Visualising CO2 emissions from stores and factories nationwide to achieve carbon neutrality

KOMEDA Holdings operates 975 Komeda Coffee Shop locations and other food and beverage outlets nationwide (as of December 31, 2022). The company focuses on providing a space for “relaxation” by offering its signature morning service and core products like coffee and Shiro-Noir. To ensure customers feel completely at home, management views protecting the global environment and fostering a sustainable society as critical business imperatives.

Global warming poses a direct threat to the coffee industry. Projections indicate that if climate change continues unchecked, the suitable cultivation areas for Arabica coffee could decrease by 50% by 2050. Reduced cultivation areas and lower yields would prevent consumers from enjoying coffee as casually as they do today. Consequently, KOMEDA Holdings remains actively committed to addressing climate change through sustainable coffee cultivation and distribution, transitioning to renewable energy, and reducing food loss.

Promoting decarbonization stands at the center of these initiatives. KOMEDA Holdings established ambitious targets to reduce Scope 1, 2, and 3 CO2 emissions to 50% of 2015 levels by 2030, with the ultimate goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Developing a concrete roadmap required establishing a precise 2015 baseline. Because the company had not yet calculated its 2015 emissions, management decided to introduce an automated system to grasp baseline figures and formulate a structured reduction plan.

Initially, an administrator managed Scope 1 and 2 emission calculations alone using Excel. However, Scope 3 required tracking emissions across the entire supply chain, including raw materials and logistics, making manual data collection and compilation overwhelming for internal resources. Management recognized the need for a strategic partner to support the company’s long-term sustainability goals rather than attempting to solve these challenges in isolation.

The company sought a service provider capable of visualizing CO2 emissions while offering expert calculation guidance and tailored reduction proposals. After evaluating solutions from four companies, management selected ASUENE. The platform stood out as the only option featuring AI-OCR capabilities to read billing data automatically alongside the ability to batch-upload legacy Excel data. This functionality promised to significantly reduce administrative man-hours while aligning perfectly with the corporate budget.

While there were initial concerns regarding the accuracy of AI-driven data uploads, the platform’s double-check process by human operators provided total peace of mind. KOMEDA Holdings began its visualization journey with approximately 20 directly managed stores, finding the usability of the ASUENE platform highly intuitive. The system allows multiple team members to access the platform and enter data simultaneously, optimizing internal workflows. Furthermore, the responsive customer success team provides rapid support, while regular interviews keep the company informed about rapidly evolving decarbonization trends.

Following the deployment of ASUENE, KOMEDA Holdings significantly minimized the man-hours dedicated to Scope 1 and 2 calculations. Under the previous Excel-based workflow, collecting, entering, and visualizing a single year’s worth of data consumed an entire month, stalling other operational tasks. With the automated platform, the company freed up resources to confront Scope 3 calculations, an area previously left unaddressed due to its complexity.

Scope 3 calculation presents unique logistical challenges. Category 14 (Franchises) encompasses approximately 900 franchise stores. Because each store owner utilizes a different management system, gathering data in a uniform format is exceptionally difficult, and the workload required to log this information is immense. To overcome this, KOMEDA Holdings plans to select 10 model franchise stores and leverage ASUENE’s supply chain data linkage function to progressively enhance data accuracy.

Similarly, Category 1 (Purchased Goods and Services) involves roughly 1,000 distinct items related to store operations alone, requiring cross-departmental collaboration to track carbon footprints accurately. While generating precise figures remains difficult and leaves limited room for immediate improvement, management believes that taking action through initial visualization is a crucial first step.

Moving forward, KOMEDA Holdings aims to advance to full-scale Scope 3 calculations and design a comprehensive reduction roadmap to hit its sustainability targets. In 2022, the company published its inaugural integrated report. Its vision for 2050 centers on becoming a corporate group that co-creates daily “relaxation” alongside all stakeholders, driven by teamwork that champions diversity, individual growth, and environmental sustainability.

Because a store’s atmosphere is built collectively by employees and customers, the company emphasizes collaborative action to maintain its signature relaxing spaces. This philosophy is encapsulated in the sustainability slogan, “KOMEDA COMES TRUE. with YOU,” where “with YOU” represents a shared commitment with all stakeholders.

Recognizing that a single enterprise cannot solve climate change alone, KOMEDA Holdings derives substantial value from its partnership with ASUENE. The platform provides clear emission visibility and expert consultation on reduction strategies. While environmental challenges lack simple solutions, management remains dedicated to driving incremental, sustainable progress alongside its stakeholders, focusing on actionable steps today to secure a better tomorrow.