Difficult Operating Environment for the Food Industry Due to the Declining Birth Rate, Aging Population and Store Saturation in Urban Areas
First written in FY2018-Q2. 13 of 25 entries say "Restated". Latest entry: FY2026-H1.
Kobe Bussan moved to the "Worse" side of this theme in 2022, 3 years before the typical company in this theme (2025).
The whole theme swung hardest in 2025: 3 of 6 companies on the "Worse" side.
4 other companies' latest entry also says "Restated".
- FY2026-H1RestatedAnnual report
「The food-supermarket industry continues to face a challenging environment, including consumers’ entrenched preference for savings amid inflation, various cost increases and intensifying competition across industry and business-format boundaries.」
The food supermarket industry’s challenging environment due to inflation, consumers’ preference for saving, rising costs and intensifying competition across industry and business-format boundaries continues. - 2026-06-12RestatedEarnings
「The food-supermarket industry continues to face a challenging environment, including consumers’ entrenched preference for savings amid inflation, various cost increases and intensifying competition across industry and business-format boundaries.」
A challenging environment caused by inflation, consumers’ preference for savings, higher costs and intensifying competition is continuing. - FY2025-H1RestatedAnnual report
「The food supermarket industry continues to face a challenging environment due to stronger consumer preferences for saving resulting from inflation and various cost increases.」
The food supermarket industry’s challenging environment due to inflation, consumers’ preference for saving and various cost increases continues. - FY2024RestatedAnnual report
「The food supermarket industry continues to face a challenging environment due to stronger consumer preferences for saving resulting from inflation and various cost increases.」
The food supermarket industry’s challenging environment due to inflation, consumers’ preference for saving and various cost increases continues. - FY2024-Q2RestatedAnnual report
「The food supermarket industry continues to face a challenging environment due to stronger consumer preferences for saving resulting from rapid inflation and various cost increases.」
The food supermarket industry’s challenging environment due to rapid inflation, consumers’ preference for saving and various cost increases continues. - FY2024-Q1RestatedAnnual report
「The food supermarket industry continues to face a challenging environment due to stronger consumer preferences for saving resulting from rapid inflation and various cost increases.」
The food supermarket industry’s challenging environment due to rapid inflation, consumers’ preference for saving and various cost increases continues. - FY2023WorsenedAnnual report
「The environment surrounding our Group remains uncertain, including the “food shortages” the world will face in the future and Japan’s “declining birthrate and aging population problem.” In the food industry, consumers’ strong preference for low prices is expected to persist, and companies are expected to continue facing a challenging operating environment due to sharp currency fluctuations, the expansion of food offerings by e-commerce operators, drugstores and other businesses in different formats, and intensifying competition due to market saturation in urban areas.」
In addition to the previous factors of a declining birthrate and aging population, market saturation and competition with other business formats, food shortages and sharp currency fluctuations are cited as factors contributing to the challenging operating environment. - FY2023-Q3WorsenedAnnual report
「The food supermarket industry continues to face a challenging environment due to declining demand for food prepared at home as consumers go out more often, stronger consumer preferences for saving resulting from rapid inflation, and various cost increases.」
In addition to the previous cost increases and preference for saving, declining demand for food prepared at home resulting from consumers going out more often and rapid inflation are cited as factors contributing to the food supermarket industry’s challenging environment. - FY2023-Q2RestatedAnnual report
「In the food industry, companies are being forced to take measures to address rising costs against a backdrop of consumers’ entrenched preference for saving.」
The assessment that food industry companies are being forced to take measures to address rising costs against a backdrop of consumers’ preference for saving continues. - FY2023-Q1WorsenedAnnual report
「In the food industry, companies are being forced to take measures to address rising costs against a backdrop of consumers’ entrenched preference for saving.」
The food industry as a whole is described as being forced to address rising costs in addition to consumers’ preference for saving. - FY2022-Q3WorsenedAnnual report
「With consumers’ preference for saving still entrenched, rising costs are also affecting companies’ operating results in the food retail industry, forcing each company to take measures.」
The description of the food retail industry has shifted to state that consumers’ preference for saving, together with rapidly rising costs, is affecting companies’ operating results and forcing each company to take measures. - FY2022-Q2WorsenedAnnual report
「The food retail industry is also being forced to take measures as costs rise due to global inflation, the weaker yen, higher labor costs and higher utility expenses.」
In addition to the previous competition from other industries and infectious diseases, the challenging operating environment for the food retail industry is described as including rising costs due to global inflation, the weaker yen, higher labor costs and higher utility expenses. - FY2022-Q1ReframedAnnual report
「In the food retail industry, businesses in other industries, including e-commerce operators and drugstores, are expanding their food offerings. To meet needs arising from the diversification of consumption patterns, the on-demand meal market is growing through the use of restaurant delivery services operated on behalf of restaurants, while growth in the market for food prepared at home is also accelerating as businesses in other industries enter the production of meal kits and frozen foods. In addition, the environment surrounding the food retail industry and the demands placed on it continue to change, owing to working from home resulting from the spread of COVID-19 and the implementation of measures to prevent the spread of infection at stores.」
In addition to the expansion of food offerings by businesses in other industries, the food retail industry’s changing environment is described as including delivery services, growth in the on-demand meal market, meal kits and frozen foods, and growth in the market for food prepared at home. - FY2021WorsenedAnnual report
「In the food industry, consumers’ strong preference for low prices is expected to persist, and companies are expected to continue facing a challenging operating environment due to sharp currency fluctuations, the expansion of food offerings by e-commerce operators, drugstores and other businesses in different formats, and intensifying competition due to market saturation in urban areas.」
