Yoshinoya to expand ostrich skincare sales so it can serve more ostrich rice bowls

Fast food chain’s skincare subsidiary farms ostriches for beauty products, while it uses their meat. Yoshinoya aims to expand sales of both

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Speedia’s Glamorous Booster Oil is made with ostrich oil. The Yoshinoya subsidiary will grow sales to fund an expansion of its ostrich farm that supplies the parent company with ostrich meat to serve customers. Photo: Instagram/speedia_cosme

Published: 11:15am, 18 Sep 2024Updated: 5:06pm, 20 Jan 2025

Major Japanese fast-food chain operator Yoshinoya is hoping the introduction of ostrich meat will help it overcome shortages that have affected the availability of its popular beef bowls.

In late August, it made some 60,000 servings of ostrich meat rice bowls available at around 400 outlets in Japan at 1,683 yen (US$12) each, making the flightless bird its fourth meat option with supplies of beef, pork and chicken coming under pressure.

In a bid to secure more ostrich meat in the future, Yoshinoya said it will first raise the necessary funds through the expansion of sales of ostrich-derived skincare products developed by its wholly-owned subsidiary Speedia.

Speedia currently maintains a flock of 500 ostriches at a farm in Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, as part of its broader ostrich business that also includes research and product development.

An ostrich version of a roast beef bowl served at a Yoshinoya restaurant in Japan. Photo: Instagram/ryu_jiro

Its cosmetics products are available on the company’s official website, as well as via other online retailers and chemist chains.