Providing safe and secure food products and meeting the needs for health are essential to Lawson's Three Promises and are important responsibilities that we must fulfill. Our headquarters and stores are working together to deliver safe, secure, healthy, and delicious products to our customers.
Lawson complies with environmental and safety laws and regulations in all processes, from the development of original products* to the manufacturing process and sales, and is committed to thorough quality control.
In order to maintain the quality of our original products throughout all processes, from development to manufacturing and delivery to the customer, our quality control and product development departments, as well as our business partners, work together to implement strict quality control, from raw material management at the time of purchase to production management at the time of manufacturing, guidance to contract manufacturing factories, and hygiene control at our stores. For example, we have established a HACCP system at factories manufacturing rice dishes to prevent incidents such as food poisoning and contamination by foreign substances. All important control items in the production process, such as cooking time and product temperature control, are recorded, and if a problem should occur, we have a system in place to immediately investigate the cause and take action. For our original products, we work to reduce the use of food additives and do not use artificial colors or preservatives.
* Original products: Lawson original products include lunch boxes, rice balls, sushi, bakery items, prepared food, salads, cooked noodles, and pasta with the Lawson mark on the price sticker (excluding in-store prepared products).
Use of raw materials
Lawson's original products are subject to a rigorous system of checks to ensure safety and security, starting with the careful selection of raw materials and ending with the delivery of the product to the customer.
Professionals are assigned to carefully select and use raw materials in order to supply safe and secure products. In addition, only those raw materials that have passed a rigorous screening process based on Lawson's quality control standards are used.
From product design to commercialization
For original products, Lawson conducts its own inspections of the ingredients and finished products, and only those products whose safety has been ensured can be released onto the market. Once the product specifications are finalized, we conduct a document review as well as a trial production on the actual production line to confirm the safety of the product.
Product manufacturing process
We have established a HACCP system at our factories manufacturing rice dishes to prevent incidents such as food poisoning and contamination by foreign substances. All important control items in the production process, such as cooking time and product temperature control, are recorded, and if a problem should occur, we have a system in place to immediately investigate the cause and take action. Whenever a new factory is put into operation or new equipment is introduced, staff from the quality control department attend the factory to check for any hygiene control problems.
In the daily manufacturing of products, our factories are always kept clean, and employees are required to take air showers, wash their hands, and disinfect their hands before entering the factory to prevent the introduction of foreign substances. In addition, the products themselves are inspected by metal detectors and other means to check for the presence of foreign substances and to ensure that they are presented in accordance with regulations.
Temperature checks at stores
To maintain the freshness and quality of our products, we check the temperature of our store showcases four times a day. In addition, in order to ensure thorough hygiene control, the food hygiene manager at each store conducts self-inspections, and the SV (Supervisor: Store Management Instructor) at headquarters conducts monthly hygiene surveys and provides guidance. In addition, unannounced inspections by an external organization are conducted at all stores nationwide.
Setting the allowable date of receipt and allowable date of sale
In order for customers to purchase safer products with peace of mind, we set an allowable date of receipt and allowable date of sale for products, and check at our stores to ensure that no products are sold past their use-by dates.
Furthermore, as of September 1, 2017, as part of our efforts to reduce the amount of food wastage, which is considered to be a social issue, we have reviewed the allowable date of receipt and allowable date of sale for products. With regard to the allowable date of receipt, we revised 1/3 of the best-before dates (use-by dates) of some processed foods to 1/2 and 2/3. As for the allowable date of sale, we have extended the dates to reduce the number of expired products and to reduce waste.
Processes that go into making a Premium Roll Cake
In September 2009, Lawson launched its Premium Roll Cake. This popular product triggered the so-called "convenience store sweets boom" in Japan, and has been well received by many, especially female customers, as it offers the taste of a genuine dessert at an affordable price.
In order to ensure that customers can enjoy our Premium Roll Cake and other products with peace of mind, we have put in place a variety of safety, hygiene, and quality control measures at our manufacturing plants.
▲ Premium Roll Cake
Soft and fluffy dough made with ingredients produced in Hokkaido. The cream has a milkier texture.
Accurately measure and mix ingredients such as eggs and sugar.
Stir and whisk the ingredients together using a machine.
To make the dough fluffy, mix it carefully with two stirring blades.
The finished dough is slowly fed into the baking machine.
The temperature setting is adjusted according to the season.
The baked sponge is peeled off to check for unevenness in color and thickness.
The sponge is cut evenly by a machine according to the size of the roll cake.
Mix cream made from raw milk from Hokkaido and granulated sugar.
Stir and whisk the cream.
The finished product is weighed again, not only when the raw materials are put in, but also at each step of the process to check if it is in accordance with the regulations.
Check the finished cream. The finished cream is quickly transported to the arrangement process.
The cut sponge is arranged in containers by hand.
The sponge is soft and moist, so it must be placed carefully to prevent it from breaking.
The sponge is filled with cream by a machine.
Film is placed over the cream-filled cake.
It is then wrapped by a machine.
A metal detector is used to check for the presence of metal.
Finished product. The product is sent to the distribution center for delivery to the store.
A final check is made to ensure that the product name and use-by date are correct before shipping.
Since the dessert production process does not involve much heat, it is important to prevent the growth of bacteria. When receiving raw materials, the exterior of the raw materials are given an air shower to remove dust, and all raw materials are checked one by one.
Employees who manufacture products are also not allowed to enter the factory without taking an air shower, using a roller to remove dust, washing their hands and spraying them with alcohol. In addition, while manufacturing products, employees change their gloves once an hour, and there are also employees who specialize in applying dust rollers to prevent foreign substances from entering the factory.
Before entering the factory, employees take an air shower.
A machine sucks employees' eyebrows so that loose eyebrow hairs do not get mixed in with the products (limited to some factories).
Employees are always on hand to check that the rollers are in good condition.
We also have equipment that can wash even between the fingernails to ensure that hands are thoroughly washed.
After entering the factory, employees come around periodically to perform roller application.
All used equipment is cleaned and disinfected.
We have also introduced a dry heat sterilization method to sterilize instruments.
Interviewed in cooperation with: Kawashima Plant and Iruma Plant of COSMO FOODS Co., Ltd.