The Story of Bari uma's Overseas Expansion: Rich Tonkotsu Ramen

We’ll be sharing the story of how “Bariuma,” a chain of rich tonkotsu ramen restaurants with 35 locations overseas, expanded into international markets—in the form of an interview with James, our intern from Madagascar in Africa.

・Please tell me about the Hiroshima ramen shop “Bariuma.”

Yes. “Bariuma,” a ramen shop in Hiroshima, serves rich tonkotsu ramen and tonkotsu shoyu ramen.
The founder, Toshiharu Eguchi, traveled across the country in search of a “ramen concept suitable for franchising,” and ultimately settled on tonkotsu shoyu ramen; the shop was previously known as “Wakayama Ramen.” “Bariuma” is famous for its rich tonkotsu ramen.
Other brands include “Torinosuke,” which specializes in chicken paitan soup, and “Tsukemen Fūunmaru,” which specializes in tsukemen.
We approached them when they had about 30 locations across Japan.

　　
（海外展開開始前の国内店舗）

・What was your relationship with Ascentia HD?

The company Withlink, which originally operated “Bariuma,” was a franchisee of Yakiniku Gyukaku, a brand we were developing through our regional headquarters.
They had joined the Yakiniku Gyukaku franchise to learn the ins and outs of franchising.
Since I was in charge of expanding Gyukaku nationwide as the regional headquarters, we had a connection through Gyukaku.
One day, through an introduction from a company, I was approached with a request: “There’s a ramen shop like this in Hiroshima—it’s an interesting place, so please go check it out.” So, I visited President Toshiharu Eguchi, the founder.
After seeing the business model in action—and understanding that he had joined various franchise headquarters, including Gyukaku, to learn the ropes—I realized that “Bariuma,” the original brand he had launched himself, was highly suited for franchising.
I began to think that this concept could potentially be expanded overseas, which is how negotiations with Withlink regarding international expansion began.

・Who came up with the idea to expand overseas?

We had developed a package that was highly suited for franchising, so we thought this would be a good opportunity to expand overseas through a franchise model. We therefore approached them with a proposal for international expansion. However, since the company had no prior experience with overseas expansion, negotiations regarding which country to start with, how to proceed, and whether to operate directly or through a franchise took a long time. I recall that it actually took over a year before we were able to establish a legal entity in Singapore. However, since the company had absolutely no experience with overseas operations, I imagine the president and other executives were quite concerned. We explained to them that it is actually people overseas who are receptive to the appeal of ramen, and after inviting them to visit Singapore for site inspections several times, we finally secured their final approval.

・Please tell me about my first day on the job.

While our expansion strategy is primarily based on franchising, back in 2011, people from Singapore and other ASEAN countries needed a visa to enter Japan.
Since very few people were willing to go through the trouble of obtaining a visa just to visit our stores in Japan, we devised a strategy to first open a company-owned flagship store in Singapore. The idea was to have potential franchisees visit that store, thereby accelerating our franchise expansion into neighboring countries.
Consequently, the first “Bariuma” store in Singapore, operated by Withlink Co., Ltd., is a company-owned location.

・How was the corporation established?

We established the company through an accounting firm in Singapore that has been of great assistance to us. The company was formed through a joint venture between the Japanese firm Withlink and our company.

・Please provide information on the company's shareholders and board of directors.

The company is jointly funded by Withlink Japan and our Japanese partner.
Regarding the executive team, Mr. Eguchi, the president of the Japanese company, serves as the Managing Director, while I, based in Singapore, joined as a Director. However, since there are tasks that require swift action—such as deciding on a location—I was granted full authority in Singapore to oversee the business operations.

・How did you decide on the location for your first store?

I remember it took a very long time to finalize the lease for our first store. In terms of the number of properties, we probably viewed around 20 to 30. I believed the location of the first store would be the key to whether “Bariuma” could expand rapidly across Asia in the future, so I chose it with great care. Since rents in Singapore are high, and I felt that opening a store inside a mall—where rents are particularly high—would be a significant disadvantage, I was considering a street-level location. Although the property for our first store is located inside a mall, it is on the ground floor and faces the street. While the mall itself wasn’t particularly impressive, we chose it because customers could enter directly from the street-level entrance. It is located just a minute’s walk from Orchard Road, often referred to as the “Ginza of Singapore.” The neighborhood is home to the Japanese Embassy and many detached mansions—a rarity in Singapore—as well as an area densely populated with luxury hotels like the St. Regis.
I was drawn to these factors and signed the lease for this property.
At the time, it seems that both the president and the development manager at our headquarters in Japan had visited the property in Singapore and thought, “There’s no way we’d open a store here.”
I was serving as a director myself and had been granted the authority to make the final decision.
Furthermore, since I was living in Singapore and fully appreciated the appeal of this property, I made the decision to proceed with this location.

（ばり馬海外1号店　シンガポール　タングリン店）

・How did you handle hiring and training for the first store?

