Interview with the owner of Honenuki, the fried chicken food truck
Honenuki’s owner, Fukuda, and the food truck’s manager, Nakahara.
Fukuda runs a facility for people with disabilities.
Nakahara previously worked at a facility providing welfare services for people with disabilities.
Honenuki apparently began with the story of two people who worked at a facility providing welfare services for people with disabilities.
What inspired the two of them to start Honenuki?
Let’s take a closer look at Fukuda and Nakahara’s story.
The story behind the birth of Honenuki, the fried chicken food truck
Why did you choose fried chicken and decide to take on the challenge?
Fukuda (surname only)
I’ve been running facilities for people with disabilities for over 10 years.
One of our facilities is a Type B continuous employment support center, where people with disabilities work.
The people who use the center roast and sell coffee beans.
They work from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., but the reality was that we couldn’t properly pay them enough to support their livelihoods.
We started taking action to create work that people with disabilities could do at their own pace and to guarantee wages that would allow them to make a living.
We researched various kinds of work and tried them ourselves.
As we tried running shops and cafes, we thought that work involving preparations for the next day or the day after might let people with disabilities work at their own pace with peace of mind.
One day, a friend who runs a fried chicken shop in Okayama Prefecture suggested, “Why not give it a try?” The idea was fried chicken.
When my friend showed me the steps for preparing the fried chicken, I thought, “This is it!”
We decided to open a fried chicken shop to create work for people with disabilities and guarantee them wages to live on.
Why did you start selling fried chicken from a food truck?
Fukuda
Originally, we planned to start outside Okayama Prefecture.
I worked at a facility for people with disabilities in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. I had decided that after returning to my hometown in Okayama Prefecture and spending 10 years setting up a facility for people with disabilities, I would work in Kobe.
I worked in Okayama Prefecture for 10 years and planned to open a fried chicken shop in Kobe, but then COVID-19 began spreading in Japan.
Because of the pandemic, we couldn’t find a shop in Kobe, so we decided to open a fried chicken shop in Okayama Prefecture.
We decided to start in Okayama Prefecture, but still couldn’t find a shop.
That’s when we thought of a food truck, which had been gaining popularity for a while.
We decided to try running a fried chicken business from a food truck.
Why did you decide to start this together?
Fukuda
I originally met Nakahara through an acquaintance.
When I was looking for work for people with disabilities, I was running a cafe, and Nakahara would come and help out.
Around the time I thought, “All right, let’s do this,” Nakahara started posting more on social media.
That made me think, “Maybe we can do this together,” so I asked Nakahara, “Would you like to start a fried chicken shop together, with the goal of creating work for people with disabilities?”
He replied right away, “I’m in,” so we decided to start together.
Nakahara (surname only)
I used to work at a facility providing welfare services for people with disabilities, but I was also interested in the food service industry.
I enjoyed helping out at Fukuda’s cafe.
I was exploring what I could do and studying on my own.
I had always wanted to do something to create work for people with disabilities in the future.
Then Fukuda approached me, and I decided to take on the challenge of opening a fried chicken shop.
Before opening the shop, we visited lots of fried chicken shops and worked on developing our seasoning.
We still keep thinking about the seasoning.
What Honenuki, the fried chicken food truck, recommends
What does Honenuki recommend?
Fukuda
What we recommend at Honenuki is Nakahara’s customer service.
Customers who buy our fried chicken come back to see Nakahara again.
When buying fried chicken, customers tell him, “It was delicious. I’ll come see you again,” or “You’re great with customers.”
It’s not just one or two people.
Customers also bring us gifts, saying, “Here, have some.”
Sometimes children bring us gifts, too.
It makes us happy, so we thank our customers in person or on social media.
The connections we make with people inspire us to “serve delicious fried chicken for our customers.”
What do you keep in mind when interacting with customers?
Nakahara
When talking with people, I made a point of noticing their expressions and making eye contact.
At Honenuki, when handing over an order, we get out of the food truck to give it to the customer.
If the wait is going to be long, we ask customers to wait in their cars. We’ve also started taking phone orders to reduce waiting times.
I try to make sure that customers who come to buy fried chicken leave feeling happy.
The people I met while working at the welfare facility taught me how to serve customers.
Meeting and interacting with all kinds of people at the welfare facility has helped me in customer service.
Why do you get out of the food truck to hand over orders?
Nakahara
The food truck’s window is high up, so we’d have to hand the food down to customers from above.
I want to serve customers at eye level.
That’s why I get out of the food truck to hand over orders.
I want customers who have chosen Honenuki to enjoy freshly made fried chicken.
The future of the fried chicken food truck, bringing people together through buying and meeting
Do you have any goals for the future?
Fukuda
Our fried chicken shop opened in Tamano City on November 13, 2022.
Through fried chicken, we want to make it possible for people with disabilities to work at their own pace.
We’re exploring which parts of the process can become jobs.
We’re still developing our varieties of fried chicken, so we’ll be adding many more.
As we come up with new varieties, we want to take on challenges while considering how people with disabilities work.
We want to create a place where we can make fried chicken together with people with disabilities and seriously consider what kinds of work they can do.
We also want to bring our fried chicken to people with disabilities living inside and outside Okayama Prefecture.
People often say that there’s a labor shortage and that the population is declining, but the number of people with disabilities is increasing.
I think that if people with disabilities work and become part of the workforce, we may be able to address the labor shortage.
I want to create jobs for people with disabilities while thinking about the future five years from now.
I want to serve delicious fried chicken that makes people smile when they buy it or come to see us.
Trying the fried chicken from Honenuki, the fried chicken food truck
Honenuki serves delicious, generously sized pieces of fried chicken.
Today, they’re probably delivering fried chicken somewhere in Kurashiki.
Honenuki brings smiles to everyone through fried chicken.
Honenuki sets up at various locations.
Check their social media and be sure to try their fried chicken.
Honenuki, the fried chicken food truck Information
| Name | Honenuki, the fried chicken food truck |
|---|---|
| Address | 307-1 Hayashi, Kurashiki City |
| Contact | 080-4559-3036 |
| Parking | Available ※Parking availability and the number of spaces vary depending on the location |
| Business hours | 11 a.m.–8 p.m. ※Business hours may vary depending on the sales location |
| Closed | Monday ※Closing days may vary. See official social media for details |
| Payment methods |
|
| Reservations | Available Taking reservations by phone |
| Seating | None |
| Restroom | No restroom |
| Website | Honenuki official Instagram |
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