Rising Demand for Meals at Home and Changes in Food Consumption Behavior
First written in FY2021-Q1. 3 of 15 entries say "Worsened", first in FY2024. Latest entry: 2026-07-31.
Dairei moved to the "Worse" side of this theme in 2024, 1 year after the typical company in this theme (2023).
The whole theme swung hardest in 2023: 5 of 16 companies on the "Worse" side.
7 other companies' latest entry also says "Restated".
- 2026-07-31RestatedEarnings
「In this environment, consumers’ preference for saving remains strong, and the difficult business environment is expected to continue.」
The company reconfirms its view that consumers’ preference for saving remains strong. - FY2026WorsenedAnnual report
「Raw material and energy prices remain high, while upward pressure on procurement costs due to foreign exchange movements also continues. Price increases show no sign of slowing, consumers’ preference for thrift is strengthening, and difficult operating conditions are expected to continue.」
Against the backdrop of rising prices and stronger consumer preference for thrift, the consumption environment increasingly requires companies to respond to the preference for lower prices. - FY2026-H1Explicitly identifies the spread of low-price preferencesAnnual report
「The persistence of high rice prices has led to the widespread preference for lower prices, and difficult operating conditions are expected to continue.」
Regarding consumers’ price preferences, it states that the preference for lower prices has become widespread against the backdrop of product price increases and persistently high rice prices. - FY2025WorsenedAnnual report
「In Japan’s food industry, product prices have continued to rise as a result of higher raw-material, labor and logistics costs. In addition, rice prices have remained high, consumers continue to be strongly price-conscious, and difficult operating conditions are expected to persist.」
It states that consumers’ preference for thrift remains strong against the backdrop of price revisions and persistently high rice prices. - FY2024WorsenedAnnual report
「In Japan’s food industry, consumers’ preference for thrift has strengthened further as repeated price revisions have been implemented to address rising costs, and difficult operating conditions are expected to continue across the industry.」
It states that consumers’ preference for thrift strengthened further following repeated price revisions, clarifying the severity of consumer spending conditions. - FY2024-Q3Recovery in consumer sentiment stallsAnnual report
「The recovery in personal consumption sentiment has stalled amid rising raw material and energy prices, inflation resulting from worsening labor shortages, and sluggish growth in real wages, among other factors.」
It describes a situation in which the recovery in personal consumption sentiment has stalled due to rising prices and sluggish growth in real wages, in addition to the previous changes in demand for home-cooked meals and foodservice. - FY2023-Q1Demand for home-cooked meals remains elevated, while foodservice demand is recovering graduallyAnnual report
「In Japan’s food industry, demand for home-cooked meals remains high due to the entrenchment of the new lifestyle, and this situation is expected to continue for some time. Foodservice demand has also continued to recover gradually since the lifting of priority preventive measures to prevent the spread of disease.」
While high demand for home-cooked meals due to the new lifestyle continues, foodservice demand has shifted toward a gradual recovery following the lifting of restrictions. - FY2022Demand for home-cooked meals remains elevated, while foodservice demand is recovering graduallyAnnual report
「In Japan’s food industry, demand for home-cooked meals remains high due to the entrenchment of the new lifestyle, and this situation is expected to continue for some time. Foodservice demand has been recovering gradually since the lifting of states of emergency and other measures, but the Company believes that it will take time to recover to pre-pandemic levels.」
While high demand for home-cooked meals due to the new lifestyle continues, foodservice demand is recovering gradually but has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. - FY2022-Q3Economic normalization coexists with changes in consumer lifestylesAnnual report
「Although movement toward the normalization of economic and social activity was seen as people flows recovered following the full lifting of declarations of a state of emergency and the spread of vaccinations, the impact of the prolonged novel coronavirus disease continued, and concerns over a further resurgence of infections could not be dispelled, leaving the outlook uncertain.」
In addition to the previously identified firmness in demand for home-cooked meals and long-term decline in foodservice demand, it describes a situation in which the recovery in consumer traffic and movement toward normalization of economic activity coexist with the impact on sales from changes in consumer lifestyles. - FY2022-Q2Demand for home-cooked meals remains firm, while the long-term decline in foodservice demand continuesAnnual report
「In Japan's food industry, demand for meals eaten at home remained firm due to continued stay-at-home demand. In the restaurant industry, however, repeated requests for closures and reduced operating hours, particularly for restaurants, and the absence of the benefits of the GO TO campaign implemented last year have prevented a halt to the prolonged decline in sales, and uncertain conditions continue.」
It states that, while demand for home-cooked meals driven by stay-at-home demand remained firm, the foodservice industry continued to experience a long-term decline in sales. It continues to indicate a polarization of demand patterns. - FY2022-Q1Home-cooked meals remain firm, while foodservice demand has eased in stages but has not recoveredAnnual report
「In Japan’s food industry, demand for home-cooked meals remained firm as stay-at-home demand continued. The foodservice industry, however, remained in difficult conditions amid requests to shorten operating hours and restrict or prohibit the serving of alcoholic beverages. Although the difficult conditions facing the foodservice industry and other sectors have eased gradually compared with the state of emergency in the same period of the previous year, including with the start of COVID-19 vaccinations, demand has still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, and the situation is expected to remain uncertain for the time being.」
While stay-at-home demand kept demand for home-cooked meals firm, the foodservice industry remained in difficult conditions due to requests for restrictions. However, compared with the same period of the previous year, the severity of conditions eased gradually. - FY2021Retail demand stable, foodservice demand falls sharplyAnnual report
「Stay-at-home consumption kept demand from retail outlets such as major mass merchandisers, food supermarkets and drugstores stable. However, demand for foodservice and tourism-related business-use products fell sharply as restaurants temporarily closed or shortened their operating hours following the issuance of 2 states of emergency, while consumers refrained from going out. Difficult conditions continue.」
It continues to describe a situation in which stable stay-at-home and retail demand coexists with a sharp decline in business-use demand from the foodservice and tourism sectors. - FY2021-Q3Stay-at-home demand stable, foodservice demand and other areas deteriorate againAnnual report
「In Japan's food industry, demand driven by stay-at-home consumption has remained stable, while demand from the restaurant and tourism industries, although showing signs of recovery as a result of government stimulus measures, remains challenging due to the renewed spread of COVID-19.」
It states that, while demand for home-cooked meals and stay-at-home consumption remained stable, demand from the foodservice and tourism industries returned to difficult conditions as infections resurged, after showing signs of recovery supported by government policy. - FY2021-Q2AdvancedAnnual report
「In Japan's food industry, demand from the restaurant industry declined due to a decrease in inbound travelers and requests to refrain from going out as an infection-control measure, while demand for meals eaten at home grew as stay-at-home consumption increased.」
In addition to the previous increase in demand for home-cooked meals, it specifically describes the relationship between declining demand from the foodservice industry and the decreases in inbound travelers and people going out. - FY2021-Q1First statedAnnual report
「In addition, consumer food consumption patterns have changed significantly, including growing demand for home-cooked meals as people refrained from going out.」
It states that demand for home-cooked meals increased as people refrained from going out, resulting in significant changes in food consumption patterns.