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The popular curry restaurant chain proves that it deserves to join the ranks of Japan’s best companies.

CoCo Ichibanya: a curry chain beloved for its plethora of tasty Japanese-style curries. But while some companies put profits over people, CoCo Ichi has proved that it’s not one of Japan’s notorious black companies by treating not only its employees but also two of its former employees with kindness, generosity, and warmth.

Twitter user and former CoCo Ichi employee Takara (@takara_ooo) shared her story about how she and her husband, who both used to work at a branch of CoCo Ichi, received a wonderful, unexpected gift from the company when they got married:

▼ Translation below

“My husband I met when we were both working at CoCo Ichi when we were in college. We dated for six years and then got married. We wanted to use CoCo Ichi’s jelly as a party favor for our reception guests, so I sent an  e-mail from the contact page of their website asking about making a large order. I got this response. I didn’t expect to get such a warm letter from a part-time job that I only worked at until I graduated.
I want to go back with my husband and our soon-to-be-born child!”

The e-mail she received back reads as follows:

“Long time no see!
Do you remember me?
I’m [redacted], the former store manager of the [redacted] Branch.

I heard from the owner, who learned from headquarters, that you are getting married, and that you want to use CoCo Ichi’s jelly at your wedding. I’ve spoken with the owner, and there’s absolutely no problem with this at all, so if you could just tell us how much you need we’ll prepare it for you. One bag has 50 cups, and there are three different colors. Of course, this is something to celebrate, so we don’t need any payment.

Also, if you want some more variety, the owner has also offered instant curry packs and other items. If there’s anything else we can do for you we’re happy to hear your requests, so please feel free to ask.

From the bottom of my heart, congratulations!
On behalf of the company, I wish you the very best!”

The company was kind enough to not only read Takara’s e-mail thoroughly and consider her request seriously, but to pass on the information to the people who were related to the branch when Takara and her husband worked there, who then took it upon themselves to write a personalized response. Then the manager under whom Takara and her husband worked, who seemingly no longer works there, collaborated with the owner to offer even more than Takara was asking for, free of charge! It was such a warm response; no wonder Takara was touched enough to share it!

▼ It’s easily the happiest CoCo Ichi story since the time we went there and bought 10,000 yen worth of pork cutlet curry.

Takara’s sweet story was so popular that it was liked and retweeted more than 300,000 times on Twitter, with most respondents being impressed with CoCo Ichi’s generous response. Some even shared their own experience with kindness at CoCo’s:

“CoCo Ichi has a refined sense of judgement. The first time I ate there I liked it so much that I wrote to the company to ask them to open a branch in my home town. A few years later they sent a notice saying they were opening one up and included some coupons. I was touched that they actually read my letter.”

“They say that the person who founded CoCo Ichi had experience working in customer relations, so a lot of people believe that made the company value people. There are lots of stories like this one, and maybe that’s why.”

“I remember that CoCo Ichi gave out free food during disasters too. The fact that a nationwide chain restaurant can do this so easily is really cool.”

“Through my work I’ve had to visit their headquarters multiple times, but every time I’ve been there everyone greets me, even if they had nothing to do with me. I also remember being surprised to see the president cleaning the entrance to the office every morning.”

“CoCo Ichi has great customer service, too. One time, for a work lunch, we ordered 30 meals, and they put them in wooden boxes and even helped me stack them.”

▼ OK, Japanese Internet, you’re making us crave CoCo Ichi even more than we usually do.

Takara specifies later that, though she and her husband got married in 2017, she wanted to tell her story because many of her followers were sharing stories of falling back in love with their husbands, and this story reminded her of how far she and her husband have come. She also says that, in the end, they decided to accept only the jelly packs, and in thanks they bought the manager and owner a box of cakes.

What a lovely tale! It’s nice to see companies that actually do good for their employees, customers, and community. CoCo’s can now join the ranks of Nintendo, the cosmetics company Isehan, Hokuriku Electric Power Company, and Seibu Bus, which have all earned our stamp of approval for being stellar companies with good customer and employee relations.

Source: Twitter/@takara_ooo via My Game News Flash
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