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Japanese restaurant employs muscular hunks to deliver sushi during pandemic

Imazushi, a high-class sushi restaurant in Nagoya, Japan came up with an amusing business strategy as business dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic: getting brawny bodybuilders to deliver sushi. (Photos: Twitter/@sushimacho)
A sushi restaurant in Nagoya came up with an amusing business strategy as business dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic: getting bodybuilders to deliver sushi. (Photos: Twitter/@sushimacho)

Since the start of 2020, many companies have been severely affected by the coronavirus, especially those in the food industry. While people either chose to or were forced to stay home, many turned to food delivery and take-aways instead of dining out. With different restaurants and eateries offering a range of attractive promotions, it can be hard to stand out.

This is why Imazushi, a high-class sushi restaurant in Nagoya, Japan came up with a creative business strategy: getting brawny bodybuilders to deliver sushi.

Getting a buff guy to show up at your house with scrumptious sushi is easy: simply place an order of at least 10,000 yen (about S$130)! The muscular deliveryman would then come wearing a suit, greet you with “I’m Delivery Macho”, and hand the food over while maintaining social distance.

But that’s not all! Depending on whatever pose requests you have, the bodybuilder will take off his top and flex his exceptionally developed arms and torso to your liking. You can even take photos to relive the experience again.

“The happiest thing to hear was a secondary school boy exclaiming that I am so macho and he wanted to be macho too,” recounted Masanori Sugiura, third-generation owner of Imazushi and also one of the beefy delivery guys. “The ladies also get very excited and delighted when I flex my muscles.”

Apparently, Sugiura likes to compete in bodybuilding competitions and has recruited his bodybuilder friends to help boost his coronavirus-hit business. He explained that business had dropped by 90% as banquets were reduced, and the restaurant was forced to dismiss about 40 of its employees.

With his idea of Delivery Macho receiving good responses, Sugiura said, “If the company can survive, we can recover and re-employ. We have promised them re-employment, so we are working hard to make sure we can call them back.”