Fast-food chain Sukiya is set to slash prices for its beef bowls for the first time in about 11 years starting Thursday.
The restaurant operator, which is owned by dining powerhouse Zensho Holdings, announced last week that it will lower the price for its regular-size gyūdon (beef bowl) to ¥450 from ¥480, including tax.
The prices for large and extra-large beef bowls, which currently stand at ¥680 and ¥880, will also be cut by ¥30, while the restaurant will slash the price for its mini-size serving by ¥40, to ¥390.
With wage hikes lagging behind sticky inflation in Japan, many households have been impacted by price hikes, especially higher food costs. The restaurant operator last cut beef bowl prices in 2014.
"Under this economic environment, we have decided to revise our prices, as we would like more customers to enjoy Sukiya's gyūdon beef bowls at more affordable prices," Sukiya said in a statement.
Two other major beef-bowl chain rivals, Yoshinoya and Matsuya, currently offer a standard-size beef bowl at ¥498 and ¥460, respectively, compared with Sukiya’s new price of ¥450.
In March, Sukiya hiked the price of its beef bowls amid soaring rice and beef costs. At the time, it raised the regular-size beef bowl price by ¥30, so the planned price reduction is essentially a reversion to the earlier price.
Sukiya was also hit by incidents in January and March where customers found a rat and a bug in their meals. The fast-food chain temporarily closed nearly all of its around 2,000 stores nationwide between March 31 to April 4 to deal with the issue.
But it has apparently struggled to fully win back consumers’ trust, with traffic at existing stores having fallen year-on-year for four straight months through July.
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