Hello. I'm Sugimoto, a writer living in Kyoto who helps everyone with their articles behind the scenes of the Monosasu site. This time, I'll be writing an article for the Monosasu site using my professional writing skills.
The theme is "monosus Shashokuken (hereinafter Shashokuken)," a new food business launched by Monosus. The "sha" in Shashokuken refers to both the "sha" of the company and the "sha" of society, and we are trying to get involved in society through food.
Why is Monosus, which is generally thought of as an IT or web company, starting a business in the new field of "food" now? We spoke to Shigeta Arai and Taichi Manabe of Shashokuken about everything from how they met to how they came to start this business, and what they plan to do with Shashokuken in the future.
Shigeta Arai- Director of Food Business Development at monosus. After working as the first food manager at Google Japan and as a director at food tech company Nonpi, he joined monosus in June 2020. He has a weakness for apple pie.
Taichi Manabe- Monosus CDO (Design), Food Hub Project Manager, and the Blind Donkey Manager. His favorite food is fruit these days (although it changes often). His motto is "Hobbies can be profitable," and he's been spending his time climbing mountains lately.
The encounter took place at a food education event held within Google called "Eating Too Much Thought Day."
Sugimoto: You two met right after the Great East Japan Earthquake. It was when Monosas was in charge of the "Innovation Tohoku" website run by Google . What did you think of each other when you worked together?
Manabe: During Innovation Tohoku, we didn't really work together that much. The first time we worked together was in 2014, at Google, on a food education event called "Think Dish." I met Arai-san when he was the food manager at Google Japan.
The theme was "Think Dish - A day to think too much before eating," so that we could eat while facing the ingredients and the producers. We invited chefs who worked with us at " Nomadic Kitchen ," ordered ingredients from producers all over the country, and did various things, but I thought that Arai was a very pleasant person who supported the site.
Arai: Google's in-house restaurants and cafes, including breakfast, lunch and dinner, are all company-funded. For the first time, we charged a 6,000 yen fee for a cafeteria where employees can usually eat for free. We wanted employees to have respect for food makers and to think about food as something that "matters to them." Even so, the participant slots filled up quickly. Whenever we meet, the Google employees who participated still tell us, "I'm glad we had the time to think about food."
Sugimoto: Why did you want to start Think Dish?
Arai: Google employees had a lot of respect for our food team, who take food services in general very seriously. I thought that if we had the opportunity to connect directly with passionate producers, they would respect us and the producers would be happy.
Manabe: Many of the people at Google are incredibly inquisitive, so they ask really in-depth questions. They provide a lot of feedback, so I think it must have been a delightful experience for the chefs and producers alike.
Arai: In the past, company cafeterias were thought of as a place to fill one's stomach. However, reconsidering the way food is served in the company cafeterias of major companies can encourage communication among employees and even change the way they approach food. We wanted to promote this possibility to the outside world by using the highly visible locations of Google's in-house restaurants and cafes.
"Everyday food" as a commonality between food hubs and company cafeterias
Sugimoto: After Think Dish, Arai-san left the Google Food team in 2016 and moved to food tech company Nonpi. Did you two keep in touch after that?
Arai: Akiko Asaba, a former member of the Google Food Team, is at the Food Hub, so I heard about it from her and became interested, and I would visit Kamiyama once a year.
Food Hub positions its restaurant "Kama-ya" and bread and food shop "Kamapan & Store" as "everyday dining places." In addition, while many companies have slogans like "connecting small things with small things (connecting small-scale production with small-scale consumption)," Food Hub continues to do so steadily. Moreover, the business is rising vertically, which I think is very interesting.
Sugimoto: What do you mean by "the business will start up vertically"?
Arai: Usually, you start with farming, then move on to the next business once it's established, and once that's on track, move on to processed foods... I think it's common to build up on a business basis. However, Food Hub was launched simultaneously in multiple places. I think that was possible because we really fostered small relationships. I had a vague thought that "It would be great if we could do this kind of initiative in a company cafeteria in Tokyo."
Manabe: That's why, when I heard that Arai was leaving his previous job, I asked him if he wanted to work with me at Monosus. Arai also told me, "Food hubs prepare 'everyday food' for a specific number of people in the local area, but corporate cafeterias in cities are the same in the sense that they support the 'everyday food' of a specific number of people."
Arai: I think a business needs vertical movement to dig deep and brand, and horizontal movement to expand and scale, and it's important to find a balance. I worked in the food team at Google, a company that digs deep while also scaling, so I've always thought that it would be good if we could balance vertical and horizontal axes in the food field, even if it was small. Food Hub is a business that digs deep into the vertical axis, so if we could expand the essence of that to urban offices and other places on the horizontal axis with the same keyword of "everyday food," we could scale the business. Monosus and Food Hub are like sister companies, so we discussed how it would be nice if we could circulate both wheels.
Monosus is a place for people who want to do something.
Manabe: Food Hub started when I met Kaoru Shirato (Agricultural Director). I don't think Shashokuken's business would have been launched without Arai-san. You might be wondering, "Is it okay for a company to run a business that relies so much on people?" But Monosus is the exact opposite. It all started with the idea that "if there's someone who wants to do something, and Monosus can bring it to life, then let's do it." I think that's what's good about Monosus, and what makes it interesting.
However, I had always thought, "I'd like to start a business in the food industry," and I had said that in Monosus, so you could say I had been preparing for it for years. On top of that, we met and had a connection, and we thought, "I can do it with Mr. Arai," so we started it.
Sugimoto: What was it about Arai that made you think, "I can do this with Arai-san?"
