The Current Life of the Former President of the Restaurant 'Konro-ya' Who Went Viral with the Sign 'Customers Are Not God'

Viral Izakaya Operator Sells All Stores, Pivots to Agriculture and Processing

The former president who gained attention on social media with 'draft beer that changes price depending on how you order' dedicates his life to a pesticide-free sweet potato business in Chiba.

April 1, 2022
In Katori City, Chiba Prefecture, Representative Shinya Yoritomi has fully launched the [✡Imominati] 6th industrialization project, which consistently carries out everything from cultivating sweet potatoes in their own fields in Chiba Prefecture to manufacturing and selling dried sweet potatoes.

I, the representative, was formerly the representative director of the Izakaya [Konro-ya], which operated 7 stores in Tokyo. The in-store signs such as 'Hey! Draft beer 1000 yen' where the price changed depending on how you ordered, and 'Customers are not God' created a huge buzz on social media, web media, and TV.
After selling all the stores, I temporarily stepped away from the restaurant industry. Currently, I have acquired farmland in Chiba Prefecture, and I am personally driving a tractor, growing sweet potatoes, and dedicating myself to making dried sweet potatoes.

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■ Sold 7 restaurants, moving from an 'exit' as an operator to a 'restart'

For 4 years, I developed an izakaya business mainly in Tokyo. The store operations that introduced unique pricing and ordering experiences frequently became a hot topic on social media and web media, drawing attention within the industry.
On the other hand, against the backdrop of rapid environmental changes surrounding the restaurant industry since the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring raw material costs, and increasing difficulty in securing human resources, I made a serious decision to re-examine 'how I want to live the next 10, 20 years.'
In June 2020, I transferred all 7 stores to a third party and temporarily withdrew from restaurant management.

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■ Why the next challenge was 'sweet potatoes'

After selling the business, I traveled around the country and trained at an agricultural corporation for a year, which drew my attention to the front lines of Japan's agriculture and food processing.
'Because I have done business at the forefront of food, this time I want to be involved in Japan's food as the side that "makes" it.'
Thinking this, I finally arrived at cultivating sweet potatoes and processing them into dried sweet potatoes in Chiba Prefecture.

I personally acquired 1,800 tsubo of farmland in Chiba Prefecture and built a completely internal model (6th industrialization) where everything from variety selection, cultivation, harvesting, low-temperature aging, processing, drying, to bagging is done in-house.
Currently, the representative personally attends to all agricultural work and processing sites on a daily basis, thoroughly managing quality.
Furthermore, I decided on sweet potatoes due to Japan's low food self-sufficiency rate, being a disaster-prone country, and the prediction that a food crisis might occur due to Middle East issues, which I had been worried about even before COVID-19.

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■ Dried sweet potato making unique to a former restaurant manager

✡Imominati's dried sweet potatoes use Beniharuka, a variety with high sugar content and a sticky texture, as its main product.
Instead of processing them immediately after harvest, they are aged at low temperatures for about 3 months to maximize the saccharification of starch.
Also, utilizing the sensory evaluation know-how cultivated in the restaurant business, we carefully verify:
- How the sweetness stands out in the first bite
- How the moisture content remains as you chew
- The lingering aftertaste and elimination of off-flavors
- Changes in aroma when baked or seared
We set our product standard as 'dried sweet potatoes that establish themselves as a luxury item.'
We use absolutely no preservatives, colorings, or sugar, manufacturing them completely additive-free.

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■ Against the backdrop of rising demand for health consciousness, emergency food, and gifts

In recent years, dried sweet potatoes have been a continuously expanding market due to backgrounds such as:
- Increasing demand for additive-free and natural foods
- Snacks for children and food for the elderly
- Nutritional supplements for the sports and fitness demographic
- Emergency food demand due to rising disaster prevention awareness

At [✡Imominati], in addition to expanding EC primarily through D2C (direct sales), we also plan to develop gift products for department stores and select shops.

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■ Contributing to the revitalization of regional agriculture and job creation

In this business, we are not just manufacturing food; we also emphasize creating the following social values:
- Utilizing abandoned farmland and farmland that has become difficult for elderly farmers to manage
- Technological collaboration with local farmers
- Creating regional employment in the processing and bagging stages
- Regional branding through future overseas exports
I say, 'Agriculture should not be a "defensive industry" but an "industry that can earn",' aiming to build a sustainable revenue model.

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■ Future Business Development (Planned)
- Production volume: [15 tons]
- EC sales start: June 2025
- Estimated sales price range: around 2000 yen
- Start of wholesale to department stores and mass retailers
- Development of secondary processed products using dried sweet potatoes as raw materials (baked dried sweet potatoes, sweets, etc.)
- Consideration of export expansion primarily to the Asian region