Kura Sushi USA is far from your typical sushi chain. With 76 U.S. locations and counting—and a parent company in Japan with over 550—Kura is redefining what it means to scale a hospitality brand through operational excellence and smart technology. In this episode of Behind the Numbers, Jung Lee shares his blueprint for sustainable growth, the lessons learned from cultural missteps, and how AI and automation are quietly revolutionizing the sushi business.
When Kura Sushi USA first brought over tech from Japan, it didn’t quite fit. What worked in a compliant, top-down Japanese management culture felt rigid and impractical in American stores. Rather than force adoption, Jung Lee and his team learned to modify and localize their approach, adapting the tools to support a more autonomous and flexible team culture.
This experience became a core philosophy at Kura: technology should support your people, not constrain them.
Kura’s initial management systems left no room for error correction—locking weekly data and preventing changes after the fact. The result was inaccurate numbers and frustrated teams.
Now, the company uses more flexible tools that allow for real-time corrections, encouraging critical thinking at the store level. The shift empowers managers to be proactive problem-solvers instead of passive users of rigid software.
Kura’s use of automation is both strategic and surprising. Robots handle rice washing and cooking, and even assist in food delivery via a unique express belt system. These innovations reduce repetitive labor while ensuring high ingredient consistency.
Yet, automation doesn’t replace the human element. Kitchens still maintain a strong headcount to ensure quality control and guest experience. It’s a hybrid model: let robots handle the routine while humans focus on hospitality.
Education is woven directly into the Kura dining experience. Digital screens periodically display short animations highlighting ingredient quality and brand values. It’s a smart way to reinforce transparency and build loyalty without needing a server to give a sales pitch.
This approach turns every meal into an opportunity to deepen guest engagement—and it doesn’t interrupt the flow of the dining experience.
One of Kura’s next frontiers is using machine learning to identify exactly what’s on each plate and tie it back to cost of goods sold. Historically, tracking food costs has been a game of averages and assumptions. But with smart QR codes and AI recognition, Kura aims to move from estimates to exact data.
The long-term goal? To drive KPIs, bonuses, and decision-making based on real consumption data—creating a more accountable and optimized business model.
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