Japanese convenience store (“combini”) chain Family Mart says a cute experiment designed to reduce food waste worked, actually. As a result, it’ll roll out its new food loss mascot man to all stores nationwide this spring.
Family Mart and other combinis have long put a discount tag on their fresh food items, such as onigiri and bento boxes, when they’re approaching their expiration date. The discounts, usually around 10 yen to 20 yen, help the store move product and increase profit. However, they also reduce the amount of food the chain has to toss.
Family Mart’s seals are usually a yellow, sort of plain-Jane affair. However, in October, it decided to do the most Japan thing ever: It created a mascot. The little onigiri character, known as the Teary-Eyed Seal (涙目シール; namidame shiiru), is a little onigiri mans who’s crying “Save me!” (たすけてください！; tasukete kudasai!)
The chain tried out the seal as an experiment for four weeks from October 30th to November 26th. It deployed the sticker at select stores in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area and Kanagawa Prefecture.
A successful experiment
The result, the company announced yesterday, was a smashing success. Products with the cute character sold five points more than other discounted items. Some customers interviewed by the chain said they explicitly bought items thanks to Namidame-kun. (Not its official name, I just made that up because it’s cute.)
The company estimates that, if deployed countrywide, the character could reduce food loss by 3,000 tons yearly. The campaign is part of the chain’s drive to become more environmentally friendly. Other combini chains, such as Lawson, have launched their own sustainability initiatives.
Family Mart says it’ll roll out the Namidame Seal nationwide in spring 2025.
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Such initiatives aren’t just good for the environment, of course – they’re good for business. The chain has engaged in similar community-oriented PR campaigns recently, such as giving away free FamiChiki as school lunches.
IMO, Family Mart could do even MORE sales with the discount stickers if they enabled their use at self-checkout! One of the drawbacks of the discount seal is that it won’t work at the self-service registers, which are now present in every Family Mart location. Self-checkout has become more popular in recent years in Japan, with major chains like Mister Donut announcing completely unmanned stores.
Japan’s government is eyeing multiple ways to reduce food loss, which reached 9.8 million tons in 2000. Japan had initially aimed to reduce this by half by 2023 – but it met that goal in 2022. It’s now seeking to reduce food loss even more by recommending stores extend the expiration dates on packages, which tend to be very short (two days tops for most items). That doesn’t sit well with some consumers, however, who are concerned about food safety.
