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About "Food"

How do we provide delicious food?
By leveraging power of ideas and innovation of our registered dietitians and frontline cooks, we maximize our ability to create value.

Basic Views

We have brought customers joy by focusing on providing safe, secure, delicious, and healthy meals from our own kitchens based on the idea that food is the source of life. While we have registered dietitians develop nutritionally balanced menus and select proper ingredients, we focus not only on nutrition but making meals that customers can enjoy every time they visit, with home-style cooking to provide vitality for the day, local cuisine unique to the region, and seasonal dining passed down through Japanese food culture, all tailored to the characteristics of the business for which food is being provided. Key issues going forward include building stronger support systems for business sites to accommodate our growing business and creating training programs for food professionals. The expertise we have cultivated in the operation of dormitories with meals nationwide, including our extensive menu repertoire, ordering systems, and distribution systems, is what currently bolsters “food” at Kyoritsu Maintenance.
We will continue to aim for further growth and innovation to achieve our materiality objectives of food safety and security, food waste reduction, and health consciousness.

Achieve business strategy

Dormitory Business sites

・Practical kitchen manager culinary training

・“Eat to grow stronger” athlete menu training

・Sanitation workshops

・Regular kitchen sanitation inspections

Support
Hotel Business sites

・Store operation training (practical training in menu development, sales promotion, and sanitation management)

・Practical drink service class (wine, sake)

・Sanitation workshops

・Regular kitchen sanitation inspections

Support
Senior Life Business sites

・Practical kitchen chief culinary training

・Nursing care food training (meals tailored to chewing and swallowing abilities)

・Sanitation workshops

・Regular kitchen sanitation inspections

Support

Stronger Support Systems for Business Sites

❶Establishing the Foods Specialist in the course-based human resources system
❷Implementation of regular kitchen sanitation inspections

Safety & Security: We have established the Food Sanitation Committee as an organization to promote sanitation in order to continuously provide safe and secure meals. We also conduct sanitation management in accordance with HACCP by implementing regular inspections by outside inspection specialists.

Food Waste Reduction: We strive to reduce food waste by properly controlling food inventory and procurement volume as well as managing food consumption.

Health Consciousness: We provide handmade meals with well-balanced nutrition, including traditional Japanese cuisine, food for special occasions, and seasonal ingredients and menus.

Stronger Support Systems for Business Sites

❶ Establishing the Foods Specialist in the Course-Based Human Resources System

The Food Division handles menu creation and food procurement collectively and provides operational support to business sites for the meals we serve. To improve our ability to create value through food, the core of our business, we have established the Foods Specialist category in our course-based human resources system to strengthen our business site support structure and promote the concept of devotion to each meal, building a foundation for human resources training that establishes employees working in the Food Division as specialists.

● Formulating & Instilling Our Vision

We have formulated a new vision for Foods Specialists that incorporates the practice of devotion to each meal into behavioral evaluations.

●Skill Evaluations to Boost Expertise

To boost expertise as Foods Specialists, we have introduced skill evaluations that divide the skills required of Foods Specialists into four categories: (1) Menu development, (2) Sanitation, (3) Opening business, and (4) Food procurement, with evaluation criteria set by grade.
Furthermore, we have introduced a Technical Master Certification as a practical test, and are working to emphasize that the goal is not simply to pass the test but also understand one’s own strengths and weaknesses accurately.

●Career Model

To provide greater opportunities for growth as food specialists, we are enhancing training programs tailored to each grade level. In addition, we offer skill allowances for those who obtain national qualifications or certifications, and have established a dedicated support system to assist food specialists in acquiring relevant credentials.

	Theoretical training	Technical training
Training objective	Understanding the Kyoritsu spirit of food. Gain fundamental knowledge of food.	Become capable of independently developing menu prototypes.
Implementation method	Team	Small group
Frequency	Conducted at a frequency of once every one to two months. 30 minutes to 1 hour per session Following the training, comprehension will be evaluated through OJT (On-the-Job Training)	Annual basic training Half-day to full-day per session Following the training, they will take part in monthly team prototyping sessions to learn through practical, hands-on experience.

