New Model Tackles 'Procurement Gap' for Restaurants; FOOPO, an Industry-First Joint Direct Importing Community, Launched for SMEs
Tsuchiya Shoten Co., Ltd., a food ingredient wholesaler, will launch "FOOPO" on May 18, 2026. It is the food industry's first membership-based community that enables small and medium-sized restaurants and food factories to jointly and directly import food ingredients. In response to challenges like price surges and procurement difficulties due to a weak yen and supply instability, the service aggregates orders from multiple businesses to place container-sized orders and lock in prices. This allows smaller businesses to achieve stable, predictable procurement similar to large corporations, aiming for cost reduction and business stability. The first project will target Brazilian chicken thighs.
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- 📰 Published: May 18, 2026 at 18:30
- 🔍 Collected: May 18, 2026 at 10:01
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 20, 2026 at 09:54 (47h 53m after Collected)
Tsuchiya Shoten Co., Ltd. (Osaka, founded 1946), a wholesaler and importer of food ingredients, will launch "FOOPO," the food industry's first* community for restaurants and food factories to jointly and directly import ingredients, on Monday, May 18, 2026.
*Based on the company's research as of May 2026, as a membership-based, joint direct import model for restaurants and food factories in Japan.
1. Background: Why Joint Direct Importing Now?
Against a backdrop of a weak yen, Japan's declining global purchasing power, avian influenza, and rising logistics costs due to instability in the Middle East, prices for imported ingredients like chicken have been soaring, and supply remains unstable. When supply disruptions occur, restaurants at the end of the supply chain face sudden, steep increases in procurement costs.
In this environment, large companies with high-volume transactions can directly import by the container (approx. 24 tons), making them less susceptible to market and currency fluctuations and allowing them to fix procurement prices at the time of order.
However, many small and medium-sized restaurants and food factories cannot fill a container on their own and have been forced to rely solely on procurement through trading companies and wholesalers. As a result, they have been the most heavily impacted by market volatility and supply instability.
FOOPO offers a new, accessible tool for these small and medium-sized businesses to address this structural issue.
2. How FOOPO Works: Sharing a Container
FOOPO's mechanism is as follows:
① Aggregate orders from multiple restaurants and food factories that value stable prices and supply.
② Place an order with an overseas manufacturer once the total quantity reaches one container.
③ Fix the procurement price at the time of order (approximately 2-3 months before import).
This enables small and medium-sized restaurants and factories to engage in direct importing on par with large companies, in addition to their conventional procurement methods. This leads to predictable pricing, avoidance of supply shortages, and ultimately, cost reduction.
3. The Change for Restaurants and Food Factories with FOOPO
Unstable Prices → Fixed Prices
Procurement prices are fixed at the time of ordering. This eliminates sudden price hike notifications and allows for business planning 2-3 months ahead.
Fear of Shortages → Uninterrupted Supply
The container procured by members is insulated from domestic supply and demand fluctuations, avoiding situations where items are unavailable due to shortages.
High-Cost Concerns → Cost Reduction
Direct importing, bypassing trading companies and wholesalers, eliminates multiple layers of margins.
FOOPO is not just a mechanism to buy cheaply; it is a new procurement option that allows small and medium-sized businesses to take control of their own operations.
4. First Project: Brazilian Chicken Thighs
Product: Brazilian Chicken Thighs (12kg per case)
Minimum Lot: 120kg (10 cases)
Recruitment Slots: 100 slots (*Order will be confirmed once all slots are filled)
Early Participants: Fufu Co., Ltd. (operator of takoyaki chain "Fufu") and four other companies.
5. The Origin of FOOPO: Three Elements to Protect the Future of Food
The name FOOPO is a combination of three core English words:
FOOD: The reliable ingredients that are the lifeblood of a restaurant.
COOP: Small businesses, weak alone, cooperating and joining forces.
PORT: Having one's own import hub to connect directly with the world.
Our philosophy is simple: "Food professionals (FOOD) join forces (COOP) to have a port (PORT) connecting to the world."
■ Comment from FOOPO Management
"'Chicken is expensive and hard to get'—this issue has been widely reported. What we want to offer is the next chapter. What's impossible for one company becomes possible by bundling orders to fill a container. We want to provide the industry with a means for small and medium-sized restaurants and food factories to control their own procurement. That is the spirit in which we started FOOPO."
- Shugo Nakama, Executive Officer, Tsuchiya Shoten Co., Ltd.
