Contributing to Local Communities

Basic Policy

The geographic expansion of a company's business activities must be accompanied by an expansion of the scope of its responsibility to society. As a global business leader, the Group will contribute to the resolution of social issues such as global economic disparity, inequality, and disparities in children's education, which are themes of the SDGs. We also strive to satisfy the needs not only in Japan but also in other countries that seek attractive food services originating from Japan, and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come. In particular, we will promote “co-existence with local communities," “providing the abundance of food to everyone," and “creating a new future together" as our priorities.

Risks	Opportunities
Damage to the brand and customer churn due to loss of regional credibility Stagnant growth caused by sluggish global expansion	Expanding employment and revitalizing local economies through outlet openings Capitalizing on overseas demand for high-quality, safe Japanese food Evolving into a community-based company by providing education and disaster relief support through food and developing emergency and nursing care food products

Major indicator	KPI
Major indicator	FY2030 target	FY2024	FY2023	FY2022
Expansion of local community contribution activities by outlets (provision of food, such as to children's cafeterias)	260,000 meals	41,880 meals	47,281 meals	44,813 meals

Details of Activities

Co-existence with Local Communities

Revitalization of Local Industry and Job Creation

We believe that our business activities in Japan and overseas will lead to the creation of jobs and, by extension, the revitalization of local industry.

Community-based Product and Outlet Development

Hanamaru serves udon noodles made with a blend of “Sanuki no Yume," a wheat variety original to Kagawa Prefecture, only at its outlets in that prefecture.
Yoshinoya's Orange Dream catering trucks, which conduct mobile sales of Gyudon Bento boxed meals, operate as a “traveling Yoshinoya." Their sales areas range from office districts in city centers to areas where there are no outlets, and even isolated islands. Some outlets in Okinawa Prefecture also sell local dishes such as Taco Rice and Okinawa Soba.
SPEEDIA sells skincare products containing ostrich oil produced at its own ostrich farm in Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture, some of which are available as thank-you gifts under Japan's hometown tax scheme.

Disaster Preparedness

Wanting people to be able to eat food that is both nutritious and delicious even during emergencies, Yoshinoya has developed a range of canned meals as non-perishable emergency foods. In addition to these canned meals, it also has “beef bowl topping," “beef curry," and “hashed beef" products that can be stored at room temperature, making them suitable as emergency food supplies.

Yoshinoya is progressively concluding agreements with prefectures all over Japan for the assistance of people who have been stranded after disasters. Yoshinoya outlets in some of the prefectures that are party to these agreements have registered as “assistance stations" for people who are unable to return to their homes after a disaster, offering them water, use of restrooms, and other forms of assistance.

Contributions to the Improvement of Health and Safety of Local Communities

Lecture on CPR and AED operation — Yoshinoya Holdings regularly holds training sessions called the Life Baton Project for all employees of head office and Group companies to teach them first aid skills, including CPR. Participants learn how to revive people who have stopped breathing or have no pulse and how to use an AED, with the aim of strengthening emergency response capabilities.

Special Volunteer Leave Scheme

Yoshinoya Holdings grants its employees an extra day of paid leave, in addition to regular annual leave, which they can take when participating in volunteer activities. Eligible activities include assistance at child welfare facilities, aged care facilities, and elderly households, assistance in disaster-stricken areas, disaster prevention activities, support for events for people with disabilities, and assisting at local sporting tournaments.

Work Experience Program

With Link actively accepts requests from local schools for work experience programs for children.
Yoshinoya regularly holds family work experience events called “KIDS CAST," in which staff can work alongside a family member (limited to elementary school-aged children and younger). The goals of this initiative are to increase families' understanding of the work and promote communication within families.

For People who Require Care

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. In addition, 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

Providing the Abundance of Food to Everyone

For People Requiring Care and the Elderly

With the aim of realizing a society in which nobody will lose their opportunities to enjoy food through 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. 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. In addition, 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.