1st year

Assigned to the Menu Development Department, Foods Division

Responsible for kitchen operations at senior care facilities, including cooking, plating, and kitchen hygiene management.

2nd year

Transition from On-Site to Head Office Assignment

Engaged in food ingredient ordering for dormitory facilities, hygiene inspections at sites, kitchen staff training at facilities, and recipe testing at an annex.
Gained understanding and insight into head office operations related to site management.

❷ Implementation of Regular Kitchen Sanitation Inspections

From April 2023 to March 2024, we conducted regular kitchen sanitation inspections of our business sites using outside contractors.

Inspection Overview

Implementation

Once a year (conducted sequentially from April to March of the following year)

Inspection process

Preparation→Inspection→Results report→Improvement efforts→Improvement report

No. of inspection items

43 items with 100 checks (visual audit)

Award ceremony for the Outstanding Sanitary Kitchen Award

Business sites that scored 100 points were bestowed the Outstanding Sanitary Kitchen Award and were visited by the Chair of the Food Sanitation Committee, where an award ceremony was held to once again express gratitude for their efforts in providing meals with careful attention to safety and security.

Safety & Security

Sanitation Management in Accordance with HACCP

To continuously provide safe and secure meals, we established the Food Sanitation Committee in 2019, completely revised our Sanitation Management Standards, and introduced sanitation management in accordance with the principles of HACCP* at all business sites. Going forward, we will collaborate with each department to collect and share information on efforts at business sites as well as develop strategies, monitor objectives, and establish policies to visualize sanitation management and establish sanitation education and training programs in a unified manner as a company to improve sanitation management levels and strengthen sanitation education.

Food Sanitation Committee

Chairman：

General Manager of Human Resources & General Affairs Division

Members：

General Manager of Food Division
President of Kyoritsu Foods Service
General Manager of the Purchasing Department

Secretariat：

Risk Management Department

Divisions

Food sanitation promotion managers appointed at each division

Business sites

* HACCP is a sanitation management method in which food business operators identify hazards, such as contamination by bacteria that causes food poisoning or foreign matter, then manage particularly important processes to eliminate or reduce these hazards throughout all processes, from the receipt of raw materials to the shipment of products, in order to ensure product safety.

COLUMN①

The My Original Recipe Contest

The My Original Recipe Contest began in 2004 as a contest to solicit recipe ideas from dormitory managers and matrons. To this day, many of these menu ideas have been served as dormitory meals, making this one of Kyoritsu’s traditional events conducted out of a desire to provide delicious meals to dormitory residents through collaboration between on-site staff and divisions.

Selection criteria

(1) Whether it is made with ingredients used in dormitory meals.
(2) Whether mass production (100 meals) is possible.
(3) Whether it complies with dormitory sanitation rules.

The 20th My Original Recipe Contest held in 2024
Theme: Fried Food Note: Excerpt of outstanding entries

Curry-flavored pita bread

We are a couple who enjoys making home-cooked meals and entertaining guests, and we taste what we make as we provide meals to dormitory residents each day. For this contest, I was inspired to make my favorite curry bread using the pita bread served at breakfast!

Outstanding entry

Pacific saury kabayaki rice bowl

Since the theme was Fried Food, I wanted to take something fried and put it atop a rice bowl. I chose ingredients that required minimal preparation.

Outstanding entry

COLUMN②

Dedication to Details at Dormy Inn—Gomen-Nasai (sorry noodles)

Yonaki Soba (late-night ramen) is a complimentary half-size ramen that has been served since 2009 as a late-night snack for guests who get hungry at night. However, there have been instances where guests looking forward to Yonaki Soba were unable to make it during the service hours of 9:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. due to circumstances. Our original instant ramen Gomen-Nasai (sorry noodles) was created with the desire to bring a smile to the faces of such guests. We offer this to guests who come to reception between 11:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m., along with a feeling of “I’m sorry.”

Sustainability

Social About "Food"

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About "Food"