Thematic interviews
Written by: Yue Yueting
2020-01-22 08:00
Last updated: 2020-01-22 08:00Japanese sushi sushi brand Sushiro topped the Hong Kong market last August, and Jotun ’s first store sold about 10,000 dishes of sushi a day. Its mobile app reservations have been arranged to mid-March, which is a bit Hard to find. Seeing this, Sushi Lang opened a second branch in less than half a year, and the new store opened in Whampoa on Wednesday (22).
In an exclusive interview with "Hong Kong 01", the general manager of Hong Kong Sushi Lang Araya and the male revealed that they had been deployed to Hong Kong a year and a half ago. In addition to visiting multiple districts to understand the distribution of people and find shop locations, they also helped the industry and dismantle their opponents' operations . The company also uses big data to analyze the sales of sushi in the store to understand the hobby of Hong Kong customers and reduce the loss of ingredients.
Sushi Lang Jordan shop sells about 10,000 plates of sushi daily. About 66% of the company's sushi and warships sell for 12 yuan. (Photo by Huang Shuhui)
Sushiro has more than 530 stores in Japan. In recent years, flags have been installed in South Korea and Taiwan. Both Hong Kong and Singapore opened their first direct-operated stores in August last year. Araya and Nan said that Hong Kong and Singapore are international cities, and guests come from all over the world. , I hope that through Hong Kong, let more people know the Sushilang brand.
The first branch in Hong Kong opened in August last year. However, the number of customers exceeded expectations during the initial opening period, causing its mobile app to exceed the load of the Japanese system. The mobile ticketing function is still being repaired and upgraded. Youtube will be temporarily changed to display real-time ticketing status. . Recalling the situation at the time, Araya and the male couldn't help but say to the reporter, "I didn't expect to sell so well in Hong Kong!"
Because the mobile phone ticket pickup function of the Sushilang mobile app is still under repair, the company uses Youtube to display the real-time ticketing status to let customers know the waiting time and ticket collection status. (Sushi Lang Youtube live screenshot)
The first batch of employees in Hong Kong will go to Taiwan for "training"
Gui is the leader of Japanese rotary sushi. Sushilang attacked Hong Kong, attracting a lot of "fans" to patronize. It sounds reasonable, but the company is not inferior. Araiya and the male revealed that one and a half years ago had begun to do market research in Hong Kong, and "in-depth" as a guest, patronizing Bancho Sushi, Genki Sushi, Senji Sushi owned by Genki Sushi, Medanli and Feng Sushi, etc. Araya and the male found that the food is very popular in Japan and also very popular in Hong Kong, so they try to bring the "sushi" of Japanese sushi products to Hong Kong. "Hong Kong people buy things because they think they are valuable, so we Not doing much localization. "
In addition to "knowing yourself and knowing each other," Sushi Lang also stepped up "training." Before the opening of Hong Kong Sushi Lang, the head office sent a lot of Japanese employees to the Hong Kong shop to take charge of the preliminary work. The first batch of employees of the Hong Kong restaurant had to go to Taiwan Sushi Lang for training. Sushilang staff in Japan and Taiwan teach them "hands-on" to ensure that the sushi level is consistent with Japanese restaurants. In addition, all new product developments in Hong Kong stores will be released after confirmation by the Japanese Sushi Lang merchandise department. Customers can also fill out questionnaires through the QR code on the receipt to reflect the dining experience or other information to the company opinion.
Araiya and the male said that the company attaches great importance to talent training, and the salary will be slightly higher or flat than that of their Hong Kong counterparts. They hope that employees like Sushiro and are proud of the brand. (Photo by Huang Shuhui)
First shop picks Hong Kong Sushi Lang in Jordan: Just match the pattern
Sushilang's first store is located in Jordan, not in areas with a high concentration of people such as Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui. When Araya and Man explained that when looking for the first store, the company visited Huangpu, Central, Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan, Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and other places. However, because the store has to accommodate three conveyor belts for sushi, the space required is relatively large. At the same time, it is expected that the billboards and signs outside the store will be more obvious, so that customers can enter the store via stairs and elevators. "To be frank, I am not too particular about opening a store there. The layout can meet the requirements. Opening a store in Jordan is a fate. The store has a practical area of 8,000 square feet, which just fits the company."
