Joy of Food, Health and Nutrition | Customers | ESG Initiatives (Social) | Sustainability

Basic Policy

Widening economic disparities have contributed to the child poverty rate in Japan remaining high, and dietary habits are deteriorating, with problems such as malnutrition and solitary eating. An abundant supply of healthy, nutritious food is the most important social value that the Group should offer, and our mission as a provider of everyday food is to deliver this value to everyone. We will continue our efforts to protect people's health, overcoming soaring raw material prices and other aspects of a very challenging environment surrounding food.

Risks	Opportunities
Soaring raw material prices driven by climate change and competition for resources Changes in consumer behavior owing to the pandemic and population aging Decrease in the number of food service customers caused by widening economic disparities	Functioning as a social safety net against child poverty Responding to growing health demands associated with changes in the social environment Providing the rich life that warm daily meals bring

KPIs

KPI setting	FY2030 result	FY2023 result	FY2022 result
Regular health checkup attendance rate	100%	91%	89%

KPI setting	FY2030 result	FY2023 result	FY2022 result
Annual sales of Tokugyu Salacia Premium and nursing-care beef products^*	100,000 meals	70,000 meals	80,000 meals

Tokugyu Salacia Premium is a food for specified health uses that is sold following an inspection by the government. Nursing-care beef products are for people with decreased chewing and swallowing ability.

Examples of Activities

Yoshinoya Holdings

The Group is forming a structure to deliver health value. While the Product Development Department assumes a leadership role in the development of menus, foods for specified health uses, and foods for nursing care that meet customers' health needs, the Materials Development Department heads up research into ingredients and functional materials necessary in creating such value, and for confirming their effectiveness in promoting health and securing evidence. Moreover, the Materials Development Department is also promoting the effective use of materials from the perspective of the SDGs.
According to nutritional research conducted by the Materials Development Department on Yoshinoya's Gyudon, a regular-sized beef bowl delivers between one-quarter and one-third of the daily recommended intake of protein, fat, and carbohydrates(*). Additionally, we have submitted a paper to a professional journal reporting that consuming beef bowl ingredients for three months had no effect on the results of a health checkup.
*Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese (2020), for males aged 30–49 with physical activity level (PAL) II
We have been researching the nutritional value of Gyudon in collaboration with Professor Yoshikazu Yonei of Doshisha University's Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences' Anti-Aging Medical Research Center since 2013. The research has revealed that there is no effect on health checkup results even after 90 days of continuous consumption. It also found that eating beef bowl in the morning has a second-meal effect that suppresses the rise in blood sugar after lunch. We infer that this is due to the protein and fat contained in the meat.
Since 2017, in addition to promoting research of alternative meats in anticipation of the future, we have continued to conduct research into ostriches. In the course of our ostrich research, we have discovered new functions in the beauty and health domains and realized that ostriches can help to enrich people's lives. Ostrich thigh meat has been accepted by Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency as a food with functional claims that contains imidazole dipeptides. This research is being pursued from the perspective of making effective use of not only of their meat and oil, but of all the resources that ostriches can provide, including their feathers and bones. We are cooperating with various researchers in these endeavors. Currently, Speedia, Co., Ltd. is conducting ostrich breeding, research, product development, and sales.
Since 2022, we have been conducting a survey on breakfast habits and research into brain function through the consumption of breakfast meals incorporating rice in collaboration with the Tohoku University Smart-Aging Research Center, a consulting company wholly owned by Tohoku University, and NeU Corporation, a brain science company jointly established by Tohoku University and Hitachi High-Tech Corporation.
In 2023, Yoshinoya Holdings, together with Taiyo Kagaku Co., Ltd. and Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, established the “Food and Health Research Chair," an endowed chair for joint research at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, and has been conducting research and development through industry-academia collaboration with the aim of extracting the maximum nutritional value from Gyudon beef bowls. We have also presented the research at a conference, and have a patent application pending.
In 2023, Yoshinoya Holdings concluded a comprehensive industry-academia partnership agreement with Kagawa Education Institute of Nutrition's Kagawa Nutrition University, based on which it is working on industry-academia collaboration in the areas of health, food, and nutrition with the goal of “healthy meals."

