Article

Watch out American fast food operators: Sushi is on a roll for Kula USA

Revolving sushi bars are very big in Japan, and could soon be a growing player in the U.S. quick-service market if the success Kula Sushi USA is having is any indication.

June 20, 2016 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Revolving sushi bars are very big in Japan, and could soon be a growing player in the U.S. quick-service market if the success Kula Sushi USA is having is any indication. 

Just last Wednesday, June 15, the company's U.S. division reopened its tenth restaurant after installing major renovations centered around the revolving conveyor system of food service that brings untouched food right to your table at the Sawtelle Boulevard location in Los Angeles that first opened three years earlier. 

For the past four years, the Muten Kula Sushi chain — which also operates 370 restaurants in Japan — has been growing rapidly on the West Coast. But just this spring the chain opened its first location outside of California in the new Plano, Texas home of Toyota Manufacturing's North American headquarters in May 2016.

The chain's very first U.S. location opened in the upscale Los Angeles suburb of Irvine in September 2009. Four years later, Kula opened five more restaurants around L.A., including Little Tokyo, Laguna Hills, Torrance, Brea and Rancho Cucamonga. Kula began moving outside of L.A. in 2015, with a location in San Diego that year, followed by one in Cupertino this year. But this May's opening in Texas is the first one outside of the West Coast. 

A new QSR concept for Americans?

The chain locations, which typically carry more than 130 items on a revolving, serve-yourself conveyor, offer most of their plates for $2.25 each. Beyond sushi, the Kula menu also offers other small dishes and noodles to please those who have no affinity for seafood. 

"We opened the very first U.S. location in Irvine, California in 2009, based on the principles of timely service, no MSG, and the unique Japanese culture of 'taking great care in each step of the process, including the unseen,'" said Kula President Hajime Uba.

"As (we) install our high-tech food delivery system in both newly opened and renovated stores, I look forward to seeing the customer reactions to Kula's advanced technology."

The concept fits right in with Americans' growing love of all things techy since Kula bases the delivery and freshness of its menu items on technologically innovative systems, including not just the conveyor-to-your-table concept, but also IC chips in each plate that manage the items and quantity of products served while tracking how long an item has been on the conveyor. The system also analyzes customers' data, allows order placement and responds to customer needs. 

So, for instance, when a desired item isn't on the conveyor, customers can place an order at the table on an iPad touch which is then delivered on a special express belt. Likewise, a special cover for each plate keeps all the items under seal and free from contact with anyone until chosen by the purchasing customer, who has no contact with the transparent plate cover that seals the food.

All finished plates get zipped away after customers insert them into slots aside the table. The system even "rewards" those who clean up their empty dishes by playing an animated short on the iPad screen with every five plates inserted into the table-side slot. Prizes are actually awarded when a certain number of plates are deposited. 

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.