Abstract
This report, in addition to presenting a year-by-year compilation of entries by food-related companies into farming business, analyzes the relationship between food-service companies’ management strategy and their agricultural operations, with a particular focus on the different methods employed.
The means by which food-related companies enter farming operations are classified into five patterns. Of the three food-service companies studied, the following three patterns have been observed: 1) the establishment of a separate legal entity; 2) direct entry through a division within the company; and 3) the establishment of a joint venture (agricultural production corporation) with an agricultural business partner. These companies enter farming to strengthen food procurement, with their ingredient purchase departments and purchase strategy closely intertwined.
However, such farming operations are generally evaluated more for their impact on the parent companies’ overall corporate activities (employee morale, publicity, etc.), rather than their contribution to the improvement of food procurement capabilities, under the current situation.
