Japanese Famous Franchise Former Employees Expose
"Using Expired Ingredients and Power Harassment"
A famous tempura skewer franchise restaurant with over 300 stores nationwide in Japan has been embroiled in controversy following revelations from all its employees.
According to local media such as Tokyo Keizai and Nikkan Gendai on the 15th, an influencer revealed on Twitter on the 26th of last month the reasons why Mr. A, who was employed at a tempura skewer franchise 'Kushikatsu Tanaka,' quit after just one month.
A photo of a 'Kushikatsu Tanaka' store in Japan. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. [Photo by Kushikatsu Tanaka official website]
The problematic content shared by Mr. A in the employee group chat included statements such as "They dislike it when you wash your hands," "Gloves are not worn during cooking," "Different cutting boards are not used for each ingredient," "Expired ingredients are used," and "Hygiene inspections are not properly conducted."
There were also complaints about the abusive culture, such as "The practices differ from what was learned at the training store," and "We were not allowed to take holidays on public holidays, but attendance records were not permitted to be kept."
Due to these revelations, Kushikatsu Tanaka took a direct hit. Sales and stock prices at all branches plummeted. As the controversy spread, the headquarters issued a statement on the 27th of last month acknowledging some of the facts.
Through its official website, the company stated, "We are verifying the details," and "We deeply apologize for causing concern and inconvenience to customers who used our stores, employees, stakeholders, and society as a whole," lowering its stance considerably.
Later that same day, in an additional notice, they said, "As a result of an internal investigation regarding the allegations, food ingredient management and hygiene were conducted in accordance with the Food Sanitation Act," but also gave a somewhat ambiguous explanation, stating, "However, we confirmed that some aspects of ingredient management and provision methods according to internal standards were not thorough."
In response, Tokyo Keizai pointed out, "They did not address the hygiene and abusive issues raised by Mr. A, but only apologized for causing inconvenience," and added, "An apology without specifying the reason is a way to avoid admitting responsibility but still apologize when it is unavoidable."
The Amu Plaza Kokura store in Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu City, which was involved in the controversy, closed from the 28th of last month for retraining on hygiene management. Afterwards, they announced, "We have completed hygiene confirmation through investigations by authorities and headquarters," and resumed operations from the 16th.
Meanwhile, Kushikatsu Tanaka is a large franchise company that opened its first store in 2008 and expanded to 306 stores nationwide by last year. It established a holding company in 2018, was listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2019, and is currently listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard Market.
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