Strengthen waste reduction​

The PPIH Group is working to promote the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) in order to achieve a recycling-oriented society. In addition to reducing the waste generated by our business activities, we are also engaged in a variety of activities centered on our stores, such as collecting resources that are no longer needed by our customers from their homes, and working with our business partners to find ways to reuse these resources.

As a company whose sale of food products account for around 50% of our domestic sales figures, we believe that it is our social responsibility to reduce the amount of food wasted. With the aim of eliminating food waste (reducing the amount of waste generated), we are working to reduce food loss throughout the entire supply chain, including procurement, as well as at the point of sale in our stores. In addition, we are also working to recycle the food waste that does happen to occur.  

In the supply chain, there is a business practice known as the "One-Third Rule*", which divides the time from the manufacturing date to the best-before date into three parts and sets a deadline for delivery and sales. Products that fall outside of this rule may be disposed of, and this is one of the factors that leads to food loss.

*This business practice states that products exceeding 1/3 of the time from the manufacturing date to the best-before date not being stocked as inventory, while products exceeding 2/3 of that period will not be sold on the shelf.

In addition to selling standard products, our Group also sells a large number of spot products that are stocked on a one-off basis. For these spot products, we are working to reduce the generation of food waste by actively stocking products with short shelf lives and relaxing the sales deadline.
In addition, by selling these products at even more affordable prices, we are giving our customers the opportunity to enjoy a shopping experience filled with anticipation and excitement.

With regard to Overseas Operations, the long transportation time often means that food products are nearing their best-before dates by the time they reach local stores. In order to solve this problem, we are working to reduce food loss by asking manufacturers to develop products with an extended best-before date and to create packaging that meets the language and standards of each country*.

*Products with ingredient labels in Japanese and written in accordance with Japanese standards must have localized labels developed and affixed to each item prior to sale. This labeling process may significantly reduce the sales period.

We are promoting the reduction of food loss by planning and developing PB products that utilize irregularly sized vegetables and fruits, as well as byproducts generated during food processing that are often discarded.

In addition to the above initiatives, each store is implementing various other initiatives in order to reduce food loss.

-Stocking of irregularly sized fruits and vegetables
-Processing of offcuts from meat into minced meat and hamburger patties
-Sale of fish offcuts (heads, etc.)
-By purchasing fruits and vegetables, fresh fish and meat directly from the source, we are able to maintain freshness and quality, as well as offer products with a long sales period
-We provide produce, fresh fish, and prepared foods in sizes that meet the diverse needs of our customers, and aim to promote the reduction of waste after purchase.
-Meat sliced by trainees at the Butchery Training Center within MEGA Don Quijote Narimasu Store is available at a great price.

Collecting and processing Meat trimmings

Selling products direct from the producer

Sale of meat sliced at the Butchery Training Center (MEGA Don Quijote Narimasu Store)

*The details of initiatives differ depending on the store.
*The products and sales prices in the photo are as of the time the photo was taken.

We actively collaborate with local governments, business partners, and producers to recycle food waste into valuable resources such as feed, fertilizer, oils, and biogas.

-DS Business :　106 stores
-GMS Business : 131 stores (implemented at all GMS stores in Japan)

*Aggregation Period: April 1, 2023～End of March, 2024

UNY has formed partnerships with local recycling businesses and agricultural producers, and has constructed a food recycling loop in which Pork, Eggs and Vegetables produced using recycled feed and fertilizer are sold in UNY stores.
Among the products created through the food recycling loop are environmentally friendly original Vegetable products, as well as original brand agricultural and livestock products such as "Yukenton Pork" and "Kirara" Eggs.

The PPIH Group, in cooperation with Suntory Foods International Limited, is promoting the "Bottle to bottle" horizontal recycling of PET bottles. This initiative aims to reduce the environmental impact of used PET bottles by recycling them as resources and turning them into new PET bottles.
Currently, around 90 Apita and Piago stores within the Group are participating in this initiative, encouraging customers to bring in their used PET bottles from home and promoting the effective use of resources together.

The PET bottles collected at stores are used as raw materials for PET bottles manufactured and sold by Suntory Foods International Limited.
We plan to expand this initiative to all of our Group stores in Japan in the future.

MEGA Don Quijote, Don Quijote, Apita, and some Piago stores have set up recycling stations in their stores to collect used paper such as cardboard boxes and magazines for use by local customers. The recovered paper brought in is returned to users in majica* points at the rate of 1kg = 1 majica point, which can be used for purchases at our group stores. In addition, the collected used paper is recycled through local recycling companies.
The service has been well received by customers and has led them to return to our stores, as it reduces household waste, makes effective use of resources, and is a great way to earn points.
Through these services, the Group is working together with its customers to establish a recycling-oriented society.
*majica: Electronic money that can be used at PPIH Group stores

MEGA Don Quijote Nagano Recycling station

Collected paper is turned into recycled paper by recycling companies

It is customary for manufacturers to send promotional materials to retail stores by courier service, and cardboard boxes for individual packaging are consumed and disposed of, resulting in waste that is not utilized by stores and ends up in disposal.
In order to reduce waste and improve operational efficiency, manufacturer (ROHTO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.), wholesaler (PALTAC CORPORATION), and our Group's Don Quijote stores are working together to carefully select the necessary quantity of promotional materials and the stores where they will be installed, as well as to use paper materials with low environmental impact and to establish a system for batch delivery to the bases. We have also established a system for the use of paper materials with low environmental impact and batch delivery of materials to bases.
We will continue to work with our partners to optimize and streamline the entire supply chain and reduce waste.