■ How to Participate
Members are being recruited through registration on the official LINE account, which will provide information on membership, arrivals, and special deals.
■ FOOPO Official LINE: Register for updates and reservations.
Receive arrival info, pricing, and make reservations entirely through LINE.
https://lin.ee/W4EXeCR
■ Company Information
Company Name: Tsuchiya Shoten Co., Ltd.
Representative Director: Yoshiko Nakama
Established: 1946
Location: 2-1-5 Doshin, Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka
Business: Wholesale and import of food ingredients
Service Website: https://foopo.jp
Official LINE: https://lin.ee/W4EXeCR
*Based on the company's research as of May 2026, as a membership-based, joint direct import model for restaurants and food factories in Japan.
1. Background: Why Joint Direct Importing Now?
Against a backdrop of a weak yen, Japan's declining global purchasing power, avian influenza, and rising logistics costs due to instability in the Middle East, prices for imported ingredients like chicken have been soaring, and supply remains unstable. When supply disruptions occur, restaurants at the end of the supply chain face sudden, steep increases in procurement costs.
In this environment, large companies with high-volume transactions can directly import by the container (approx. 24 tons), making them less susceptible to market and currency fluctuations and allowing them to fix procurement prices at the time of order.
However, many small and medium-sized restaurants and food factories cannot fill a container on their own and have been forced to rely solely on procurement through trading companies and wholesalers. As a result, they have been the most heavily impacted by market volatility and supply instability.
FOOPO offers a new, accessible tool for these small and medium-sized businesses to address this structural issue.
2. How FOOPO Works: Sharing a Container
FOOPO's mechanism is as follows:
① Aggregate orders from multiple restaurants and food factories that value stable prices and supply.
② Place an order with an overseas manufacturer once the total quantity reaches one container.
③ Fix the procurement price at the time of order (approximately 2-3 months before import).
This enables small and medium-sized restaurants and factories to engage in direct importing on par with large companies, in addition to their conventional procurement methods. This leads to predictable pricing, avoidance of supply shortages, and ultimately, cost reduction.
3. The Change for Restaurants and Food Factories with FOOPO
Unstable Prices → Fixed Prices
Procurement prices are fixed at the time of ordering. This eliminates sudden price hike notifications and allows for business planning 2-3 months ahead.
Fear of Shortages → Uninterrupted Supply
The container procured by members is insulated from domestic supply and demand fluctuations, avoiding situations where items are unavailable due to shortages.
High-Cost Concerns → Cost Reduction
Direct importing, bypassing trading companies and wholesalers, eliminates multiple layers of margins.
FOOPO is not just a mechanism to buy cheaply; it is a new procurement option that allows small and medium-sized businesses to take control of their own operations.
4. First Project: Brazilian Chicken Thighs
Product: Brazilian Chicken Thighs (12kg per case)
Minimum Lot: 120kg (10 cases)
Recruitment Slots: 100 slots (*Order will be confirmed once all slots are filled)
Early Participants: Fufu Co., Ltd. (operator of takoyaki chain "Fufu") and four other companies.
5. The Origin of FOOPO: Three Elements to Protect the Future of Food
The name FOOPO is a combination of three core English words:
FOOD: The reliable ingredients that are the lifeblood of a restaurant.
COOP: Small businesses, weak alone, cooperating and joining forces.
PORT: Having one's own import hub to connect directly with the world.
Our philosophy is simple: "Food professionals (FOOD) join forces (COOP) to have a port (PORT) connecting to the world."
■ Comment from FOOPO Management
"'Chicken is expensive and hard to get'—this issue has been widely reported. What we want to offer is the next chapter. What's impossible for one company becomes possible by bundling orders to fill a container. We want to provide the industry with a means for small and medium-sized restaurants and food factories to control their own procurement. That is the spirit in which we started FOOPO."
- Shugo Nakama, Executive Officer, Tsuchiya Shoten Co., Ltd.
■ How to Participate
Members are being recruited through registration on the official LINE account, which will provide information on membership, arrivals, and special deals.
■ FOOPO Official LINE: Register for updates and reservations.
Receive arrival info, pricing, and make reservations entirely through LINE.
https://lin.ee/W4EXeCR
■ Company Information
Company Name: Tsuchiya Shoten Co., Ltd.
Representative Director: Yoshiko Nakama
Established: 1946
Location: 2-1-5 Doshin, Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka
Business: Wholesale and import of food ingredients
Service Website: https://foopo.jp
Official LINE: https://lin.ee/W4EXeCR