Local News

The Fukuoka branch of Teikoku Databank released its top 50 rankings for restaurant sales in Kyushu and Okinawa in FY2012. Total sales of the top 50 companies increased 5.7% year-on-year to ¥454 billion, and Fukuoka-based Plenus, the operator of the Hotto Motto boxed lunch chain, kept its perch at number one for the 10th year in a row. Other top 10 companies include Kitakyushu’s Toyo Shokuhin, operator of the Ajidokoro Hanasaki restaurant chain (4th), and Kumamoto’s Bento no Hirai (7th). Twelve of the 50 companies specialize in home-meal replacement, and their total sales increased 10.9% year-on-year. The employee in charge of the survey speculates that “an increase in single people and the ageing of the population have increased the demand for home-meal replacement”. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun, 11/26