Gyudon Chains: A Study of Reiwa’s “Three-way Battle” Beyond “Good, Cheap, and Fast
Noya" with its ostrich rice bowl, "Matsuya" with its strength in set meals, and "Sukiya" introducing new products one after another
Beyond “Good, Cheap, and Fast
The “old powerhouse” in dire straits announced a new product, an “ostrich rice bowl,” in a desperate attempt to save the company.
On August 28, Noya Holdings, which operates the Noya beef bowl chain, held a presentation on its new business in Tokyo. The event was attended by freelance announcer Ugaki Misato (33), who tasted the “ostrich rice bowl” (1,683 yen), which was launched on the same day at some stores.
This item was offered at about 400 Noya “Cooking & Comfort” style restaurants (a.k.a. KURONOYA), 49 of which are located in Tokyo, and a limited number of 20 servings per day. The product uses ostrich raised by subsidiary “Speedia” and has a crisp roast beef-like flavor. Noya positions ostrich as the “fourth meat” following beef, pork, and chicken, and aims to popularize it in the future,” said food journalist Junnosuke Nagahama.
Ostrich meat is low in calories and fat, rich in iron and vitamin B, and effective in relieving fatigue and preventing vascular aging.
While the new, high-impact product is attracting attention, B-grade gourmet explorer Yagyu Kyubei, who has worked part-time at Noya, is uneasy about the move.
He says, “The number of stores is limited and the quantity is limited, so it is difficult to eat it in the first place. Personally, I don’t think I would want to go out of my way to find a store that carries it and pay 1,700 yen to eat it. In the 1990s, Noya opened a store called “Noya USA” and offered a beef bowl in a styrofoam container called “Beef Bowl,” but it did not catch on at all and the company quickly withdrew from the market. The current ostrich bowl will probably suffer a similar fate. It would not be surprising if it is perceived as a lost cause.
The restaurant industry is currently undergoing a major transformation. Against the backdrop of a weak yen and global inflation, costs for raw materials, transportation, labor, and all other expenses are increasing, and this is weighing heavily on the beef bowl chains, whose biggest selling point is cheapness.
In fact, in July this year, Noya raised the price of a regular beef bowl from 468 yen to 498 yen. The harmony of the sauce made with white wine and the juicy, fatty meat is exquisite, and the quality of Noya’s beef bowls is satisfactory even at one coin, but it still seems expensive considering that a bowl of beef bowls cost 280 yen about 10 years ago.
Noya was the only one of the three companies to show a commitment to face-to-face customer service without using meal ticket machines or touch panels. Recently, however, it has begun to introduce touch-panel tablets at some of its restaurants in order to relieve labor shortages and save on labor costs. In the past, customers could simply order “Nami to Tamago” as soon as they sat down, but now they have to tap “Start Ordering,” then tap “View All Menus” on the next screen, select the type of beef bowl, and then tap “Side Menu” to choose the eggs. Older customers who have been regulars for a long time and first-time customers will be confused. With the price increase, Noya is losing its familiar catchphrases of ‘cheap’ and ‘fast.
(The same applies to Noya.) “Going beyond ‘tasty, cheap, and fast,'” says Mr. Kato.
Noya, which has 1,240 outlets and ranks second in the industry with annual sales of 126.4 billion yen, has mirrored the realities of the industry with the introduction of tablet terminals and the challenge of serving ostrich bowls.
