3 Major Gyudon Beef Bowl Chains Slash Price of Popular Dish to Less Than ¥400; Aim to Attract Customers Turned Away by Price Hikes

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:08 JST, October 10, 2024

Three major gyudon beef bowl chains have started offering discounts on regular-sized bowls, which are now available for a limited time at less than ¥400, in a bid to attract customers who shied away from the popular fast-food item due to price hikes.

In recent years, the price of gyudon has been rising due to factors such as the high cost of raw materials.

Yoshinoya Co. began a weeklong campaign on Wednesday, offering a ¥100 discount on its beef bowls. The price of a regular-sized bowl — ¥498, including tax for in-store dining — was reduced to ¥398. This is the first time in 13 years that the company has offered such a discount.

At Yoshinoya’s Yurakucho store in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, customers were still coming in even after lunchtime on Wednesday. “I heard about [the discount] on social media,” said a 23-year-old office worker in Tokyo. She said she hadn’t been there in a few years. “The ¥100 discount is a big deal,” she added.

Matsuya Foods Holdings Co. is distributing discount coupons via its official app and other channels from Tuesday to the following Tuesday, while Sukiya Co. is offering the same service from Wednesday to the morning of the following Wednesday. The price of Matsuya’s regular-sized bowl has been reduced from ¥430 to ¥380 and Sukiya’s regular-sized bowl has been reduced from ¥430 to ¥350.

In recent years, the three companies have been forced to raise prices due to high prices and the weak yen. Yoshinoya has raised prices four years in a row since 2021. In July this year, the company raised the price of a regular-sized bowl to ¥498, up ¥111 compared to ¥387 in 2019.

Sources close to the three companies believe that the price hike is affecting consumer behavior.

In the early 2010s, beef bowl companies were able to procure the main ingredient, U.S. beef, cheaply, thanks in part to the strong yen and engaged in a fierce price-cutting competition. At Yoshinoya, the price of a regular-sized beef bowl once dropped to ¥280, making it a symbol of deflation.