KYOTO –
Sanmarc Holdings is betting on Kyoto’s international enchantment and the rising reputation of gyukatsu amongst overseas vacationers because it accelerates abroad enlargement, with President Yuki Fujikawa positioning the meat cutlet chain as a key driver of the restaurant group’s inbound tourism and worldwide progress technique.
The operator of roughly 30 restaurant manufacturers, together with Saint Marc Café and Kamakura Pasta, relocated its headquarters this month from its founding metropolis of Okayama to Kyoto. The transfer displays the corporate’s ambitions to strengthen its worldwide presence by leveraging Kyoto’s international enchantment.
“I think Kyoto is a place name with strong brand power for people overseas,” mentioned Fujikawa, 37. “Just as Milan is often associated with Italy, Kyoto is strongly associated with Japan.”
Founded in Okayama in 1989 as a Western-style restaurant enterprise, Sanmarc Holdings has grown into a serious restaurant group. Fujikawa joined the corporate after working at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, the place he lined Sanmarc as an analyst. He was invited to affix by founder Takashi Katayama and later accepted a proposal from the corporate’s administration following Katayama’s loss of life. After serving in investor relations and company planning roles, he turned president in 2022.
Fujikawa mentioned the headquarters relocation was pushed by two key goals, the primary being a full-scale international enlargement technique. He believes Kyoto’s worldwide recognition will help the corporate construct stronger abroad manufacturers and entice extra overseas prospects.
A serious pillar of that technique is gyukatsu, or breaded and deep-fried beef cutlets. While the café enterprise stays the group’s largest phase, the variety of gyukatsu retailers has been rising quickly, making it the corporate’s third main enterprise pillar.
One of the corporate’s flagship shops close to Kyoto Station has develop into notably well-liked amongst overseas guests, who account for roughly 90% of shoppers.
The restaurant’s hottest menu merchandise options premium Japanese Black wagyu beef coated in a crisp batter and fried to create a crunchy exterior whereas sustaining a juicy inside. Customers can select from 5 cuts of beef, together with loin and fillet.
A key attraction for abroad guests is the eating expertise itself. Guests cook dinner the meat to their most popular stage of doneness on a small tabletop grill and may take pleasure in it with six totally different sauces and seasonings, together with a soft-boiled egg enhanced with dashi broth.
The idea combines premium Japanese elements with an interactive eating model that appeals to worldwide vacationers looking for distinctive meals experiences throughout their visits to Japan.
As inbound tourism continues to surge, Sanmarc sees gyukatsu as each a option to seize spending by overseas guests in Japan and a possible car for increasing its restaurant manufacturers abroad, utilizing Kyoto’s fame as a gateway to Japanese tradition and delicacies.
Source: テレ東BIZ