Genki Sushi (9828 JP) is a conveyor belt (“kaiten”) sushi restaurant operator based in Utsunomiya, Japan.
Genki Sushi started in 1968 by 24-year old Japanese chef Fumio Saito who came up with the concept of sushi on revolving conveyor belts. The company was listed in 1991 and now has a domestic market share of 5.6% across three major brand names: Genki Sushi (small-sized neighbourhood sushi restaurants), Uobei (large-sized sushi restaurants in Japan and Senryo (high-end sushi).
Since 2013, Genki has transitioned from a conveyor belt concept to made-to-order sushi. Customers order from an iPad or their phone via a QR code, and the plates with sushi are then sent directly from the kitchen to customers’ tables on mini (“shinkansen”) bullet trains. I personally love the concept and know many others who do as well. So far, Genki is almost alone in adopting this technology.
The bright spot in Genki Sushi is the overseas franchising business. Under franchisee Maxim’s, Genki Sushi has an almost 50% share of the kaiten sushi market in Hong Kong. It is also highly successful in Singapore. The overseas business is highly profitable, and profits come from a combination of both royalty revenues and sales of ingredients to franchisees.
Today, the chain has a total of 356 restaurants. I believe that the restaurant concept can be replicated multiple-fold across ASEAN and East Asia. And perhaps even mainland US and Europe.
The company was hit hard by COVID-19, with restaurant foot traffic down from early 2020 onwards. With Japan’s vaccination drive going into full gear, it is reasonable to believe that Japanese restaurant foot traffic will recover in much the same way it has in the United States.
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