In 2013, there were 55,000 Japanese restaurants worldwide; by 2,017 there were 118,000. (According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries)
Doubled in 5 years.
In 2013, the percentage of Japanese-owned restaurants was about 5%.
Last year, I think the ratio itself was even lower.
Overseas, there are still many restaurants that are called "fake Japanese food," but the major difference from that time is that the quality of Japanese restaurants operated by local managers has improved dramatically.
People who have studied in the U.S. and Japan, studied business management, know Japanese food, and know the local market have created stores with cooler designs than those in Japan, and are developing Japanese restaurants that are accepted by the local community. They come directly to Japanese fishing ports to purchase food products, or buy products directly from the local market.
I have talked with some of these managers in Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia, and their eagerness to learn about food is more than that of Japanese restaurant managers.
They have less knowledge of Japanese food and ingredients than Japanese people.
That is why they study. Many managers go directly to Japanese farmers to study. And they are starting to produce ingredients for Japanese food in their own countries.
Ingredients are purchased from food suppliers. This is a far cry from the conventional position of food and beverage companies, which is to buy what is on that list. What they have in mind is not a sixth-generation food business or anything like that, but rather a more global vision of what food should be and what the food business should be like.
Japan is the only country in the world where the population is shrinking, and the global issue is the enormous and expanding population growth.
In such a situation, it is obvious that there will be a shortage of food supply.
What to produce productively and how to create food business and restaurants in consideration of human health. This is a world view from the roots, not just a concept of guessing the type of business or bringing what is popular around the world to one's own country. Before Japanese food and beverage companies realize that Japanese food and restaurants are the best export products in the world, the global market is growing and growing, and only local people who realize this are growing big and taking the fruits.
Japan can be in-bound, but it needs to go further out. It is good to stay in Japan and earn foreign currency on your own ground (inbound), but let's go out to earn more foreign currency.
Inbound ⇄ Outbound
Like the hunters and trading company men of the past,
We should carry Japan on our shoulders and sell it to the world!
I wish for such a spirit of management to emerge!
Assentia HoldingsAkira Tsuchiya
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