TOMPLA Co., Ltd. (Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture) is working with Demae-can Co., Ltd. (Shibuya Ward, Tokyo), Yoshitomi Unyu Co., Ltd. (Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture), Japan Computer Net Co., Ltd. (Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture), Starbucks Coffee Japan Co., Ltd. (Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo), and Kobe Gakuin University (Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture) to conduct test marketing of food delivery using the Demae-can app between Kobe Harborland and Port Island from October 11th to November 3rd, 2022 as part of the Hyogo Prefecture/New Industry Research Organization (NIRO) FY2022 Drone Social Implementation Promotion Demonstration Project*.

Providing services in regional cities is key to popularizing drone delivery in Japan

Currently, drone delivery services are being introduced in depopulated areas of Japan, but the key to their widespread use will be to provide the service in regional cities where there is a need but a shortage of delivery personnel. Drones are small and lightweight and are suitable for transporting food, and demand for delivery from restaurants is predicted, so various demonstration projects for food delivery by drones have been carried out to date.

The west coast of Port Island is an area with few restaurants compared to the population. Food delivery also requires crossing a bridge from the Sannomiya area, where restaurants are densely concentrated, so there are few delivery contractors and dining options are limited. Starbucks coffee will be delivered by drone from the Harborland side, where it is sourced, to approximately 6,000 students and staff from Kobe Gakuin University, which makes up a large proportion of the area, as well as local residents.

Most of the past demonstration projects were conducted on a single day with a limited number of orders in order to verify the quality of food after transportation and the shipping route, which made it difficult to say that it was a real market environment. Therefore, we will conduct a 20-day test marketing to commercialize drone food delivery.

Consumer awareness and advertising will be handled by a seminar taught by Professor Tsuji Yukie of Kobe Gakuin University's School of Management, who specializes in marketing, and will develop measures based on insights from university students, who are the main target audience.