What’s the longest you’ve ever ordered a meal? At “Asahiya,” a well-established meat shop in Japan, the “Kiwami Croquette” menu has had an order line for 43 years.
in the city of Takasago Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan There is an old restaurant that is famous online. As a restaurant with a menu that requires the longest waiting time for a single meal,
we are talking about “Asahiya” (Asahiya) A butcher shop that has been open since 1926, or 98 years ago, with a famous menu: “Croquette” Or a menu of fried meats originating from the French “Croquette”.
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Asahiya started selling beef croquettes after World War II, but became popular in the 2000s when the internet exploded. As a result, the reservation queue started getting long from then on.
Asahiya’s croquettes use a variety of high quality beef. But what is famous is the Kobe beef There are 4 menus:
The best-selling croquette is Kobe Kiwami beef croquettes (Kiwami means the best), which in 2022 had a queue to order for 30 years, but on January 15, the reservation queue extended back 38 years , and from today On January 23, we had to wait 43 years!
Ultimate Croquette uses 30% premium grade Kobe beef per croquette. This is beef cubes from a 3-year-old female Kobe beef cow, and is said to be extremely tender and delicious. Mix with Andes Red potatoes to complement the flavor of the meat. and onions from Awaji Island in Hyogo.
This special croquet recipe can only be ordered online. There is no limit to the number of pieces per order. But sales are limited to only 200 pieces per day. As a result, the number of bookings is very high, and in January 2024, around 63,000 people were waiting in the same line.
Nitta Shigeru, a third-generation heir to Asahiya, said, “The price of the meat alone is about ¥900 (about 215 baht) per croquette. One of my chef friends said, ‘If it is served in another restaurant With this amount, the price will already be 2,500 yen (about 600 baht).’”
Nitta, now 59, started taking over the home business in 1994. Then, five years later, she started selling meat online. “Meat is something you have to see before you buy it. It might not sell.”
In addition, he saw that there are many people who want to try Kobe beef but cannot travel to eat it. So that idea was born If you sell croquettes, which is a simple menu, they will probably be in demand by people who want to try this famous meat. And that’s why he decided to sell Kobe beef croquettes at a cheap price.
“We sell Kiwami croquettes for 270 yen a piece… but the contents already cost about 400 yen a piece. We make cheap and delicious croquettes. This shows the concept of our store as a strategy for attracting customers. And I hope they will buy our Kobe beef after their first try.”
In order to limit the loss rate in the beginning Asahiya only produces 200 Kiwami croquettes per week. Kiwami croquettes, the result of repeated product testing, have made Asahiya famous. It has been presented in the media many times. And the orders keep piling up, year after year.
In 2016, when the queue was 14 years long, the store had decided to temporarily stop accepting orders. Nitta thought that “Customers may wait too long” and is concerned that Kobe beef prices continue to skyrocket. It is a limitation that makes it unprofitable.
However, customers continue to contact us. and he said they would wait as long as possible and even if they raised the price it wouldn’t matter. So the store adjusted prices in 2019 and started accepting orders again.
A cancer patient who once bought an Asahiya croquette said, “I ordered this croquette again to give myself encouragement to live until I can eat it again.” And Nitta decided to keep going as long as possible.
“Kobe beef is now the most expensive beef in the world. and inaccessible to the public I want many people to taste the best meat,” said Nitta.
Asahiya is currently shipping Kiwami croquettes that customers ordered at the end of January 2014. The store will contact customers by email and phone prior to delivery to confirm the intended purchase and delivery address. These croquettes are shipped frozen and cash is collected on delivery.
For those who can’t wait for Kiwami croquettes You may also try premium croquettes. where the waiting time is shorter instead The queue is only about 5 years old.
For the question: So where does he benefit from? Because the Kobe beef croquettes are sold at such a low price, Nitta said that about half of those who try them order the Kobe beef with luck. So, this is still a marketing strategy that keeps the store going.
There is also another reason why Nitta continues to sell these cheap croquettes.
“When I started selling croquettes on the internet, I received many orders from distant islands. Most of them had only known about Kobe beef on TV. But they had never eaten it before because they had to go to the city if they wanted to try it. I found out there were a lot of people who had never eaten Kobe beef before.”
He added, “For that reason So I continued to make Kiwami croquettes. and continue to receive orders without caring whether there will be a loss or not.”
Compiled from CNN / Mainichi
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