Royce'
Encyclopedia
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Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
manufacturing company. The company's central offices are located in Sapporo
Sapporo, Hokkaido
is the fourth-largest city in Japan by population, and the largest city on the island of Hokkaido. It is the capital of Hokkaidō Prefecture, located in Ishikari Subprefecture, and an ordinance-designated city of Japan....
.
Company history
- Royce' was first established in July 1983, with a total capital of ¥10.0 million. Royce's first head office building was located in HokkaidōHokkaido, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
, about 500 miles north of Tokyo. By November of that year, Royce' began to produce their first chocolates.
- The company's first two years saw rather slow growth as it integrated into the Japanese economy. It was not until the 1990s that Royce' would become a significant player in the AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n candy industry. In September 1985, Royce's capital had increased to ¥30.5 million.
- In September 1989, Royce' was finally able to add a chocolate molding line, allowing the company to further compete with other market brands.
- The first Royce' shop was established in May 1993. It was named the "Higashi Naebo Main Shop". This shop, like others to come, would sell Royce' chocolates, as well as company and area-related souvenirs. Royce' cookieCookieIn the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have...
production also began in 1993.
- 1994 and 1995 saw major store expansion for Royce' in Japan. Outlets were established in Hiragishi, Asabu and Kotoni.
- A delivery center was established in 1996, as well as the "Nama" chocolate brand. The delivery center was served by a fleet of semi-truckTruckA truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s that took Royce's products to clients.
- March 1997 was a relatively important year for Royce', as the company opened a sales shop in downtown Sapporo, thereby establishing its first contact with the city where they are currently headquartered. The Royce' sales shop was established inside a Mitsukoshi department store.
- In June of the same year, with the Sapporo public already familiar with the Royce' brand, the company moved their headquarters to Sapporo, in the Higashi-kuHigashi-ku, Sapporois one of the 10 wards in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is directly translated as "east ward", and is neighboured to Kita-ku, Chūō-ku, Shiroishi-ku, Ebetsu, Tōbetsu.- Overview :...
district. The Truffle chocolate brand was later established, and a new distribution center was inaugurated in November. Royce' began selling its chocolates in Hokkaidō area airportAirportAn airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
s, including Chitose Airport.
- By June 1998, Royce' had established an internetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
web page, using a computerComputerA computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
system named LANLänLän and lääni refer to the administrative divisions used in Sweden and previously in Finland. The provinces of Finland were abolished on January 1, 2010....
. The next month, the company announced that its capital had risen to slightly more than twice the amount from the previous announcement, or to ¥61 million. Another store was opened, this time in a shopping center.
- A new manufacturing facility was inaugurated by Royce', in July 1999, at Futomi. Another store opened, this one located at the Sapporo Odori. Just one month before, Royce' had inaugurated a store at their Sapporo factory, naming it the "Sapporo Factory Shopping Center".
- In September of that same year, the company moved its headquarters for the third time, but stayed within Sapporo.
- In December 2000, Royce' launched an online store. By that year, the company had begun an advertisement campaign on All Nippon AirwaysAll Nippon Airways, also known as or ANA, is one of the largest airlines in Japan. It is headquartered at the Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It operates services to 49 destinations in Japan and 35 international routes and employed over 14,000 employees as of May 2009...
' inflight magazine.
- Three more Sapporo stores were inaugurated in July 2001, each located inside well known Japanese department stores.
- Yet another store inside a Sapporo department store, the Robinson Department StoreRobinson Department StoreRobinson Department Store is a Thai department store chain. It was established in 1979 and was merged with Central Group in 1995...
Sapporo branch, was opened in April 2002. By then, Royce' also began to sell bakeryBakeryA bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...
products.
International stores
Royce' Confect International PTE Ltd. was established in August 2001, with the purpose of serving international, albeit mostly Asian, customers. Royce's first international store opened that month, in SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
Royce's first store in the Philippines opened at the Power Plant Mall at the Rockwell Center
Rockwell Center
The Rockwell Center is an upscale mixed-use 15.5-hectare project in Poblacion, Makati City, Philippines. It is a project of the Rockwell Land Corporation , which is owned by the influential Lopez family.-Location and vicinity:...
in Makati, Metro Manila
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...
, in the first week of December 2008.
Diversification in other business
In 2005, Royce' branched out into other businesses, such as selling other types of foodFood
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
s and drinking water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
, food and beverage processing machines, liquor sales (importing and exporting), coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
brands, restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
management, arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
and craft
Craft
A craft is a branch of a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied towards people occupied in small-scale production of goods.-Development from the past until...
sales, and insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
sales.
Chocolate product
- Dacquoise
- Financier
- Lurumaro Chocola
- Madeleines
- Nama Chocolate
- Nutty Bar Chocolate
- Petite Truffe
- Royce' Chocolate Bars
- Royce' Pure Chocolate
- Potato Chip Chocolate