Latest news with #Sukiya
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Popular Restaurant Closing 2,000 Locations After Rat Is Found in Soup
A popular restaurant is shutting down roughly 2,000 locations after a rat was found in a bowl of soup, among other disturbing food findings. Sukiya, a Japanese restaurant chain, is temporarily shutting down thousands of locations, following some disturbing food news. A rat was found in a bowl of miso soup and a bug was found in another meal, the restaurant admitted. The popular Japanese chain restaurant, which is famous for its beef bowls, has 1,970 shops in Japan. They are all being shut down temporarily as the restaurant chain addresses the disturbing food findings. Sukiya released a statement. "Friday, March 28th, it was discovered that a foreign object (pest) had been found in the product provided to a customer at Sukiya Akishima Ekiminami store. We would like to offer our deepest apologies to the customer who contacted us for the great pain and inconvenience caused. We would also like to apologize again for the great inconvenience and concern caused to our customers and related parties who regularly use Sukiya," the statement read. "A customer who used the store on Friday, March 28th called us to inform us that a foreign object (pest) had been found in the store manager apologized directly to the customer, refunded the product price, and collected the actual response to this situation, the store voluntarily suspended operations from around 5:00 p.m. on the same day. "A specialized pest control company is scheduled to carry out extermination work on Monday, March 31st. We are currently conducting on-site investigations at the store and inspecting the foreign objects that were collected, and are working to quickly identify the cause of the contamination." The roughly 2,000 locations will close from Monday, March 31 through Friday, April 4. "Sukiya has decided to temporarily close all restaurants, with the exception of some stores in shopping centers, from March 31 to April 4 in order to take measures against pests and vermin," the statement read. Japan is known for having one of the strictest standards in food.
USA Today
02-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Japanese fast food chain shuts nearly 2,000 locations after rat found in customer's soup
Japanese fast food chain shuts nearly 2,000 locations after rat found in customer's soup The Japanese fast-food chain Sukiya is temporarily shutting down its nearly 2,000 locations after a rat was found in a soup dish earlier this year. A rat was reportedly found in a bowl of miso soup in January but the company had not confirmed the instance until a statement Saturday referring to the situation as a "foreign object contamination" but not clarifying that it was a rodent. The company also confirmed a pest was found inside a meal sold to a customer on Friday at a different location. The store manager directly apologized directly to the customer and refunded the meal. The store proceeded to close that day for extermination of any pests in the building on Monday and commenced an investigation into what caused the contamination, Sukiya said. Sukiya said it is taking both situations as seriously as possible by closing every location to prevent internal infestation of pests and vermin. The restaurants will remain close between Monday, March 31 to Friday, April 4 with the exception of some stores inside shopping malls, the company said. "We would like to offer our deepest apologies to the customer who contacted us for the great pain and inconvenience caused. We would also like to apologize again for the great inconvenience and concern caused to our customers and related parties who regularly use Sukiya," the statement reads in Japanese. What is Sukiya? Sukiya is a major fast-food chain in Japan known for its Gyudon beef-on-rice bowls and curry. A subsidiary to restaurant giant Zensho Holdings, the chain has a total of 1,970 restaurants across Japan and around 650 international locations in countries like Singapore, China and Mexico. The chain also sells Miso soups, salads, tuna bowls and seat meal combinations known as Teishoku in Japanese.
Miami Herald
01-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Forget E. coli; Pests force fast-food chain to close 2,000 stores
Back in 2015 Chipotle had an E. Coli scandal that literally threatened to put the company out of business. In a single year, the company's stock dropped by 37% of its market value and the company's profits plumetted. Related: McDonald's menu adds new value combo "The fourth quarter of 2015 was the most challenging period in Chipotle's history," Chipotle CEO Steve Ells said in a statement at the time. So, you would have to assume that the Mexican chain had a widespread outbreak that impacted hundreds, maybe even thousands of stores, and that it handled that outbreak poorly. In reality, that was not the case. The Chipotle case involved 1,100 people getting sick over a three-year period between 2015 and 2018. When the various stores (about 60) had reported incidents of people being sick, they were closed for half a day immediately for a deep cleaning. Once it was clear the issue was not isolated, the company shut down the entire chain in order to conduct more training and enact new procedures. Don't miss the move: SIGN UP for TheStreet's FREE Daily newsletter Chipotle clearly took the issue seriously when it could have clearly argued that if you cook fresh food, sometimes people might get sick. The company owned the issue and took responsibility but still saw the incidents drag on its business for years. Now, another restaurant chain has reported some massive health and safety issues and has taken a bold step to address them. Many restaurants in Japan specialize in a single dish. They may literally just serve that dish, or they sell it in many variants. Gyudon is a very simple beef and