Impact of the Spread of COVID-19 on the Business

「During the interim consolidated accounting period under review (1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024), the Japanese economy began to normalize, with the movement of people becoming more active as the impact of COVID-19 diminished.」

「Although COVID-19 has been downgraded to a Class 5 disease under the Infectious Diseases Control Law, if a serious infectious disease of this kind occurs in the future, it could have a wide-ranging impact on economic activity as a whole, including an economic downturn, changes in values concerning consumption and consumer behavior, and delays or interruptions in the manufacture and supply of products, potentially affecting the Group's business results.」

「During the third quarter of the fiscal year under review (1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023), the Japanese economy began to normalize, with the movement of people becoming more active as restrictions on activities were eased alongside the reclassification of COVID-19 as a Class 5 disease.」

「During the second quarter of the fiscal year under review (1 April 2023 to 30 September 2023), the Japanese economy began to normalize, with the movement of people becoming more active as restrictions on activities were eased alongside the reclassification of COVID-19 as a Class 5 disease.」

「During the first quarter of the fiscal year under review (1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023), the Japanese economy began to normalize, with the movement of people becoming more active as restrictions on activities were eased alongside the reclassification of COVID-19 as a Class 5 disease.」

「Regarding the impact of COVID-19 during the fiscal year under review, signs of recovery continued to emerge as restrictions on activities and border controls were eased. Even in this difficult environment, our Group's core products are food items that are daily necessities, and as our Group operates in a single segment, the wholesale of health and natural foods, the impact on profit and loss was limited.」

「In the food industry surrounding our Group, demand for food consumed at home remained firm due to working from home and other factors amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, consumers' choices expanded as many food-service businesses began offering a wide variety of takeout options, and stay-at-home demand has begun to ease. At our Group, the reduction in sales activities due to voluntary restraint from business meetings, together with the cancellation or downsizing of customer-attracting events, caused expensive products sold face to face, mainly health foods, to struggle, as the resumption of product sampling was also delayed.」

「At our Group, the reduction in sales activities due to voluntary restraint from business meetings, together with the cancellation or downsizing of customer-attracting events, caused expensive products sold face to face, mainly health foods, to struggle, as the resumption of product sampling was also delayed.」

「At our Group, the reduction in sales activities due to voluntary restraint from business meetings, together with the cancellation or downsizing of customer-attracting events, caused expensive products sold face to face, mainly health foods, to struggle.」

「Meanwhile, the reduction in sales activities due to voluntary restraint from business meetings, together with the cancellation or downsizing of customer-attracting events, caused expensive products sold face to face to struggle. In addition, we have continued to face a situation since around spring 2021 in which we have had no choice but to raise prices of our products in response to higher raw material and logistics costs.」

「In the food industry surrounding our Group, under the state of emergency declared due to COVID-19, while working from home and consumers' continued restraint from nonessential, nonurgent outings persisted, many food-service businesses began offering takeout, broadening consumers' choices. As a result, our Group was unable to achieve results at the level of the previous year, but the OEM business, for which a dedicated representative was appointed last year, has gradually begun introducing products to the market. In addition, year-end products such as osechi performed well, particularly boxed osechi, as many consumers refrained from going out amid concerns about a resurgence in infections. Meanwhile, the reduction in sales activities due to voluntary restraint from business meetings, together with the cancellation or downsizing of customer-attracting events, caused expensive products sold face to face to struggle.」

「As a result, our Group was unable to achieve results at the level of the previous year, but the OEM business, for which a dedicated representative was appointed last year, has gradually begun introducing products to the market. Meanwhile, the reduction in sales activities due to voluntary restraint from business meetings, together with the cancellation or downsizing of customer-attracting events, caused expensive products sold face to face to struggle.」

「Meanwhile, the reduction in sales activities due to voluntary restraint from business meetings, together with the cancellation or downsizing of customer-attracting events, caused products sold face to face to struggle.」

「As our Group operates in a single segment, the wholesale of health and natural foods, the impact on profit and loss was limited.」

「In the food industry surrounding our Group, under the state of emergency declared due to the spread of COVID-19, the increase in working from home and continued requests for consumers to refrain from nonessential, nonurgent outings led convenient products with relatively long shelf lives, such as canned foods, retort-pouch foods, and noodles, to perform well. However, high-value-added products such as perilla oil and relatively expensive health supplements continued to struggle. In addition, the reduction in sales activities due to voluntary restraint from business meetings, together with the cancellation or downsizing of customer-attracting events, left challenges for future sales promotion.」

「In the food industry surrounding our Group, under the state of emergency declared due to the spread of COVID-19, the trend toward staying at home and consuming at home strengthened, and convenient products with relatively long shelf lives, such as canned foods, retort-pouch foods, and noodles, performed well. However, high-value-added products such as perilla oil continued to struggle. In addition, the reduction in sales activities due to requests to refrain from going out, together with the cancellation or downsizing of customer-attracting events, left challenges for future sales promotion.」

「In the food industry surrounding our Group, under the state of emergency declared due to the spread of COVID-19, the trend toward staying at home and consuming at home strengthened, and convenient products with relatively long shelf lives, such as canned foods, retort-pouch foods, and noodles, performed well. However, high-value-added products such as perilla oil struggled. In addition, the reduction in sales activities due to requests to refrain from going out left challenges for future sales promotion.」

「In response to the globally spreading COVID-19 pandemic, our Group has worked to ensure the safety and peace of mind of customers, business partners, and employees, implementing measures including thorough infection-prevention protocols, working from home, and staggered commuting. If the situation becomes prolonged or more serious, it could have a wide-ranging impact on economic activity as a whole, including a global economic downturn, changes in values concerning consumption and consumer behavior, and delays or interruptions in the manufacture and supply of products, potentially having a material impact on the Group's business results.」