Asahi Beer has introduced “Gaishoku AI Research,” a database that enables real-time monitoring of information from restaurants and other dining establishments.
Press Release
~Understanding the foodservice market in real time and using it to develop sales strategies and make proposals in the field~
Lazuli Inc. (headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Seigen Hagiwara; hereinafter referred to as Lazuli), through its development and provision of “Restaurant AI Research,” has reached one year since it was adopted by Asahi Breweries, Ltd. (headquarters: Sumida-ku, Tokyo; President: Kazuo Matsuyama; hereinafter, Asahi Breweries) in January 2023, making it possible to grasp the foodservice market in real time and present evidence for formulating sales strategies and making proposals in the field.
Asahi Breweries’ sales division is broadly divided into foodservice and other commercial-use channels, and retail channels such as supermarkets. In the former, the company had only been able to obtain POS data from a limited number of restaurants on a monthly basis, and faced the challenge of not being able to grasp market conditions in a timely manner. In the retail industry, POS data provided by stores can be utilized, but in the foodservice industry, there is no database that integrates POS data, and therefore no data source for assessing market conditions. In addition, even draft beer is not labeled in a standardized way—such as “beer,” “nama-chu,” or “nama”—creating a true black box and requiring enormous effort and time to organize master data. Therefore, the company determined that it was urgent to obtain accurate data that would serve as evidence for making proposals to its restaurant customers that would lead to increased sales and profits, and decided to introduce Lazuli’s “Restaurant AI Research.”
Lazuli’s “Restaurant AI Research” is a cleaned database that integrates POS data from more than 1,500 restaurants, making it easy to analyze drink and food sales volume, customer counts, average spend per customer, and more. Because huge volumes of POS data through the previous week are delivered in a state ready for immediate analysis, it enables real-time information sharing with restaurant customers.
At Asahi Breweries, after introducing “AI Research,” the company was able to obtain restaurant POS data that requires no time-consuming name matching or other cleanup and that allows real-time understanding of the foodservice market. As a result, management can now use the data as a basis for determining sales strategies, and sales teams in the field can also conduct evidence-based sales activities.
Asahi Breweries and Lazuli believe that by increasing the granularity of analyses—such as by restaurant location, business type, number of seats, and average spend per customer—the scenes of consumption in the foodservice sector will become clearer and proposals to restaurants will be more effective. Based on the Asahi Group mission of “creating delightful food and fun living culture that exceeds expectations,” the company aims to help consumers enjoy “the best products, in the best condition, in the best mood” through restaurants.
About Lazuli Inc.
Lazuli is a startup founded in July 2020. Using advanced AI technologies, it is developing and providing the SaaS “Lazuli PDP” as a cloud service so that anyone involved in business, including DX, EC, and marketing personnel, can use product information from around the world. It is working to solve the issue of product data that is not smoothly synchronized between companies or even within a company as products are manufactured, distributed, and sold, and supports DX promotion by integrating and organizing siloed data in manufacturers, retail, and pharmaceutical industries. It aims to realize a world in which people involved in business can easily access product information.
About Asahi Breweries, Ltd.
Asahi Breweries is responsible for the domestic alcoholic beverages business, which is the core of the Asahi Group, and manufactures and sells a broad range of alcoholic beverages centered on beer, as well as Western liquors, shochu, wine, RTDs, and more. It is currently pursuing a transformation to “Value Management” and is working to provide products and services that create value for customers.
* “Lazuli,” its logo, and the product and service names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lazuli. Unauthorized copying and reproduction are prohibited.
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