Yoshinoya

Since 2015, Yoshinoya, as a provider of daily meals, has considered providing safe, healthy, and fulfilling meals to be an important social value. We continue to produce new products while preserving the traditional flavor and adding enhancements, and are also working on the development and sale of Gyudon beef bowl that is useful for improving people's diets.
Since 2017, with the aim of realizing a society in which nobody will lose their opportunities to enjoy food throughout their lives, we have been rolling out a range of meal products called “Yoshinoya's Thoughtful Meals" for people whose ability to chew and swallow has declined. Products such as “Soft Beef Bowl Topping" and “Finely Chopped Beef Bowl Topping" are sold in pharmacies and drugstores. So far, these products have also been adopted by over 10,000 hospitals and care facilities for use in hospital meals and meals at care facility events. For example, through Nissin Healthcare Food Service Co., Ltd., Japan's largest hospital catering provider, more than 2.8 million serves of Yoshinoya's Thoughtful Meals have been provided at hospitals to date. At Yoshinoya Gyudon Recreation, nursing care recreation events held at elderly daycare facilities and similar locations, Yoshinoya's Thoughtful Meals food is served, with Yoshinoya staff wearing happi coats dishing it out in the same takeout containers that are used by Yoshinoya outlets, adding to the overall experience of delicious taste and fun.

Number of “Yoshinoya's Thoughtful Meals" Served at Hospital Facilities through Nissin Healthcare Food Service Co., Ltd.

FY2020	300,000
FY2021	610,000
FY2022	560,000
FY2023	640,000
FY2024	720,000

Since 2020, the Group has been selling “Tokugyu Salacia Premium," a frozen beef bowl topping approved as a food for specified health uses (FOSHU), becoming the first food service chain to obtain FOSHU approval. The sauce for frozen beef bowl topping contains 0.5 mg of salacinol, extracted from the salacia plant. It has been approved by the national government for its effectiveness and safety in reducing the absorption of sugar from food after eating and slowing the rise in blood sugar after eating.
Since 2023, we have been selling Beef and Steamed Vegetables Combo Bowl—which combines deliciousness and health—at our Cooking & Comfort (C&C) restaurants. With one meal, you can get the ideal amount of protein and over 40% of the adult daily requirement (350 g) for vegetable consumption. It has also obtained Smart Meal® certification, which requires it to meet standards set based on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's “Guidelines for Meals Provided for the Purpose of Promoting the Prevention of Lifestyle-Related Diseases and Other Health Issues" and other standards.
Since 2023, we have been working to develop varieties of lettuce specifically for our Tokyo Factory, and we have obtained patents for seed registration and for optimizing cultivation conditions for new varieties.
Since 2023, we have been upcycling the onion scraps previously deemed off-spec at our Tokyo Factory by drying and using them as an edible powder. Moreover, from February 2024, we introduced a superheated steam dryer developed by ASTRA FOOD PLAN Co., Ltd. at our Tokyo Factory, which instantly sterilizes, dries and powders food. We are making effective use of the output as a food material ingredient while retaining the flavor and minimizing the loss of nutritional value. This measure has been praised by the food service industry for reducing food loss.

Yoshinoya/Hanamaru

Our support for children's cafeterias began in 2020, and we have gradually expanded our initiatives. Yoshinoya and Hanamaru provide warm, nutritious meals free of charge all year round.

Cumulative Total of Meals Provided to Children's Cafeterias

Yoshinoya

FY2020	Approx. 780
FY2021	32,513
FY2022	43,423
FY2023	47,869
FY2024	40,588

Hanamaru

FY2021	474
FY2022	496
FY2023	943
FY2024	1,292

Awards Received

In 2024, Yoshinoya's Beef and Steamed Vegetables Combo Bowl product, which has received Smart Meal® certification, won the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Public Health Bureau Director-General Award in the area of lifestyle-related disease prevention at the 13th “Let's Extend Healthy Life Expectancy!" Awards, sponsored by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Japan Sports Agency.
In 2024, the Yoshinoya Gyudon Recreation, a nursing care recreation that incorporates Yoshinoya's Thoughtful Meals series provided by Yoshinoya won the 54th Food Industry Technology Contribution Award in the Marketing category.
In 2024, in recognition of our upcycling of off-spec onion scraps that would otherwise be discarded during food processing, as well as the creation of a sustainable scheme that we have been implementing at the Tokyo Factory since 2022, we received the Parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Environment Award in the 2024 Food Loss and Waste Reduction Promotion Award, conducted by Japan's Ministry of the Environment and the Consumer Affairs Agency.