Manabe: In terms of his work history, I knew how amazing it was that he continued to serve 2,000 meals every weekday at the Google cafeteria, which were of higher quality than any other hotel. I also thought that he was great at negotiating contracts and business. When I was trying to run a food business on a B2B basis, rather than a B2C basis, I thought it would be impossible without someone like Arai, so in that sense he was the best partner ever.
Arai when he first met Manabe
Sugimoto: So, Mr. Arai, what do you want to do with Monosus from now on?
Arai: One is to create a system that replicates the idea of "connecting small things" promoted by Food Hub in urban offices. It is difficult to maintain nutritional balance and menu diversity in a company cafeteria that serves 300 to 500 meals a day, while procuring ingredients little by little from small producers and making the most of them, but that is the challenge I want to take on.
Another thing is to raise our sights from the idea that "company cafeterias = corporate cafeterias" to creating "community cafeterias" in Tokyo. For example, while office building developers have set the mission of SDGs and urban development, they have not been able to break away from the rent model of inviting restaurants to the first basement floor. Instead, I would like to create a cafeteria open to the community where employees of companies in office buildings and people in the town can gather and share meals. This is still some way off, but there is already one project that looks like it could be realized.
Sugimoto: The other day, you wrote in an article on the Monosas website that you were "confident that there is great potential for synergy with Monosas' core business," but what did you mean by that specifically?
Arai: For example, Monosus has a lot of experience in web production for B2B companies, and is familiar with the culture of each company. The key to contract business is to know the culture of the company well. Moreover, the liaison office for both web production and company cafeterias is often the general affairs department. The information and trust that Monosus has accumulated so far may be able to be utilized in Shashokuken's business.
The other is the synergy with Monosus's technology and experience in its core business. In the food and beverage industry, there are many cases where systems such as ordering, payment, inventory management, and customer management are not integrated, resulting in unnecessary work. I would like to create such a system with Monosus.
Rethinking urban life through eating
A challenge begins at Ginza Sony Park
Sugimoto: What do you want to do at Shashokuken right now?
Manabe: When people had to stay home due to the impact of COVID-19, I think people in Tokyo were more likely to think about eating. When the distinction between working and living disappears, eating becomes the center. In the future, while things may or may not go back to normal, we at Shashokuken believe that eating will become even more important for companies.
Yoshiaki Nishimura says, "We've moved from an era of how we play to an era of how we work, and now we're moving into an era of how we live," and we want to think about how we live through food. Even if you live in the city, can you feel more connected to producers and live your life through the food you eat every day? This is an experiment.
Sugimoto: It has already been decided that Kamapan & Friends will open a store on the third basement floor of Ginza Sony Park on November 28th.
Manabe: This is also an experiment in how we do business. We will open a limited-time pop-up store, "Kamapan & Friends <Natural Products Hall>", which brings together small crafters from all over the country, until the end of September 2021. We discussed how to do what we have done in Kamiyama under the motto of "local production and local food" in the middle of Ginza, and decided on the motto "Friends' production, friends' food - grow with friends, eat with friends".
The character "friend" has the meaning of "helping each other" and "people with the same way of thinking and aspirations." We wanted to provide a place in Ginza where people can trust each other and feel at ease, where cooking supports those who eat, and eating supports those who cook. With a focus on Kamapan bread, we plan to have bread from small, locally based bakeries, additive-free foods, combo sandwiches, and additive-free soft serve ice cream.
Kamapan & Friends is intended to be a place where relationships can be fostered with the various creators that we have met so far.
Sugimoto: Are you planning to expand the Kamapan & Friends business in the future?
Manabe: There are about 20 souvenir shops and antenna shops in the Ginza/Yurakucho area, and I think there are people who visit them as if they are on a trip. By incorporating this context, we hope to make shopping at these small souvenir shops an everyday option, for example, instead of the convenience store on the first floor of an office building. This is also a big part of why we can put together the next business development thanks to Mr. Arai.
Sugimoto: Mr. Manabe, you've always wanted to connect small things, and you're starting to realize that to some extent through the Food Hub, but you're not satisfied with that and are still trying to do the same in Tokyo. Why?
Manabe: The countryside is good and the city is bad, or the city is good and the countryside is bad, or managers and employees. It's not like that! I've always thought, "How can we create a world that is not binary but is actually one?" I thought I had to do it in Tokyo someday. I have friends in Tokyo, and people I work with.
When I'm in Kamiyama, it feels like the producers and the people eating are right next to each other. "Your vegetables are delicious," "They're delicious, aren't they? The food you make is delicious too." The challenge this time is, "How can we make that happen in the city?"
Sugimoto: Mr. Arai, what kind of society and future do you envision through Shashokuken?
Arai: In Japan, there is a place where people gather together to exchange friendship and love, share "good things," and I think there was a cycle where sensibilities are refined and good things are created. However, as the world has become more convenient, this cycle has been broken, and the sensibilities that create interesting things are no longer nurtured. Japanese people have a deep respect for "good things," so I would like to expand the cycle of creating "good things" by cultivating respect for food in particular.
Sugimoto: Thank you. First of all, I'm looking forward to the opening of Kamapan & Friends in Ginza.
＼Opened on November 28, 2020! /
Kamapan & Friends <Natural Products Center>
11:00-19:00 Closed on Mondays (except public holidays)
Ginza Sony Park B3
Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, Ginza Line, Hibiya Line "Ginza Station" Directly connected to Exit B9
About 5 minutes walk from the central exit of Yurakucho Station on the JR Yamanote Line and Keihin Tohoku Line
We will post information about our store on our website and social media!
Web / Instagram / Facebook
SUGIMOTO Kyoko
Freelance writer. Since autumn 2016, she has been serializing ``Kamiyama no Musumetachi'' in Hinagata, in which she interviews women who have moved to Kamiyama.