Hello, this is Harada from the creative department.
It seems that a bakery will be opening in the Monosas office in Yoyogi. A bakery in a web production company... and a bakery that mainly serves campagne baked in a wood-fired oven... It's so sudden that it's hard to understand.
An information session was held in early November by Monosus CDO (Chief Design Officer) Manabe (who always refers to himself as the "designer") and Shiomi, who trained at Munakatado in Okinawa, a famous wood-fired oven bakery, and worked as production manager at Levain in Tomigaya, known as a pioneer of natural yeast bakeries.
In this article, I hope to convey at least a little of what I felt at the briefing session, the enthusiasm of the two speakers, and their thoughts on how we should approach this issue and work together.
(There may be various opinions about using the honorific "san" to refer to people from the same company on the Monosasu website, which is also the company's public relations department, but here I will use the honorific "san" to smoothly express my perspective and thoughts.)
The encounter: the launch of Kamapan
A few years ago, when Shiomi left Levain to go independent, Manabe, who was a fan of the bakery, almost forcefully asked him to help set up Kamapan, a bakery in Kamiyama that is part of a food hub project funded by Monosus, and develop menus for it.
For more details, please refer to the previous article, "What is the "Middle Bread" by the Two Creators? How Kamiyama's Everyday Bread is Made ~ Food Hub Project "Kamapan" Report ~"
Since Manabe and Shiomi were the creators of the "everyday bread" that is the face of Kamapan, the relationship of trust between them seems to have grown stronger since then.
Shiomi-san and Kamapan's Sasagawa-san, who are developing the "everyday bread"
Searching for a place to open a bakery
After the "Kamapan" project was completed in the summer of 2017, Shiomi-san will search for a place to open a bakery in her hometown of Odawara or Okinawa, where her bread originates, where she can balance the bread she wants to make with her life.
- Natural yeast campagne
- Baked in a wood-fired oven
- In a place where there are many people who want to eat it (mainly face-to-face sales in stores rather than delivery)
There are stores that meet each of the conditions individually, but if you have to meet all three, running a bakery business becomes extremely difficult.
Shiomi at the information session
Although making campagne the main product may not be mainstream, there are shops all over Japan that sell "specialty bread". In addition, there should be a market for fans of "country bread" that is large enough to make it a viable business. There should be no problem with making campagne with natural yeast. Of the three conditions, the most difficult one is to achieve both "wood-fired ovens" and "face-to-face sales".
However, in the center of Tokyo, rent is soaring and it becomes much more difficult to run a bakery.
"(In rural areas) even if I bake good hard bread, there are few people around me who want to eat it," "I don't want to compromise on my desire to make simple bread baked using firewood." Despite his strong preferences, Shiomi is unable to start a bakery as he wants to create a place to work that is a business rather than a hobby. But he tells Manabe that he wants to "open a wood-fired bakery in the heart of Tokyo."
Manabe's thoughts
"If you are that passionate about it, it would be a waste to quit halfway. Is there anything Monosus can do to support you?"
Manabe at the information session
To support his colleagues, Manabe remembered the vacant space at Monosus. He came up with the idea of turning the first floor of the West Building of the Yoyogi office, which happened to be vacant due to staff transfers, into a bakery.
There
Ultimately, business is about asking the world what you believe to be "right" (i.e. aesthetics).
If it's accepted, you're successful, if it's not, it's game over and you're kicked out.
The biggest risk is actually not the money, but "questioning" the world about what you think is "right."
Monosus CEO Takahiro Hayashi
These are the words of Monosus CEO Hayashi, which Manabe himself continues to pursue as his business motto.
Together with my colleagues, we built up an aesthetic that would be lost if we were to think only of economic rationality. And I simply had the desire to improve the company, which I thought would be an exciting place to work if we opened a bakery.
He said:
"Without Monosus, this challenge would be economically impossible in the heart of Tokyo, but I want to take on the challenge together with the Monosus members and show it to the world."
Hearing this story, I felt like I could understand a little bit of Manabe's feelings, that he is not just supporting his friend, but also seeing the bakery as a big challenge for Monosus. (Although I still can't fully understand it.)
My changing thoughts
"Eh? If Manabe-san wants to do it, why don't you just do it? Is there any need to get the company involved?"
When I was first asked in September of this year, "I'm thinking of opening a bakery," I felt a very emotional "repulsion." As a web production company, our biggest (and only) role is to do what the world needs. So, to be honest, I don't understand the point of opening a bakery. It was natural for me to set up the West Building as a common area for the company and to think of it as a place for Monosus first, so when I heard the explanation that the paperwork for starting a bakery was already in sight and the plan was already quite concrete, I felt uneasy that we were being looked down upon.
In the two months leading up to the information session, I initially felt that I couldn't agree with the idea, but after giving it some thought, my feelings changed.
Is it really the right thing to do to emotionally rebel against something that a member of the same company wants to do, especially when the subject is "as Monosus" and thinking about the company? Do I have enough material to reject the aesthetics that the members are looking for, even putting my emotions aside? I thought about it a lot. At this point, I have come to the conclusion that "There is no reason not to support (Manabe)," "What can I do to help?" and "It would be valuable for me to experience the process of starting a business together."
The briefing is over
During the briefing, a member asked, "Will the second floor get hot?"
"Is the rent reasonable?"
"No smoke?"
"Where do you get firewood from?"
"What about disaster prevention measures?"
We received many questions that were surely worrying, such as: "What is the purpose of this project?" ...
Monosus members listening attentively to the briefing session
But technical problems should definitely be solvable! But what's more, I expect that problems will start to pop up once we get started, and that's where things will get really tough.
I think there will be many situations in which Shiomi-san, Manabe-san, myself, the other members, and even the company functions will have to change and adapt.
But, if we don't get pessimistic and instead adapt and solve each problem one by one, it will be a great experience and I feel it will lead to creating a truly exciting company. So, I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to help out as much as I can.
That night, Monosus was having its anniversary party. During the party, I asked Shiomi if she had any worries about running a bakery.
"I will be running the bakery while everyone at Monosus is working there, so I want to make sure there are no hard feelings between us."
"I don't want to just be a tenant, but if possible, I'd like to enjoy the preparations together with everyone as we create the store," he replied.
I want to keep in mind the keywords "doing it together" and "having fun while we go through it."
Here's what we know so far about the road to opening a bakery in Monosas:
- Shiomi makes delicious bread (really)
- It is technically possible (apparently) to open a bakery on the first floor of the West building to meet the requirements.
- Maybe we could all renovate it and create a bakery (sounds fun)
From what I heard at the briefing, I felt that the issues are still not clear, and that they will have to move forward by finding and resolving the issues one by one.
First of all, it is important that each member can understand Manabe's thoughts from their own perspective. I think that unless we "work together" instead of "watching over each other," it will not be an exciting bakery or an exciting workplace. We will be introducing how the bakery is being created at the web production company on the Monosas website.