Ikinari Steak — Carving Out A New Fast Food Indulgence

Audrey N
Audrey N
Sep 4, 2018 · 4 min read

What comes to your mind when you think about having a steak dinner? For me, it will likely be a meal with friends in a nice restaurant when we can laugh and chat over drinks and food. What if, having quality steak has now become a fast food experience where you can pop in anytime you want (with or without friends)? This article is on Ikinari Steak (literally means ‘steak suddenly’), a chain of causal steakhouses in Japan. I have been to their steakhouses a couple of times but only got interested to learn more about the company when I found out they got listed on the First Section of Tokyo Stock Exchange some time back. I thought it’s quite a feat considering the company is a direct to consumer food & beverages company rather than an IT startup (which most would deem to have high returns).

Credit: http://kugyousou.net/category15-3.html

The Creation of a New Trend of Fast Food Dining

When it comes to fast food, the likes of soba (buckwheat noodles) or takoyaki (octopus balls) will come to mind for most Japanese. However, when Ikinari Steak started out with standing-only stores, the trend of having steak as fast food took off. The design of stores with only standing tables is much like traditional fast food such as soba joints where stores having little or no seats are ubiquitous. Having only standing tables unconsciously prime diners to finish their meals and leave the place quickly. For instance, the average time spent in the steakhouse during lunch and dinner time can be as little as 20 minutes and 30 minutes respectively. Although I would like to add that the steakhouses have since added high chairs and most if not all stores no longer have standing seats. Nonetheless, the association of Ikinari Steak as fast food has been so ingrained in consumers that the added the seats is merely a plus point for comfort.

An Under-served Segment — The Lone Diner

Among Ikinari Steakhouses’ diners, a significant portion is single diners. Steak, as I mentioned, is usually enjoyed in a restaurant over drinks with friends or family. Yet with Ikinari steakhouses, there is no pressure or prejudice of dining alone because it’s a fast food joint rather than a typical restaurant or izakaya (Japanese drinking establishment). Also, with the steakhouses located mainly in business districts and close to train stations, the idea of an ‘eating-alone-fast-food-joint’ is re-emphasized (not just with the interior standing tables). This choice of location is similar to other fast food joints because consumers can have a quick meal during lunch time or during commute back home. It was clear that Japanese took the fast food steakhouse concept very well and the chain of steakhouses soon expanded to 30 stores within merely a year of establishment. Even today, it is not uncommon to see queues forming outside the steakhouse.

Affordable Indulgence for All

Besides speed, one of the key attractions of fast food joints is that they are inexpensive. The founding of Ikinari Steak was built upon the vision that ‘Anyone can have delicious meat’. When founder Ichinose Kunio was a high school graduate starting out his first job, a steak meal can easily cost him a month’s salary. Although this was almost 60 years ago, this experience was what made affordability the cornerstone of Ikinari Steak. One of the reasons the steakhouse chain is able to offer reasonable pricing for a quality cut is through economy of scale. As mentioned earlier, the dine-in interval is relatively short (20~30 minutes per customer). This short interval means the steakhouses have a comparatively higher turnover of customers than typical restaurants. That is, the steakhouses are able to serve more customers in the same time frame compared to other typical restaurants. More customers mean needing more ingredients, hence, the steakhouses can drive the price low through volume purchase, riding on an economy of scale for the business.

Credit: いきなりステーキ

With a different concept from existing steakhouses, coupled with the offering of quality food at reasonable pricing, Ikinari Steak built a foothold in a cut-throat F&B industry.

Audrey N

Written by

Audrey N

Tri-lingual Researcher・Strategist・Storyteller

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