[Weekend Quiz] Can you see through the secret behind Saizeriya's 300-yen Doria?🏭
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This is the "Zawa 4 Channel," bringing you daily insights and learning!
The weekend quiz is here again.
This time, we are bringing you a quiz based on a carefully selected topic from this week's article, themed “The Truth Behind Saizeriya's 'No Price Hike' Management”.
While others are raising prices by 20-30%, they have kept prices almost the same.
Yet, they are seeing record-high profits.
How much of this "too good to be true" story can you see through?
🧩 Question
“Which of the following is incorrect regarding Saizeriya's 'no price hike' management?”
1️⃣ Approximately 65% of Saizeriya's operating profit is generated from its Asian business, centered in China.
2️⃣ Saizeriya's labor productivity is approximately 6,000 yen, which is about the same level as the average for the restaurant industry.
3️⃣ To achieve 'no price hikes,' the president himself brought video cameras into stores and improved work efficiency using manufacturing IE (Industrial Engineering) methods.
So, which one do you think is the correct answer?
Take a moment to think about it!
💡 Hint
“If Saizeriya were just a 'normal restaurant chain,' there is no way they could keep selling Milano-style Doria for 300 yen.”
An additional hint for those still unsure👇
“The numbers are real. But the comparison point is different.”
📖 Click here for the original article
👉 Learning from Saizeriya: The Truth Behind 'No Price Hike' Management—5 Industry Survival Strategies Decoded from a Field Perspective
🍝 Weekend Trivia
Sharing some trivia related to the theme!
✅ There are no "kitchen knives" in Saizeriya stores! All ingredients are cut at the factory before being delivered. It really is a manufacturing mindset, isn't it?
✅ The signature menu item, "Milano-style Doria," actually doesn't exist in authentic Italy; it's a completely original creation. It's said that founder Mr. Shogaki devised it for his regular customers. Did you know that?
✅ Saizeriya owns its own farms in Australia and procures raw materials directly. It is closer to a "food manufacturing industry" than a restaurant chain.
📚 Word explanations for this article
Idle time
→ Time when people, things, or spaces are not operating and are "sitting idle." In manufacturing, this is considered the ultimate waste and a major enemy. Saizeriya's "Morning Saizeriya" is a strategy specifically designed to eliminate this idle time.
Labor productivity
→ The amount of sales generated by one employee per hour. It is a metric that measures "how much can be done with fewer people" rather than "hiring many people and working hard."
IE (Industrial Engineering)
→ A method of scientifically analyzing work movements and time to eliminate waste. While standard in factories, very few companies in the restaurant industry have implemented it in earnest.
🎉 Answer reveal!
The answer is...
2. "Saizeriya's labor productivity is about 6,000 yen, which is about the same level as the restaurant industry average."!
Well, I bet many people were tricked by this, right?
The figure of "6,000 yen" itself is correct.
But "about the same level" is a big lie.
📝 Explanation
Saizeriya's labor productivity of about 6,000 yen is not "about the same level" as the restaurant industry average; it is about twice the industry average.
Where does this number come from?
In 2008, the president at the time brought a video camera into the stores himself and began analyzing movements. This is the result of halving cleaning time, expanding seating by reducing kitchen space, and improving turnover rates through QR code ordering—the full-scale introduction of IE (Industrial Engineering) methods into the restaurant industry, as they say in manufacturing.
The 65% profit ratio of the Asian business in 1, and the president's own movement analysis in 3, are both facts. That is precisely why the modifier "same level" in 2 is the trick.
And here is the truly interesting part of this article.
Saizeriya's "not raising prices" is neither a matter of spirit nor a beautiful story of caring for customers.
"The processes are designed so that it works even without raising prices"—this is the reality.
However, even so, the domestic operating profit margin is only 2.9%. About 65% of the profit is supported by the Asian business. In other words, it is built on a dual structure of "domestic systematization" + "supplementation from overseas profits."
And this question of "how to make idle resources work" is not just about the restaurant industry.
Gap-time part-time work → How to utilize people's spare time
Disability welfare → How to fill the gaps in the system
AI construction machinery → How to reduce idle time for heavy equipment
Public spaces → How to redesign the empty space
They are all connected.
The common theme is "monetizing idle time," and to put it more harshly, it is the problem of "how to incorporate the cost of human beings into the system."
And what is scary is that the weaker the systemization in an industry, the more it ends up having to be absorbed by 'human endurance.'
"Cheapness" is the result, and the core is the "system."
If you can see through this, the 300-yen Milanese Doria will start to look like a completely different landscape.
Summary
So, this time, I have explained "The true nature of Saizeriya's 'no-price-hike management'" in a fun quiz format!
If you found this interesting or helpful, I would be happy if you could support me with a
"Like" or "Follow."
If you have any requests for themes you'd like to see in a quiz,
please let me know in the comments section.
Well then, see you in the next weekend quiz!
#WeekendQuiz #Saizeriya #NoPriceHikeManagement #MilaneseDoria #ManufacturingPerspective #ProcessDesign #Systemization #LaborProductivity #IdleTime #FoodServiceIndustry #DX #FieldSense #Zawa4Channel