onion dish served over rice after being simmered in a savory/sweet sauce that's often topped with an over easy egg. It's a Japanese staple that's served in the United States but has not crossed over like ramen noodle bowls or teriyaki dishes. Sukiya is Japan's leading Gyudon restaurant chain with approximately 2,000 outlets nationwide, according to the restaurant chain's website. "At Sukiya, we offer a wide selection of delicious and affordable dishes in various sizes. Enjoy our combo menus featuring miso soup and salad, along with a diverse range of rice bowls and side dishes. We are sure to satisfy your cravings," it shared, The chain has closed nearly all of its roughly 2,00 locations after customers complained of rat and bug parts in their meals. Sukiay's closures will last from March 31 through April 4. More Retail News: Iconic U.S. grocery chain debuts first UK store after a decadeTarget makes bold move to answer Walmart, AmazonForget McDonald's, Walmart adds a new restaurant partner It has never had to close so many locations at once. "The move comes after a customer complained on Friday of finding part of a cockroach in a take-out item bought in Tokyo. That followed another incident in January when a bowl of miso soup served at an outlet in Tottori Prefecture had a rat in it," NHK reported. Sukiya plans to use the closure period to implement new cleaning protocols. It also plans to add new pest control measures. Food contamination stories seem to impact companies in different ways. Chipotle was greatly harmed by its E. coli scandal because its marketing had been built around its fresh found and higher quality. It remains to be seen how Sukiya is impacted, as it's in the early days of its scandal. McDonald's (MCD) , however, recently went through its own E. Coli issues related to slivered onions in what CEO Chris Kempczinski called "a handful of U.S. states." He addressed the issue during the chain's third-quarter earnings call. "While the situation appears to be contained and though it didn't affect Q3 numbers, it's certainly an important development which I know is on many of your minds. For over 70 years, McDonald's commitment to food safety has been uncompromising. Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our customers, and we've been proud of our industry leadership in this area," he shared. Consumers have traditionally been more forgiving of traditional fast-food chains when these incidents occur. He explained how this one was handled. Related: Chipotle responds to bankruptcy, store closure reports After the CDC first informed us of the investigation, we were able to quickly link the cases identified to slivered onions from one facility at our Taylor Farm supplier. It was a swift response and Kempczinski made an effort to show that these incidents are very rare. "The last serious public health issue in the U.S. associated with McDonald's occurred more than 40 years ago. The recent spate of E. coli cases is deeply concerning, and hearing the reports of how this has impacted our customers has been wrenching for us," he added. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Arab Times
01-04-2025
- Business
- Arab Times
Japan's Sukiya closes nearly all outlets after rat and bug found in its food
TOKYO, April 1, (AP): A leading Japanese beef bowl chain said it is shutting down almost 2,000 outlets across the country from Monday after a rat and a bug were found in its food. Sukiya has apologized to its customers and said it will carry out a deep cleaning of its stores over four days. The company acknowledged that a rat was found in a miso soup served to a customer at one of its outlets in Tottori, southwestern Japan. It said an investigation found that the rodent entered a refrigerator through a crack in a door. In a separate incident, a bug was found in food at a Tokyo outlet on Friday, Sukiya said. "We deeply apologize to the customer who reported the case to us over the tremendous pain and trouble,' a company statement said. "We also apologize to all our customers who patronize our restaurants and related people for causing tremendous trouble and concerns.' Sukiya said it takes the complaints "very seriously' and decided to carry out a nationwide cleaning of its outlets. The company, which is owned by Japanese food industry giant Zensho Holdings, operates nearly 2,000 outlets in Japan and about 660 stores overseas, including China, Singapore, and Mexico.
Japan Times
31-03-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Japan's biggest beef bowl chain Sukiya to shut nearly 2,000 stores after rat and bug contamination
Japan's fast-food chain Sukiya will shut nearly all of its roughly 2,000 stores nationwide for four days from Monday following recent incidents of customers finding a rodent in a bowl of miso soup and a bug in another meal, it said on its website on Saturday. Sukiya, the country's biggest beef bowl chain owned by dining giant Zensho Holdings, apologized on March 22 that miso soup served at one of its locations in western Japan in January had contained a rat. Zensho shares fell as much as 7% on March 24. In a Saturday statement, Sukiya said it had also suffered a second contamination incident on Friday, when another store in suburban Tokyo served a meal containing a bug. As a result, it had decided to close all Japanese restaurant locations, except for a small number in shopping centers, between Monday morning and Friday morning this week to take measures to prevent further infestations. "We take very seriously the fact that this incident has occurred," Sukiya said. "We deeply apologize to our customers." As of the end of 2024, Sukiya operated 1,965 stores in Japan, according to Zensho's latest filing, exceeding those of rival beef bowl chains Yoshinoya, which had about 1,250, and Matsuya, with about 1,100. Sukiya also operates around 650 stores overseas in regions such as China, Southeast Asia an Latin America.
