Yoshinoya to hike beef bowl prices again

For the second time in a year, Yoshinoya Co. will raise its prices at Japanese beef bowl restaurant chain Yoshinoya Co.

Yoshinoya Co.'s regular-size beef bowl eat-in price, including tax, is expected to be 448 yen $3.10 from 2 p.m. on Oct. 1, an increase of 22 yen.

The price of its signature dish was raised by 39 yen to 426 yen in October of last year.

It had to review the prices again as ingredient and logistical costs continued to rise.

The prices of rice bowl dishes of all sizes will be hiked by 22 yen each from October 1.

A kalbi Korean barbecue beef bowl and a beef barbecue bowl of the same size will be 624 yen.

The price for a regular-size beef plate will be raised by 20 yen to 369 yen.

A public relations official said that ingredients prices have gone up in the past year or so.

The yen has inflated the price of beef the company imports from North America, according to the official.

The price rise will apply to all of the company's approximately 1,200 restaurants across Japan, excluding some where dishes will be priced differently, according to the company.

Yoshinoya s beef bowl has been popular among office workers because of its affordable price.

One of its competitors, Sukiya Co., raised the price of its regular-size beef bowl to 400 yen last year.

Matsuya Foods Co., another competitor of Yoshinoya, has also hiked the price of its regular-size beef bowl to 380 yen and unified its menu across all its restaurants in Japan at the same time last year.

Industry observers said that the companies could copy Yoshinoya and review their prices.