Difficulty procuring ingredients, soaring procurement costs, and import restrictions

「原材料、物流費やエネルギー価格の上昇、長期化している円安による輸入コストの増加、物価高騰による消費行動の変化等、引き続き厳しい経済状況にあります。」

「In the overseas store operations business, costs including raw material prices, labour costs and rent continue to rise due to inflation.」

「During the period covered for this segment in the current consolidated fiscal year, from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024, inflation caused raw material prices to soar and increased the costs of wages and rent. The company implemented price revisions and reviewed costs accordingly, but its response to the increase in costs was not timely enough.」

「During the period covered by this segment for the interim consolidated accounting period from January 2024 to June 2024, it was affected by soaring raw material prices and higher costs such as wages and rent due to inflation. Although price revisions and cost reviews have been implemented accordingly, price pass-through to cover the increased costs has not kept pace.」

「Epidemics, adverse weather, fluctuations in global supply and demand, import restrictions and other regulations may make it difficult to secure the required quantities of raw materials and may cause purchase prices to soar, potentially reducing the Group's operating profit.」

「To address rising costs, including raw material and labour costs, the company implemented price revisions in July 2023, following the previous fiscal year.」

「There are also concerns over soaring raw material and energy prices」

「Furthermore, as in Japan, concerns remain over soaring raw material and energy prices amid the geopolitical instability described above and a challenging economic environment, requiring continued monitoring.」

「Meanwhile, as in Japan, concerns remain over soaring raw material and energy prices amid the geopolitical instability described above and a challenging economic environment, requiring continued monitoring.」

「The situation involving Russia and Ukraine has raised concerns over soaring energy and raw material prices, requiring continued monitoring.」

「Raw material prices, logistics costs and wages are trending upward against a backdrop of growing global demand for meat.」

「Epidemics, adverse weather and other factors may make it difficult to secure the required quantities of raw materials and may cause purchase prices to soar. The ingredients provided to customers as products are procured both in Japan and overseas, but if imports of ingredients from overseas become impossible due to import restrictions or other factors, ingredient costs may soar and the Group's operating profit may decline.」

「In Japan, in addition to higher wages and logistics costs resulting from labour shortages caused by an ageing and declining population, and the impact of higher raw material costs driven by overseas conditions」

「Although the segment continued to implement commercial logistics reforms aimed at improving the efficiency of store operations and reducing logistics costs, the ongoing impact of higher labor, raw material, and logistics costs resulted in segment profit of ¥379 million, down 7.3% year on year.」

「Although the segment focused on improving productivity, including by reviewing production and manufacturing processes, and on reducing costs, segment profit was ¥104 million, down 7.2% year on year, as higher labor and raw material costs, as well as significantly higher logistics costs for delivering food ingredients to stores, had a major impact.」

「The Company was unable to fully absorb rising labor and raw material costs and higher logistics costs across the foodservice industry, which became factors behind the decline in profit.」

「Segment profit was ¥704 million, down 8.0% year on year, as higher labour and raw material costs, together with higher logistics costs for delivering ingredients to stores, outweighed efforts to improve productivity and reduce costs through measures such as reviewing production and manufacturing processes.」

「Although the segment focused on improving productivity, including by reviewing production and manufacturing processes, and on reducing costs, segment profit was ¥409 million, down 22.1% year on year, due in part to higher labor and raw material costs, as well as higher logistics costs for delivering food ingredients to stores.」

「Segment profit was ¥112 million, down 47.4% year on year, as higher labour and raw material costs, together with higher logistics costs for delivering ingredients to stores, outweighed efforts to improve productivity and reduce costs through measures such as reviewing production and manufacturing processes.」

「Raw material prices are on an upward trend」

「Epidemics affecting food ingredients, adverse weather and other factors may make it difficult to secure the required quantities of raw materials and may cause purchase prices to soar.」