The challenging operating environment caused by consumers’ preference for low prices, currency fluctuations, competition with other business formats and market saturation in urban areas continues, with intensifying competition from online food sales and other channels again emphasized. - FY2021-Q3RestatedAnnual report
「In the food retail industry, businesses in other industries, including e-commerce operators and drugstores, are expanding their food offerings, while competition is intensifying with the emergence of delivery services operated on behalf of restaurants. In addition, the environment surrounding the food retail industry and the demands placed on it are changing rapidly, owing to increased demand for eating at home resulting from working from home and reduced operating hours at restaurants following the spread of COVID-19, as well as the implementation of measures to prevent the spread of infection at stores.」
The intensifying competition caused by the expansion of food offerings by businesses in other industries and delivery services, as well as changes in demand for eating at home and measures at stores associated with COVID-19, continue to be reported. - FY2021-Q1ReframedAnnual report
「In the food retail industry, businesses in other industries, including e-commerce operators and drugstores, are expanding their food offerings, while competition is intensifying with the emergence of delivery services operated on behalf of restaurants. In addition, the environment surrounding the food retail industry and the demands placed on it are changing rapidly, owing to increased demand for eating at home resulting from working from home and reduced operating hours at restaurants following the spread of COVID-19, as well as the implementation of measures to prevent the spread of infection at stores.」
In addition to the previous competition from other business formats and the challenging food retail environment, restaurant delivery services, COVID-19, demand for eating at home and infection-control measures at stores are cited as new environmental factors. - FY2020RestatedAnnual report
「In the food industry, consumers’ strong preference for low prices is expected to persist, and companies are expected to continue facing a challenging operating environment due to sharp currency fluctuations, the expansion of food offerings by e-commerce operators, drugstores and other businesses in different formats, and intensifying competition due to market saturation in urban areas.」
The assessment of a challenging operating environment due to consumers’ preference for low prices, currency fluctuations, competition with other business formats and market saturation in urban areas continues. - FY2020-Q3ReframedAnnual report
「In the food retail industry, the competitive environment is intensifying as businesses in other industries, including e-commerce operators and drugstores, expand their food offerings. In addition, the environment surrounding the food retail industry and the demands placed on it are changing rapidly, owing to increased demand for eating at home resulting from school closures, working from home and consumers avoiding eating out due to the spread of COVID-19, as well as the implementation of measures to prevent the spread of infection at stores.」
The focus of the description of the food retail industry’s challenging environment has shifted from the previous emphasis on the declining birthrate and aging population and market saturation to competition from other industries, COVID-19, demand for eating at home and measures at stores. - FY2020-Q1RestatedAnnual report
「In the food retail industry, the operating environment remains challenging amid consumers’ entrenched preference for saving, intensifying competition across industry boundaries, soaring raw material prices, rising labor costs and labor shortages.」
The challenging operating environment for the food retail industry, driven by consumers’ preference for saving, cross-industry competition, higher raw material costs, rising labor costs and labor shortages, continues. - FY2019WorsenedAnnual report
「Companies are expected to continue facing a challenging operating environment, owing to sharp currency fluctuations, the expansion of food offerings by e-commerce operators, drugstores and other businesses in different formats, and intensifying competition due to market saturation in urban areas.」
In addition to the declining birthrate and aging population and market saturation in urban areas, intensifying competition with e-commerce operators, drugstores and others is cited as a factor contributing to the food industry’s challenging environment. - FY2019-Q3RestatedAnnual report
「The operating environment for the food supermarket industry also became challenging due to the ongoing decline in the birthrate and aging of the population and market saturation in urban areas.」
The challenging operating environment for the food industry due to the declining birthrate and aging population and market saturation in urban areas continues to be reported. - FY2019-Q2RestatedAnnual report
「The operating environment for the food supermarket industry also became challenging due to the ongoing decline in the birthrate and aging of the population and market saturation in urban areas.」
The challenging operating environment for the food industry due to the declining birthrate and aging population and market saturation in urban areas continues to be reported. - FY2019-Q1RestatedAnnual report
「In the food retail industry, the operating environment remains challenging amid consumers’ entrenched preference for saving, intensifying competition across industry boundaries, soaring raw material prices, rising labor costs and labor shortages.」
The challenging operating environment for the food retail industry continues, with consumers’ preference for saving, cross-industry competition, higher raw material costs, rising labor costs and labor shortages cited as contributing factors. - FY2018-Q3WorsenedAnnual report
「In the food industry, consumers’ preference for low prices and saving is becoming entrenched, while the operating environment remains challenging due to soaring raw material prices and the rising trend in labor costs caused by labor shortages.」
In addition to the previous preference for saving and other factors, soaring raw material prices and the rising trend in labor costs caused by labor shortages are cited as factors contributing to the food industry’s challenging operating environment. - FY2018-Q2First statedAnnual report
「Personal consumption also remained subdued, as consumers continued to show a strong preference for saving against a backdrop of stagnant wage growth and concerns about the future arising from higher social insurance premiums and other factors. The food industry likewise continued to face a challenging operating environment due to the ongoing decline in the birthrate and aging of the population and market saturation in urban areas.」
In addition to consumers’ preference for saving, the decline in the birthrate and aging of the population and market saturation in urban areas have newly been identified as factors contributing to the food industry’s challenging operating environment.