Developing New Sales Channels

「Restaurants, home delivery and government agencies　523,352　4.8　559,437　5.1　36,085　106.9 Direct sales　479,969　4.4　502,313　4.6　22,343　104.7」

「For shelf-stable products, including emergency food, the company is seeking to expand awareness by leveraging their suitability not only for household disaster stockpiling and rolling stockpiling but also for outdoor use. Although sales by period are affected in part by the number of disasters and the resulting rise in disaster-preparedness awareness, the company is actively promoting initiatives that combine enjoyable food in daily life with disaster preparedness, including disaster-preparedness events combining disaster-readiness and outdoor experiences.」

「Restaurants, home delivery and government agencies　477,196　4.6　523,352　4.8　46,156　109.7 Direct sales　377,857　3.6　479,969　4.4　102,112　127.0」

「Shelf-stable products, including emergency food, performed strongly. In addition to adoption through new channels such as employee benefits programs and office convenience stores, demand has grown for long-term storage foods for disaster preparedness and rolling stockpiling among individual consumers, including ordinary households. Sales have centered on Ishii’s Online Store, the official additive-free cooking specialty store operated by the consolidated subsidiary ㈱ダイレクトイシイ.」

「Restaurants, home delivery and government agencies　269,207　2.8　477,196　4.6　207,988　177.3 Direct sales　256,164　2.7　377,857　3.6　121,692　147.5」

「Sales of regional products increased, supported by efforts to expand the number of new stores carrying the products, promote their introduction through proposals alongside flagship products, and engage with fans by participating in regional exchange events, centered on a hamburger series using seasonal ingredients from each region.」

「Private-label products for major convenience store chains and other retailers, launched in March, also performed steadily and contributed to share expansion in channels where market penetration of the company’s flagship products is low.」

「Restaurants, home delivery and government agencies　228,970　2.6　269,207　2.8　40,237　117.6 Direct sales　198,820　2.2　256,164　2.7　57,343　128.8」

「Sales of emergency food and special-diet food also increased as the company expanded its sales channels.」

「The company will seek to expand its share in its core processed meat products by actively proposing them to areas where market penetration of its flagship products is low and to distribution customers with whom it does not currently trade that align with its corporate philosophy.」

「The company established a structure enabling it to sell products made with seasonal ingredients from each region throughout the year, allowing it to secure shelf space continuously. Sales of regional products, led by hamburg steaks made with new onions from Shirako, Chiba, also increased.」

「The company will improve profitability by developing new sales channels, improving the product development cycle based on customer feedback, and building a direct-to-consumer model through mail-order websites and other channels.」

「For its new business model providing regional and seasonal flavors, the company intends to respond to this major change by establishing a model combining mail-order and in-store sales suited to the COVID-19 pandemic.」

「The company will strengthen its marketing structure and online sales channels for this purpose.」

「The company strengthened its initiative, begun in the previous fiscal year, to use only domestic ingredients and clearly identify their production areas for its osechi New Year’s dishes. It also advanced the development of new channels by selling products that make greater use of regional ingredients and introducing environmentally friendly packaging.」

「In the prepared foods business, the company launched limited-time bamboo-shoot rice made with ingredients from Otaki, Chiba Prefecture; Kyotamba, Kyoto Prefecture; and Karatsu, Saga Prefecture. From September, it also began selling chestnut rice made with ingredients from 6 regions, including Kyotamba in Kyoto Prefecture, Kasama in Ibaraki Prefecture, Hidaka in Saitama Prefecture, Narita in Chiba Prefecture, Yamagata in Gifu Prefecture and Yamae Village in Kumamoto Prefecture, at department stores and other venues. Sales have been strong.」

「The company will review low-margin transactions, strengthen business with channels capable of building mutually beneficial relationships among distributors, manufacturers and producers, and develop new channels.」

「The company is further strengthening communication with local governments and producers and proposing products such as hamburg steaks, soups and mixed rice made with traditional regional ingredients, thereby deepening ties with new channels such as souvenir shops, department stores and premium supermarkets.」

「For existing products, the company strengthened relationships with distribution channels that share its strategic direction, developed channels such as station retail, roadside stations, souvenir shops and department stores, and established a foothold for building a new business model.」

「In addition, dietary preferences have clearly polarized between consumers seeking particular qualities and those seeking to economize. Sales channels have also diversified in line with purchasers’ dietary patterns, extending beyond supermarkets to online shopping, station retail, roadside stations and department stores.」

「The company established a new business model by communicating with local governments and producers to source traditional regional agricultural products, launching bamboo-shoot rice, hamburg steaks, mixed rice and soups, and developing new sales channels such as regional roadside stations, souvenir shops and department stores.」

「The company sold the products at regional roadside stations and department stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area, among other venues, and conducted initiatives involving local government in various regions.」

「Purchasing methods have also changed markedly, with increases in online and home-delivery purchases, a shift in supermarket purchases from large suburban stores to nearby stores, and increased purchases of specialty products from specialty stores and department stores.」

「Through regional initiatives conducted by its subsidiary イシイ産業株式会社, the company increased sales by selling products manufactured in Chiba Prefecture at roadside stations and direct-sales outlets in the region and elsewhere. Other sales were ¥52.053 million, or 114.8% of the same period of the previous year.」

「As part of its development of new sales channels, the company strengthened initiatives tailored to the characteristics of each region and store, including roadside stations, department stores and home delivery.」