The Jordan store is located on the UG building of Nathan Square. The entrance of the building has ス シ ロ ー (Sushiro) and Sushiro signboards. At the same time, the shop has floor-to-ceiling windows on the opposite street. Sushi) "billboard, the shop is located on the first floor, guests can take the elevator or take the stairs to the shop. Araiya and Nanbutsu Road Although Hong Kong has higher rents and labor costs, the company still hopes to provide delicious and inexpensive sushi to its customers and attract them to eat two to three times a month. Therefore, about 66% of sushi and warships in the store The price is 12 yuan.
At the same time, Sushi Lang's ingredients are imported from Japan, Australia, the Mediterranean, the Pacific, South Africa and other places. Large quantities of purchases can help reduce costs. "Hong Kong customers may not favor cheap but unpalatable food, so they have not considered reducing the cost of ingredients." 90% of the products in the Hong Kong store are the same as those in the Japanese store. However, some of the products, such as matcha Swiss rolls and Hokkaido milk raw pudding, were developed by the company and Hong Kong manufacturers and manufactured in Hong Kong. After freezing treatment, the taste of the ingredients will be damaged, so the company decided to produce in Hong Kong, and the products were also tasted by the staff of the Japanese Product Development Department.
Analysis of the sales of microchips at the bottom of sushi plates
The ingredients are fresh, but the rotary sushi is not always called immediately. How to meet the needs of diners and reduce the loss of ingredients is the king. Araiya and the man revealed that Sushi Lang uses a high-tech sushi management system. Each sushi plate is equipped with a microchip to monitor the status of the sushi plate. If the sushi runs on a conveyor belt for more than 350 meters, it will be automatically recycled and discarded; at the same time, Before producing sushi, the staff will place a card with the name and picture of the sushi on an empty dish to let the system know what sushi was produced and use it to analyze the sales of sushi.
Opening the menu, the product categories provided are similar to those of competitors, but the name is "snap sushi", not simply "sushi", because the sushi machine used by Sushi Lang was developed by the company and manufacturers and manufactured. The temperature of the sushi rice is the same as the body temperature. It can also simulate the action of a sushi chef squeezing the sushi rice with his thumb to make the sushi rice better. "Sushi rice can be pinched and released in the mouth." In addition, the menu has a lot of salmon-based sushi, but according to the data, the top three best-selling sushi in Hong Kong restaurants are: Specialty Tuna Fish Maw, Specialty Tuna Fish Maw and Ginger Fish. The company originally thought that Hong Kong people love to eat sushi with flowers, and specially developed a series of thin rolls with similar innovative flavors such as salmon avocado rolls, fresh shrimp avocado rolls, fried shrimp avocado rolls, etc., but Araiya and the male felt that Hong Kong guests know how to taste sushi and become more traditional. The less seasoning the sushi is.
With the experience of the Jordan store, two Hong Kong branches will launch limited-edition sushi during the next month, and will update the menu at the end of this month to eliminate poorly-selling styles, such as burger steaks, bamboo round tempura Winter and shrimp salad rolls will be updated every three months thereafter.
Adversity Expansion Araya and Man: Don't Worry About Market Prospects
Even though the number of visiting customers is endless, the original Hong Kong store has not returned. Araiya and the man admit that the Hong Kong store has not made any money at present, because the company's investment is relatively large, coupled with the expensive Hong Kong shop rental and high labor costs, but I believe that as more and more branches are opened, it is possible to open to 3 to 4 stores, the company will be able to break even. He pointed out that the annual turnover of each Japanese sushi restaurant is about 330 million yen (approximately HK $ 23.3 million). Hong Kong restaurants are working in this direction. At present, it is already believed that the sales of Hong Kong restaurants are expected to be higher than those of Japanese restaurants.
He revealed that Hong Kong stores will open 4 new stores this year, increasing the number of stores to 5. The trend is for areas with a certain number of people on weekdays and weekends. The ground floor and the first floor will be better, and the store's practical area will need more than 4,000 square feet. ; The company's main force is dine-in. In the future, we will consider setting up takeaway services. Hong Kong ’s economy is in recession, but Hong Kong Sushi Lang chose to expand its branches. Ara Valley and the Finger Company have not been too worried about the market prospects. Hong Kong is densely populated and the people are used to eating out. It is a great place to shop. At the same time, during the financial tsunami in 2008, the Japanese sushiro business did not have much impact. "The people take food as the sky. As long as everyone can eat and willing to eat, there will be a market!"
Unemployment rate rose to 3.3% in December, unemployment rate in consumer tourism related industries was 5.2%, highest in three years
Catering Sushi Lang
