A ramen (Chinese noodles) shop chain in Kyushu is hand-making all its shumai and gyoza, two kinds of pork dumpling. It is also using organically grown vegetables and fish caught in coastal waters to cater to demand for healthier, safer food. It aims at making inroads into the consumer group of women aged 30 to 60, who tend to be very fussy about quality and taste.

One restaurant chain has also returned to handmade methods. No longer does it send pre-breaded pork cutlets to its stores but has each outlet coat the meat piece by piece. And some hamburger shops are pushing products made from carefully selected ingredients in an effort to set themselves apart from the competition.

Quality Before Productivity
Until recently, most restaurants focused on streamlining their operations to serve as many customers as quickly as possible, and nationwide chains had a single menu for all outlets to reduce costs. The "handmade" boom runs counter to this trend, because handmade methods are seen as adding extra costs. The restaurants pursuing higher quality are not necessarily raising prices, however, because they think higher prices could drive away customers.

The changes are being forced on the restaurant business in part due to new competitors. Convenience stores now offer heated foods, and the novelty of fast-food shops has begun to fade. Over the past few years, major convenience-store chains have been registering nearly double-digit growth in their sales of boxed lunches, prepackaged meals, and other fast-food items. These chains, moreover, have increasingly begun targeting the fussy eater, procuring greens for sandwiches and salads from contracted farmers and using natural mineral salt for onigiri (rice balls). Embattled restaurants are having to try their hand at new services to stay in business.