The National Federation of Agricultural Co-operative Associations (JA Zen-Noh) announced Monday, May 12, that it will establish a company with Saitama-based yakitori restaurant firm Hibiki Food Service Group to open 50 restaurants by 2019 to offer domestically-produced pork and chicken dishes.
The new company, J-ACE Hibiki, will be the first business entity in the JA group to receive investment from a JA fund to promote farmers’ sales of processed farm products. It hopes to support the nation’s meat production industry by strengthening sales of domestically-produced pork and chicken.
Both JA Zen-Noh and Hibiki say they can benefit from the joint venture, as JA Zen-Noh has a nationwide system which ensures stable supply of traceable agricultural products, while Hibiki has business knowhow on operating restaurants which offer domestically-produced chicken and pork. Hibiki currently operates 20 restaurants at home and abroad such as Singapore. Hibiki will also provide the new firm with its own patented traceability system.
JA Zen-Noh, which has 31 restaurants offering Japanese Wagyu beef, hopes to expand its business to pork and chicken by cooperating with Hibiki.
They plan to first open a flagship restaurant which offer local specialties and a reasonably-priced restaurant by the end of this year. They hope to mark sales of JPY2.3 billion in 2019.
The new firm is capitalized at JPY300 million, out of which JPY150 million is offered by the fund, JPY119 million by JA Zen-Noh and JPY31 million by Hibiki. Hibiki President Yoshiharu Hibiki will head the new company, and directors will come from JA Zen-Noh, JA Zen-Noh Meat Foods Co. and Zennoh Chicken Foods Corp.
The JA fund was established in April last year to support so-called “sixth industrialization” of agriculture, referring to collaboration of agriculture with related industries such as sales and processing, aimed at adding value to farm products and creating new business opportunities.
(May 13, 2014)