We invited three Japanese employees from our headquarters in Japan to come to Singapore to help launch the business.
These three individuals were key members for our subsequent overseas expansion.
People often ask if training methods differ from country to country, but essentially, these three members trained our local Singaporean staff and managed the store operations. It was quite difficult to recruit and train staff, as very few local Singaporeans were interested in working in the food and beverage industry. However, it is a great honor that even now, more than 10 years after opening, some of those members are still with us and have not left the company.

・How were sales when you first opened?

Just because it was a Japanese ramen shop didn’t mean it was popular or had strong sales right from the start. Through steady marketing efforts—such as visiting nearby hotels and offices to distribute flyers and replicating the diligent sales strategies used in Japan—the shop’s revenue steadily increased. While monthly sales were around $50,000 when the shop first opened, they gradually rose, and after five years, the shop achieved record-breaking sales, exceeding $120,000 per month.

・Are there any significant differences in taste compared to the Japanese locations?

This is a question we get asked often: since tastes differ from country to country, people ask if we should adapt our recipes to local preferences. However, we basically rolled out the same recipes everywhere. We did make some minor adjustments later on, but fundamentally, we’re using the same product recipes as in Japan. If we spent all our time tweaking things back and forth before even opening, the business model would end up completely different from Japan’s, which I don’t think is a good idea.

Basically, we take the exact same model that succeeded in Japan and bring it overseas.

（右から弊社土屋、ばり馬創業者江口氏）

・Please tell me about sourcing soup and noodles.

Since Singapore has a well-established cold chain system similar to Japan’s, when we first opened, we shipped the soup to Singapore frozen, just like our Japanese franchise locations. However, because logistics costs were quite high, we switched from frozen to retort-packed soup after about two years.
As for the noodles, we initially purchased them from a noodle manufacturer in Singapore, but the cost per serving was very high. So, we converted about four seats in the restaurant to create space and installed a noodle-making machine to produce our own noodles in-house. This significantly reduced our costs, and we were able to serve noodles that perfectly complemented our soup, which we consider a huge success. 
At “Bariuma,” all our locations—including those in other ASEAN countries, Hong Kong, Asia, Australia, and the UK—make their own noodles in-house.
The switch to retort packaging and in-house noodle production became major assets in our global expansion.

（Noodle-making machine; the photo shows the machine in Bariuma Headquarters' test kitchen）

・After opening your first store in Singapore, how did you expand into other countries?

Regarding our overseas expansion following the opening of our Singapore location, our Singapore subsidiary handled virtually all aspects of the process.
I took the lead in bringing companies from across Asia to Singapore for inspection tours, where they visited our stores and enjoyed meals with us. This helped them make the decision to franchise and expand this “Bariuma” concept in their own countries.
The next country we expanded into after Singapore was Malaysia. Around the same time, we expanded into Indonesia, followed by China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
Malaysia and Indonesia were our first franchise locations.
President Eguchi traveled from Japan to attend the grand openings of both locations, and I also participated, making for truly moving ceremonies. It was deeply moving to see a company that had previously only operated in Japan successfully expand overseas. We have since grown to four locations in Malaysia and ten in Indonesia, and have also expanded into Australia and Scotland.
 
From 2014 to 2019—the period before the pandemic—we expanded overseas to open 35 stores in just five years. Our Singapore subsidiary has many employees who can communicate in both English and Chinese. We utilize it as a training center for franchisees, and it remains a central hub for our international expansion to this day.

・Please list all the countries where you have stores.

Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and the United Kingdom.

・Are there any challenges you face when expanding your franchise overseas?

Since we can’t conduct supervisory visits as frequently overseas as we do in Japan, ensuring consistent taste is crucial when expanding to multiple locations.
This is relatively straightforward for simple operations, so I believe it serves as a litmus test for whether a business model is suitable for franchising. Additionally, since business practices differ overseas, there are many factors to consider regarding the payment of franchise fees and royalties. Having gained experience in about 28 countries over the years, I believe our company has accumulated a wealth of expertise in this area.

・WithLink, which currently operates “Bariuma,” is now part of the Yoshinoya Group. How did that come about?

Before the pandemic, due in part to the founder’s age, President Eguchi had expressed a desire to sell Withlink—the company operating “Bariuma”—and the Yoshinoya Group purchased all of its shares. It appears the Yoshinoya Group believed that a ramen business was necessary for its overseas expansion, and they were also highly impressed by the “Bariuma” brand, which had rapidly expanded to 35 overseas locations in just five years.

・Please tell me about future developments.

We are now part of the Yoshinoya Group and are focused on supporting existing franchisees and recruiting new ones.
As mentioned in a recent press release from Yoshinoya Holdings, the Yoshinoya Group appears to be prioritizing the ramen business for its overseas expansion. We believe the Bariuma brand holds significant value in this context, and we intend to continue expanding the Bariuma brand, with a particular focus on European countries where it has not yet been introduced.
(Continued)

Interviewer
Intern, Ascentia Holdings　James Rakotomalala（マダガスカル）

Speaker
Akira Tsuchiya, Representative Director, Ascentia Holdings