The depot system
As the scale of the business of the Seikatsu club grows, the economies of scale become significant. This is especially true in Tokyo, where the concentration of population is very high. The Tokyo coop makes up half of the membership of S. It is so big that it has to be sub-divided in to four. When there are a large number of members in a small region, people may not need to place their orders one or two weeks before their purchase. The Tokyo coops run ¡°depots¡± (stores) that operate like conventional supermarkets where there is a concentration of members, who can buy food every day, instead of once a week or a fortnight. Another benefit of the depots is to save the labor of members. As most members in Tokyo are working, they may not be able to provide enough labor input to run the han system. Full-time employees are necessary. Some of the depots are run by workers¡¯ collectives. Seikatsu in Tokyo has a warehouse, but the distribution is at the level of each of the coop. The food in the depots is packed with the name of the producer, the address of the farm and the date of delivery. The ability o trace the products to their original producers helps establish consumer trust. The direct link between consumers and producers is what distinguishes Seikatsu stores from conventional supermarkets.
A Depot in Tokyo
Yvonne Poirier, Interview by Author, Tape Recording, Quebec, Canada, 12th February 2011
Provider: Julie Matthaei
Date created: 16/05/2011
Date modified: 16/05/2011