For People who Face Difficulties with Everyday Shopping

As supermarkets have become larger and moved to suburban areas, stores in local communities are closing. As a result, a growing number of people, particularly senior citizens, are facing difficulties with their everyday shopping. Tokushimaru mobile supermarkets, services in which light trucks drive around areas that face such shopping difficulties, sells Yoshinoya's “Soft Beef Bowl Toppings."

Cumulative Total of Meals Provided to Children's Cafeterias

Addressing the Issue of Children Skipping Meals and Eating Alone

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.

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

Provision of Food Experiences

With Link regularly holds “on-site ramen restaurant" events, which involve managers and supervisors of directly managed outlets traveling to mother-and-child life support facilities, child welfare facilities, and welfare facilities for people with disabilities to provide Bariuma ramen at no charge.
As part of employee-led efforts to contribute to the local community, Hanamaru Udon gives practical instruction to children in udon classes sponsored by the community.

Scholarship Program

Since 2017, Yoshinoya has been operating a scholarship program to support students working part-time at Yoshinoya outlets who, for financial reasons, face difficulties pursuing higher education, to help them with their educational expenses. Under this program, which has a quota of 10 recipients per year, part-time Yoshinoya employees who pass the selection process are paid a bursary to be put toward enrolment and tuition fees. If the recipients join Yoshinoya as full-time employees after graduating from university and work for four years continuously, repayment of the entire amount will be waived. If they join another foodservice company, half of the amount received will be waived. In addition to assisting young people with financial problems, Yoshinoya will nurture talent who will contribute to the advancement of the foodservice industry.

Creating a new future together

Industry-Academia Cooperation

Since 2022, Yoshinoya Holdings has been conducting regular surveys on breakfast habits, in conjunction with Tohoku University Knowledge Cast Co., Ltd., a consulting company 100% funded by Tohoku University, and NeU Corp., a brain science company 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 industry-academia joint research at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, and has been conducting research and development of new advance-function beef bowls.
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."

Cooperation with Local Governments

In 2021, Yoshinoya concluded a partnership agreement for disaster prevention awareness-raising activities with Izumiotsu City in Osaka Prefecture. It cooperates with the city in a variety of ways, including holding tastings of its canned meals at awareness-raising events, to encourage greater interest in disaster preparedness in the home.
In 2022, Hanamaru concluded an agreement with Takamatsu City, which is conducting a biomass power generation demonstration trial using discarded udon noodles. Under this agreement, Hanamaru provides the city with the udon noodle scraps that are generated in the manufacturing process.
In 2023, Yoshinoya concluded a partnership agreement with Tochigiken-Dental Association, under which it is working to promote good health in late-stage elderly residents of Tochigi Prefecture by preventing malnutrition through the consumption of meat to ensure adequate protein intake. It is also supporting the creation of dining environments where individuals with dietary restrictions in terms of form and content can enjoy the same meals as their family members and loved ones.

Awards Received

Disaster Prevention Goods Awards

The Disaster Prevention Goods Awards held by the Disaster Prevention Research Institute, recognize disaster prevention products of excellent quality. Their aim is to raise awareness of the need to be prepared for disasters, particularly a self-help mindset, through the wide promotion of disaster prevention products (including those for epidemic prevention and crime prevention). In 2023, the “Canned Meal Beef Bowl 6-Can Set" won the Excellence Award, and in 2024, the full range of retort pouch food products* was selected for the Grand Prize from a rolling-stock perspective.

Full range of retort pouch food products: Room-temperature storage beef bowl topping, room-temperature storage Tonjiru (miso soup with pork and vegetables), room-temperature storage beef curry, room-temperature storage hashed beef, freeze-dried Gyusui beef soup, freeze-dried Tonjiru, retort pouch Soft Beef Bowl Topping (nursing care food product), retort pouch Finely Chopped Beef Bowl Topping (nursing care rood product), retort pouch Soft Chicken-And-Egg Bowl Topping (nursing care food product)