KATO SANGYO CO., LTD.
9869・Prime Market・Wholesale Trade
Ambient-Temperature Distribution Business
The Kato Sangyo Group's core business, handling the largest scale of ambient-temperature food distribution in Japan.
| Period | Current | Previous | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating revenue (H1 cumulative) | ¥381,104 million | ¥369,057 million | ↑ |
| Operating income (H1 cumulative) | ¥8,005 million | ¥7,816 million | ↑ |
| Operating revenue (full-year actual) | ¥741,712 million | — | — |
| Operating income (full-year actual) | ¥14,353 million | — | — |
| Segment assets | ¥379,473 million | — | — |
Business Details
The Company (Kato Sangyo Co., Ltd.) engages in wholesale distribution of processed foods, while Kato Kashi Co., Ltd. and Ueshima Co., Ltd., subsidiaries under Kato Confectionery Holdings Co., Ltd., handle confectionery wholesaling, and Wakayama Sangyo Co., Ltd. and Greenwood Factory Co., Ltd. manufacture and process a portion of the products. Product lines cover instant foods (including canned and retort-pouch foods), dried goods and grains, beverages, confectionery, seasonings, and other ambient-temperature food products in general. Supermarkets and drugstores are the main customers, and the segment provides value-added wholesale functions through proposal-based sales, digital technology utilization, and thorough profitability management. This core segment accounts for approximately 61% of the group's consolidated operating revenue.
Recent Overview
Revenue and profit both increased due to expanded transactions with existing supermarket customers, with operating revenue up 3.3% year on year.
In H1 FY2026 (October 2025 to March 2026), operating revenue in the Ambient-Temperature Distribution Business was ¥381,104 million (up 3.3% year on year), and operating income was ¥8,005 million (up 2.4% year on year). Increased transactions with existing customers, mainly supermarkets, drove revenue growth, while product price revisions and thorough profitability management contributed to the increase in operating income. Despite continued raw material price increases, labor shortages, and rising logistics costs, revenue was secured through the promotion of proposal-based sales and productivity gains from digital technology utilization.
Key Products
Growth Drivers
- Increased transactions with existing customers, mainly supermarkets and drugstores (H1 FY2026: up 3.3% year on year)
- Unit price increase effects from product price revisions (food price hikes)
- Profitability improvement through thorough profitability management and promotion of proposal-based sales
- Productivity gains from digital technology utilization (operational manual and process improvements, enhanced data literacy)
- Capital investment in enhanced logistics functions and advanced information systems (increase in tangible and intangible fixed assets of ¥15,096 million)
Risks
- Ongoing cost pressure from rising personnel and logistics expenses
- Entrenched consumer frugality and cooling consumer sentiment amid declining real wages
- Need to respond to shifting demand structure driven by polarization between frugality-oriented and value-oriented consumption
- Intensifying cross-industry competition from the rise of drugstores and other non-traditional retail formats
- Rising procurement costs due to persistently high raw material and energy prices
- Long-term contraction of the domestic market due to population decline and aging
Last updated: December 22, 2025