The story
Founded by Satoshi Sakurada on Mar 12, 1972, in Narimasu.1
Sakurada, then attached with Nikko Securities' Los Angeles branch in the early 1960s, frequented the Los Angeles chili burger chain Original Tommy's. Wanting to strike out on his own after returning to Japan he decided to adapt the cook-to-order hamburger concept used by Original Tommy's. He also developed the MOS rice burger as an alternative to the hamburger.
As of 1992, MOS Burger had 1,100 outlets in Japan (1,021 in 1991 and 1,200 in 1993), being the country's largest chain. It expects to open 100 more outlets in that year.
Its most popular items were teriyaki burger and rice burger with grilled rice cakes as its patty.
International operations
MOS Burger began its international expansion in 1989 with Taiwan, where its sukiyaki rice burger was popular with its customers. In 1991, its outlets reach a monthly sales target of between ¥ 5 million and ¥ 10 million.
As of 1992 it had five outlets in Hawaii, four in Taiwan and three noodle houses in the Los Angeles area. Sales of its international outlets reach an estimate of US$3 million. MOS Burger planned to open 500 more outlets in Asia, with 30 in Hong Kong, 250 in South Korea and the rest in Singapore and Taiwan.
In 1992, MOS Burger expanded to Singapore through joint venture Moriyoshi Foods, with its franchisee Palate (S) Pte Ltd. Palate owned 70% of the joint venture while MOS takes the rest of the stake. It plans to open five outlets in 1993 with the first one in Orchard Road open in April. The first outlet opened on 28 May 1993 at Isetan Scotts, with sales for its first year of operation expected to reach S$1.7 million. Palate later planned to open 7 more outlets in two to three years, totalling 30 in ten years. Its second outlet at Junction 8 opened in 1994.
In 1993, MOS Burger planned to expand to China. A joint venture with Yaohan International and a Chinese firm, it planned to open 3,000 outlets by the end of the year.
As of 1996, MOS Burger had five outlets in Singapore, with plans to expand to Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia.
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In April 2011, MOS Burger opened its first store at Sunnybank Plaza, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. As at September 2021, the company had five stores in Australia, all of which were in Queensland. MOS Burger announced the closure of all its Australian stores in August 2024.
MOS Burger opened in the Philippines in February 2020.
From Wikipedia’s article on MOS Burger, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4