Sugi Holdings and TRIAL Holdings have launched a comprehensive strategic partnership to strengthen their food strategies through expanded supplies of boxed meals and prepared foods, implementation of the GO system and reciprocal handling of private-label products. The companies aim to increase customer traffic and sales at renovated stores.
Sugi HD and TRIAL HD launched a comprehensive strategic partnership in January 2026. The cooperation comprises 5 pillars: opening Sugi Pharmacy dispensing pharmacies in TRIAL stores; supplying health and beauty products from Sugi Pharmacy to TRIAL and providing expertise in planograms and merchandising; supplying TRIAL's ready-to-eat products, including prepared foods and boxed meals; implementing the GO system and introducing each company's retail technology at the other; and reciprocal handling of both companies' private-label products.
At the operational level of the food strategy, the companies aim to increase customer traffic and improve results by using Sugi HD's food sales for the fiscal year ending February 2026 as a base and receiving supplies of boxed meals and prepared foods through cooperation with TRIAL. The Sumi store was renovated as a pilot store for the partnership, resulting in the food sales mix rising to nearly 40%. The companies are also advancing digitalization through the introduction of self-checkouts, aiming to grow stores by combining Sugi's strengths in health and beauty products and dispensing with TRIAL's strengths in food and DX.
In the GO system and retail technology fields, the companies are deepening their cooperation and promoting new initiatives, including the launch of the Tokyo Retail Media Study Group. A PoC conducted in May estimated approximately 6.85 million unique visitors over 4 weeks, suggesting little overlap among visitors. The companies will continue sharing purchasing and behavioral data with the aim of developing total healthcare services.