Marugame Seimen vs. Hanamaru Udon…Two Major Udon Chains “Koshi no Koshi! Summit battle

The kamaage udon will be ready soon!

The cheerful voice echoed from the Marugame Seimen Kanda Ogawamachi store in Tokyo at the end of March, where a special event was held to commemorate the deployment of noodle chefs to all stores. Food journalist Junnosuke Nagahama visited the store with a reporter.

Marugame Seimen makes udon noodles from flour at all of its stores. This event was held to celebrate the birth of “noodle craftsmen” who have passed the company’s strict noodle-making test, which is said to have a 30% pass rate, at all of its 838 stores nationwide. Today’s staff of 12 is a selection of the best noodle makers.

Indeed, the noodle makers, boilers, tempura fryers, and cashiers are all wearing dark blue uniforms with dark blue collars. The menu for the day consisted of only “three kinds of tasty udon” (500 yen), which includes kama-age udon, shoyu udon cold, and kake udon hot. The udon noodles are simply seasoned, so you can fully enjoy the texture and aroma of freshly made udon noodles. While slurping down his soy sauce udon with satisfaction, Mr. Nagahama continued.

Tridor, which operates Marugame Seimen, originally opened a yakitori restaurant in Kakogawa City, Hyogo Prefecture, in 1985. It was not a Kagawa company, nor did it specialize in udon or noodle-making. However, the founding president, Takaya Awata, 62, had one great original experience. It was the shockingly delicious taste of freshly made udon noodles at a small store in Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture, his father’s hometown, that did not even have a signboard. Based on this experience, I created an udon chain based on the concept of ‘offering customers to eat handmade noodles on the spot.

At the time, there were no large chain restaurants in the udon industry. Mr. Awata entered the udon industry by opening the first store, “Marugame Seimen Kakogawa Store” in November ’00, in order to spread that original experience to people all over Japan. Since then, the company has expanded its power, mainly through roadside stores in the suburbs, but also through food courts in shopping malls and building-in type stores in the city center. The bird flu epidemic of 2004 led to a complete shift in Tridor’s core business from yakitori to udon noodles.

Marugame Seimen became number one in terms of the number of stores in 2009 and continued to lead the industry from then on, but around the latter half of 2005, sales at existing stores began to slump and the number of customers repeatedly fell below the previous year’s level. However, in the latter half of 2005, sales at existing stores began to slump and the number of customers repeatedly fell below the previous year’s level. Mr. Awata was looking for a way to revive his business, but there was a limit to what he could do. He asked for help from Takeshi Morioka, 51, a genius marketer who had made a name for himself in such projects as the restructuring of Universal Studios Japan.

The marketing group “Katana” led by Mr. Morioka turned its attention to Mr. Awata’s original experience with “ready-made” production. The layout of the restaurant was completely changed from the previous one, in which the noodle-making process took place behind the scenes, out of sight of customers.

The noodle-making machine and the large pot used to boil the noodles were immediately visible upon entering the store, creating a live atmosphere of “udon noodles are alive. This strategy worked, and just four months after the sword took over the marketing duties, the number of customers visiting the store increased year-on-year.

The passion of the founder and the outstanding marketing ability of the founder to give shape to this passion. The synergistic effects of these two factors have firmly established Marugame as the overwhelming champion in the industry.

Following in the footsteps of this champion is Hanamaru Udon, whose driving force is its extraordinary respect for Sanuki, the home of udon noodles. The former champion, which took first place in market share in fiscal 2009, was founded in 2000, coincidentally the same year as Marugame Seimen. Restaurant industry producer Mitsuhiko Suda, who has experience designing Hanamaru Udon, said, “Marugame Seimen has been making a name for itself in the Hyogo area.

While Marugame Seimen originated in Hyogo Prefecture, Hanamaru Udon was born in Kagawa Prefecture. It was the desire of the founder, Hidehito Maeda, to spread the self-service style of udon restaurants (where customers take their own tempura, toppings, soup stock, etc.), which is the standard format in Kagawa, throughout the country.
In his third year of business, with only a few stores in western Japan, he suddenly opened a store on Shibuya Park Avenue in the middle of Tokyo. This was a huge success. At the time, there were very few authentic Sanuki udon restaurants in Tokyo, and the sensationalism of the self-serve format combined to make the restaurant instantly popular. At the time, monthly sales were probably around 20 to 30 million yen. This success prompted us to begin franchising in the Kanto region.”

Hanamaru’s Miscalculation

However, Hanamaru Udon struggled with this franchise development. The rapid expansion of the franchise meant that the company was unable to improve its operations in time.

In recent years, Ikinari Steak failed due to its rapid expansion, but in the past, Hanamaru Udon was in a similar situation. Insufficient human resource development led to delays in product delivery and lax temperature control, and complaints were received. Under such conditions, it was impossible for the company to thrive, and the company was in trouble to the point of collapse. Mr. Maeda sold his shareholding in the company to the Yoshinoya Group, a beef bowl chain, and in 2012, the company chose to become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Yoshinoya Group.

There was another reason for Hanamaru Udon’s decline. It was the company’s insistence on “Sanuki Udon” (Sanuki noodles). As mentioned above, Marugame Seimen did not originate in Marugame City, Kagawa Prefecture, and its seasoning was different from Sanuki udon, so it was often viewed negatively by the people of Kagawa Prefecture, the home of Sanuki udon. However, Hanamaru Udon insisted on the authentic taste.

The definition of Sanuki udon is “udon made in Sanuki (Kagawa) prefecture. Therefore, Hanamaru Udon delivered noodles made in Kagawa to its stores in the Kanto region. However, in a number of cases, the noodles, which are supposed to have firmness and elasticity, dried out and deteriorated due to the long journey. This was far from the original taste of Sanuki udon, and it was impossible to guarantee the quality that would satisfy customers. When I was in charge of designing Hanamaru Udon, an employee once told me, “It is our life to make our noodles in Kagawa. That is how much respect we have for the home of udon.

Hanamaru Udon has increased the number of noodle production bases to five nationwide since joining the Yoshinoya group, and has chosen to improve the quality of its noodles. However, it has not been able to dispel the image that “Marugame Seimen has higher quality noodles,” and at present it is far ahead of Marugame Seimen. To overcome the situation, in recent years the company has collaborated with popular content such as “Pretty Cure,” “Pokemon,” and “Shin Kamen Rider,” but the effect is uncertain. The B-Grade gourmet food explorer Yagyu Kyubei asks, “Is there any point where Hanamaru Udon has an advantage over Marugame Udon?

Marugame’s soup stock is sweeter and has a stronger soy sauce flavor, whereas Hanamaru’s soup stock makes the most of its natural flavor, which I prefer. Also, many restaurants allow you to pour your own dashi broth, and I am happy to be able to add toppings such as “aagekasu” (deep fried batter), which comes out when tempura is fried, separately from the tempura dregs. I think there are many Hanamaru fans like myself who enjoy the variety of toppings and the freedom to arrange them however they like.”

Marketing power or authentic taste? In the age of inflation in 2012, the battle for the top spot in the udon chain may be a firmer contest than we think.

From the April 26, 2024 issue of FRIDAY