History
[Foundation] Foundation of Fundely and launch of “mealtime”
“Our wish is for as many people as possible to live healthily and happily every day.”
President Kosuke Abe founded Fundely Co., Ltd. in September 2000, with firm determination and passion.
The company launched “Counseling Delivery,” the first door-to-door health food delivery service created by dietitians in Japan in April 2001.
Fundely, which had mainly delivered groceries in the first few years, decided to expand its business with a meal delivery service after receiving requests and demand for delivery of pre-prepared meals for diabetics that only require heating up.
In April 2004, the company published the first issue of its mail order catalogue for healthy food called “mealtime” and began to market its products to customers across Japan.
[Development] Establishment of a business model
The launch of the “mealtime” catalogue gave Fundely an opportunity to expand its publicity network by having the catalogue distributed and promoted through medical institutions, pharmacies, and other partners in different parts of Japan.
The “mealtime” website, an online shopping site for healthy food, was started in September 2005 to cater to online shoppers and increase customer convenience.
In April 2007, the “Regular mealtime Delivery Course” (later renamed to “Regular Delivery of Meals Selected by Dietitians”) service was introduced to deliver meals selected by a personal dietitian for each customer depending on the customer’s illness, restrictions, and other conditions.
In October 2008, Fundely opened a community site for dietitians named “Foodish,” which about 50,000 registered dietitians and dietitians are now registered with.
In October 2011, “mealtime” saw some reforms, including 30% to 40% cuts in product prices, which was when the company established its business model.
[Expansion] Expansion of the two businesses through coordination between them and listing on the Mothers section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
As the result of both of the company’s two businesses—namely the marketing business with high profitability and MFD business—making effective use of its network of medical institutions, achieving steady growth through effective coordination between one another, Fundely was listed on the Mothers section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in June 2015.
Furthering its business model, backed up by its network of about 18,000 institutions as promoters of its services, Fundely launched the “Hachimaru (80) Recipes” website in November 2015 to provide recipes designed by registered dieticians working for medical institutions.
The company achieved a recurring profit margin of over 16% by creating competitive advantages and entered into a period of expansion.
[Evolution] Preparation for scaling up of the MFD business and development of a media business
The size of the food and meal delivery markets already exceeded two trillion yen and 120 billion yen, respectively, and is continually growing. To make the most of these huge markets, Fundely plans to further increase and evolve its business model for the MFD business. In October 2016, the company launched the artificial intelligence Internet of Things (AIoT) “Point Kaden” website to start providing related services. The goal is to develop its media business into a third key pillar of its business by making proactive use of online media to diversify revenue streams. We will continue to strive hard to prepare ourselves for the stage of growth.