At the general meeting of the Food-Service Discussion Group, create restaurants holdings inc. President Kawai Jun (川井潤) discussed group federation management using M&A, highlighting the group’s growth to approximately 1,125 stores and 222 brands.
The 8th general meeting of the Food-Service Discussion Group was held, with 昭和産業 serving as the secretariat and 12 food-service companies participating. Under the theme “Multi-Brand, Multi-Location Strategy and Group Federation Management,” President Kawai Jun (川井潤) discussed the company’s growth through M&A and his vision for the future of the food-service industry.
President Kawai explained that the objective of M&A is “to buy time.” Because launching a new brand from scratch, expanding its store network and developing personnel take time, he outlined a policy of shortening that process by integrating companies with established customer bases and brand strength. The group has brought SFPホールディングス, KRホールディングス, サンジェルマン and いっちょう into the group, and has grown to approximately 1,125 stores and 222 brands.
Post-acquisition management is characterized by “group federation management,” which preserves the individuality of each operating business. While respecting operational freedom rather than strengthening standardization of products and operations, the holding company provides support in areas including joint procurement, accounting, human resources and property development. In the case of 木乃善, the former owner and successor were connected, and a bean-paste artisan with more than 25 years of service was brought in to revive the business.
Regarding the future of the food-service industry, the meeting emphasized the importance of appropriate pricing, or value pricing, as low prices and labor-intensive operations alone will be difficult to sustain. It presented two directions: vertical integration and the SPA model, and specialization and the federation model, while advocating “Group Federation Management 2.0.” The meeting also outlined plans to expand activities centered on 4 areas: personnel, SDGs, procurement and exchanges by job function.