ICHIBANYA CO.,LTD.
7630・Prime Market・Retail Trade
Business
Ichibanya Co., Ltd. is a food & beverage chain founded in 1978, whose core business is the curry specialty chain "Curry House CoCo Ichibanya," operating a total of 1,203 domestic company-owned and franchise stores plus 216 overseas stores (as of end-February 2025). As a consolidated subsidiary of House Foods Group Inc. (voting rights ratio: 51.0%), the company generates revenue mainly from sales of ingredients and consumables to domestic franchise stores and from royalty income. In recent years, the company has accelerated multi-format expansion through M&A, including "Daikokuya," "Menya Takei," and "Maedaya," and made KOZOU Co., Ltd. a subsidiary in January 2025. With a total of 1,480 stores comprising 1,264 domestic and 216 overseas locations, the company is promoting global expansion centered on Asia and North America.
Business Model
FC-related sales (product/merchandise wholesale plus franchise fees and commissions, etc.) account for approximately 60.7% of the sales composition, securing stable wholesale revenue by supplying curry sauce and other products manufactured at the company's own factories to FC franchisees. Directly-operated store sales account for approximately 31.1% of the sales composition. As the FC headquarters, the company also provides store management guidance to franchisees, maintaining a WIN-WIN relationship. Overseas, the company primarily pursues FC expansion, with some regions operated directly by consolidated subsidiaries. The New Business Format segment (6.6% of sales composition) is expanding through M&A.
Company Strengths
Curry House CoCo Ichibanya (Domestic) operates 1,203 stores in total (as of end-February 2025), comprising 114 directly-operated stores and 1,089 franchise stores. In 2013, it obtained a Guinness World Record as the "largest curry restaurant chain in the world." Its store network spanning all 47 prefectures forms a stable foundation for brand recognition and wholesale ingredient revenue.
The company manufactures curry sauces (pork sauce, beef sauce, etc.) and cutlet products in-house at three factories in Aichi, Tochigi, and Saga prefectures, supplying them to franchise stores. Production output for the current period was ¥14,701,682 thousand (104.7% of the previous period). All factories have obtained FSSC22000 certification, and the vertically integrated model that balances quality control with stable supply is a source of competitive advantage.
As of end-February 2025, cash and cash equivalents stood at ¥15,264 million, while interest-bearing debt including lease obligations was only ¥1,508 million, maintaining a virtually debt-free management stance. Capital expenditures, M&A, and dividends (¥2,551 million paid in the current period) are all funded from internal resources, giving the company high financial flexibility. Net assets stood at ¥32,600 million.
ENVALITH's Perspective
Performance Trend
Revenue achieved five consecutive years of growth, rising from ¥45,022 million in FY2022 to ¥65,518 million in FY2026. However, operating profit peaked at ¥4,926 million in FY2025 and declined slightly to ¥4,715 million in FY2026, with the decline continuing into Q1 of FY2027 (ending February 2027) at ¥1,085 million (down 14.3% year on year). External factors such as rising procurement prices for ingredients including rice and increased logistics costs are squeezing profits. While the gross profit margin improved (from ¥7,828 million to ¥8,374 million), a substantial increase in SG&A expenses from ¥6,562 million to ¥7,289 million pushed operating profit downward. The full-year forecast maintains operating profit of ¥5,000 million (up 6.0% year on year), but the Q1 progress rate remains low at 21.7%.
Growth Strategy
Aiming for 2,100 stores and operating profit of ¥10,000 million by 2030 through domestic profitability enhancement, overseas acceleration, and multi-format M&A
Working to recover customer traffic through promotional measures such as VTuber collaborations and limited-time menus, while maintaining an increase in average customer spend (up 1.9% year-on-year in Q1). The challenge is balancing price pass-through of rising ingredient costs with promotional effectiveness. Q1 existing-store sales rose 2.5% year-on-year, broadly in line with the forecast of 2.6%.
Opened 6 new overseas stores in Q1 (4 consolidated subsidiary stores, 2 franchise stores). Advancing brand awareness initiatives in the United States, including opening a location within the San Diego Padres' home stadium. However, net store count decreased by 1 to 217 due to the withdrawal of 7 unprofitable stores. Hong Kong, the UK, and Thailand performed well, while the US mainland and South Korea saw declines year-on-year, widening the regional disparity.
In March 2026, acquired shares in the former Yamutei (spice curry, 5 stores), making it a subsidiary. In Q1, domestic subsidiaries as a whole saw a net increase of 7 stores (57 stores total), achieving strong growth with total store sales up 73.5% year-on-year. Accelerating revenue diversification away from dependence on Curry House CoCo Ichibanya through multiple formats including Jingisukan (Mongolian grilled mutton), tsukemen, motsunabe (offal hot pot), ramen, and evening parfaits.
Through collaboration projects with other companies (87 products launched in Q1) and expanded online sales via Amazon, Rakuten Ichiba, and Yahoo! Shopping starting in July 2025, Q1 sales in the Wholesale & E-Commerce Business reached ¥128 million (up 35.4% year-on-year). Promoting external expansion of brand value and cultivating new revenue sources.
Last updated: July 17, 2026