Considering "7 Themes, 7-Year Predictions" ~ 7. New Business

Members of Dentsu Inc.'s 'Food Lifestyle Lab' pondered the future of Japan's food scene. For example, what will the country's food landscape look like seven years from now, in 2025? We set seven themes. These are near-future projections conceived by Food Lifestyle Lab members with expertise in their respective fields.

New food formats emerging from cross-industry players

For special occasion dining out, professional chefs will likely remain the main players. However, in other areas of food and food-related fields, we expect innovation from players in different sectors.

This movement has already begun. For example, "complete foods" (artificial foods containing all essential human nutrients) have recently gained attention in some circles, yet their developers were complete outsiders to the food industry, originally working in IT companies. Ideas and knowledge from other fields are becoming the driving force behind new food concepts.

This is even more pronounced in the food business. While sharing services have flourished in recent years, overseas we've also seen the emergence of "shared kitchens" for restaurants. For small-scale establishments, sharing a kitchen allows them to reduce initial investment and rent. This is more of a real estate idea than a food service concept.

Illustration: Mio Oshima (Dentsu Inc. "Food Lifestyle Lab")

In Japan, the lifting of restrictions on side businesses is expected to spur the rise of "small-scale commerce." If services emerge that share commercial kitchens with proper permits, we might enter an era where ordinary people can start businesses selling their homemade dishes. The evolution of food—enriching how we enjoy it beyond just taste—will likely unfold by involving diverse people.

 

Food, being the very source of human life, interacts with every aspect of living and reflects changes in social structures and cultural trends. Dentsu Inc.'s 'Food Lifestyle Lab' is a project aiming to improve society through food by providing solutions related to this very food. Composed of members with diverse expertise and insights across the company, it leverages its network extending beyond the company to engage in roundtable-style innovation creation. Currently, the internal team consists of about 20 members. The project's origins date back to the early 1980s, and since then, it has continuously accumulated and updated various insights.