Convenience stores up vegetables in bento

A meal sold by Lawson, Inc. that includes more vegetables than regular products (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Major convenience store chains have been stepping up efforts to expand their lineups of bento boxed meals that include more vegetables and dietary fiber than regular products. The move aims to attract health-conscious women and middle-aged and elderly customers, and also to beat out drugstores and other rivals that have been increasing their food products, sources said.

A Lawson, Inc. store in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, sells a series of various bento with lots of vegetables called "Motto! Yasai" (More! vegetables), which went on sale in January. Most of these products include about half the recommended daily intake of 350 grams of vegetables, which is the amount suggested by the central government, according to a source at the store.

For example, a rice donburi bowl with stir-fried pork and seven vegetables includes bamboo shoots, nira garlic chives and carrot. This product costs 498, yen almost the same as other donburi meals.

Thanks to the increase in such products, Lawson's sales of health-oriented items are expected to reach 300 billion yen in the business year ending February 2018, up from 60 billion yen in the year that ended February 2014.

In the second half of 2017, Seven-Eleven Japan Co., another large convenience store chain, started selling precooked soup with 240 grams of vegetables. As a result, sales of all prepared soup products sold at the chain increased by 20 percent from the same period in the preceding year, according to the company.

In March, the company started placing a special promotional mark onto products such as bento with increased quantities of vegetables. The mark is a picture of a hand, accompanied by the words, "Consideration for your health, from this hand."

"We want to erase consumers' image that they can't really consume enough vegetables from bento meals sold at convenience stores," said Seiichiro Ishibashi, an executive officer of the company.

The sales strategy putting emphasis on more vegetables stems from a decline in the number of visitors to convenience stores.

According to the Japan Franchise Association, the number of people visiting existing stores has fallen below the previous year's levels for 24 consecutive months up until February.

One reason is that competition with drugstores selling food at very affordable prices is intensifying, as well as competition among convenience stores themselves.

To deal with that situation, each convenience store chain has turned its attention to changes in its customer base, particularly the increasing number of women and middle-aged and elderly people starting to shop at convenience stores.

To better attract those groups, convenience store chains plan to sell more products that can meet the needs of health-conscious people, the sources said.