Shares of Zensho Holdings Co, which operates the Japanese restaurant chain Sukiya fell after a customer claimed to have found a dead rodent in its Miso soup.
The stock was down by 7.1 per cent, which is the most since February 13, according to a Bloomberg report.
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Sukiya stated that its staff “failed to notice” the animal making its way into the soup as the meals were being prepared at a branch in Tottori, western Japan, on January 21, 2025.
It then said that it would double down on hygiene measures in a March 22 announcement.
Sukiya also apologised for not disclosing the incident sooner, stating that “many customers ended up feeling anxious and worried” as a result.
As of March 24, the company's stock was down 4.72% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, reaching 8,123 Yen.
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{{/usCountry}}Sukiya currently has about 2,000 branches across Japan and is famous for its beef rice bowls.
The fall in the company's stock came at a time when it had been rising prior due to hopes of a boost in profit from its recent price hike.
The stock had risen as much as 25% over the last year till that point, according to the report which added that this outperformed the Topix Index.
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The long-term impact on Zensho’s shares will depend on whether the rodent incident leads to a significant fall in customers, the report quoted Shoichi Arisawa, an analyst at Iwai Cosmo Securities Co, as saying.
“I don’t think the incident reflects a structural problem with the business," he added. "But Sukiya can’t just dismiss it as a one-off accident.”