Sushi Chain Kura Sushi Cuts Prices While Rivals Raise Them
Listen to the story
The Japanese sushi restaurant chain Kura Sushi has decided to lower the price of its cheapest plate.
The price has dropped from 115 yen to 110 yen for the lowest-priced sushi items.
This includes negi-maguro, a dish made with tuna and green onion.
The move is unusual because other big sushi chains are moving in the opposite direction.
Sushiro and Hama-zushi, two of Kura Sushi's main competitors, have continued to raise their prices.
This has made people ask why Kura Sushi is going against the trend in the sushi industry.
However, Kura Sushi's decision is not a simple price cut across the whole menu.
At the same time as lowering its cheapest price, the company is also raising prices on 33 other menu items.
This means Kura Sushi is using a mixed strategy, cutting the price of its most basic products while increasing prices elsewhere.
The cheapest plate is often seen as a symbol of a sushi chain's value for money.
By lowering this key price, Kura Sushi may be trying to attract customers who care most about low starting prices.
Meanwhile, raising prices on other items could help the company deal with rising costs for ingredients or other expenses.
The news has caught attention because it goes against the general pattern in the industry, where inflation has pushed many chains to raise prices overall.
Vocabulary8 words
- chain
- a group of shops or restaurants with the same name
- competitors
- other businesses trying to win the same customers
- industry
- all businesses of one type, like sushi restaurants
- strategy
- a plan to reach a goal
- inflation
- when prices in general keep rising
- trend
- the general direction something is moving
- menu
- the list of food a restaurant sells
- value for money
- getting good quality for a fair price
Quiz
Answer key
1. Lowered it from 115 to 110 yen 2. They continue to raise their prices 3. False
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
The Japanese sushi restaurant chain Kura Sushi has decided to _____ the price of its cheapest plate.
The price has dropped from 115 yen to _____ yen for the lowest-priced sushi items.
This includes negi-maguro, a dish made with _____ and green onion.
The move is _____ because other big sushi chains are moving in the opposite direction.
Sushiro and Hama-zushi, two of Kura Sushi's main _____, have continued to raise their prices.
This has made people ask why Kura Sushi is going against the _____ in the sushi industry.
At the same time as lowering its cheapest price, the company is also raising prices on _____ other menu items.
This means Kura Sushi is using a mixed _____, cutting the price of its most basic products while increasing prices elsewhere.
Meanwhile, raising prices on other items could help the company deal with rising costs for _____ or other expenses.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think a company might lower one price while raising others?
- Do you think the cheapest item on a menu is important for customers? Why or why not?
- Would a small price change of 5 yen make you choose one restaurant over another?
- How do rising costs affect restaurants and customers in your country?