Local Food Cycling
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersFukuoka, Japan
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
Local Food Cycling firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Local Food Cycling
- Legal name
- ローカルフードサイクリング株式会社
- Website
- https://lfc-compost.jp
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Local Food Cycling industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Home Composting Equipment
- NAICS
- Compost Manufacturing (325315), Fertilizer and Compost Manufacturing (32531)
- SIC
- Refuse Systems (4953)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Compost & Compost Blends (AFABADAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Compost & Soil Amendment Product Manufacturing/Blending (Value-Added Organics) (BPALAEAH), Compost Product Distribution, Retail & Landscape Supply (Bulk/Bagged) (BPALAEAI)
Keywords
Where Local Food Cycling is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Fukuoka
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices2 records
Markets served
Local Food Cycling business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Product Sales (E-commerce): Direct-to-consumer sales of LFC Compost bags, gardening sets, raised beds, accessories (shovels, bases), and books through the company's e-commerce platform. Both one-time purchases and subscription/delivery plans are available.
- Subscription / Regular Delivery: Regular delivery subscription (定期便) with 1-4 month cycles for compost bags and base materials, with discounts for subscribers (200 yen off per delivery).
- Online/Offline Courses and Workshops: Revenue from composting courses, balcony gardening workshops, ambassador training programs, and educational events (e.g., summer research kits for children).
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | LFC Composte Set (定期便) — subscription delivery |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | LFC Gardening Set |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | LFC Composte + Book Set |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | LFC Raised Bed (DIY) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | LFC Raised Bed (DIY with casters) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | LFC Raised Bed (Pre-assembled) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | LFC Raised Bed (Pre-assembled with casters) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | 雨葉ネット (Rain Leaf Net) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Shovel |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Composte Base |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | LFC Raised Bed Caster |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Book: おいしい循環 |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Wooden Frame Composter |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Summer Compost Research Kit 2026 (full kit) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Summer Compost Research Kit 2026 (simple kit) |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
Local Food Cycling product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Local Food Cycling designs, manufactures and sells the LFC Composte bag-type home composting system, which uses a proprietary base-material blend developed over 30+ years to convert household food waste into usable compost in roughly three weeks. The company bundles the composter with a subscription delivery of consumable base material (1-4 month cycles), and sells complementary urban gardening products such as the LFC Raised Bed (Hugelkultur-style planter), the Rain Leaf Net rainwater collector, shovels, base plates, books and summer children's research kits.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- LFCコンポスト: バッグ型家庭用水分量堆肥化システム。生ごみを自然の微生物の力で堆肥に変えるコンポスト製品。
- LFCレイズドベッド
- ちいさな自給くらしキット
Products and services
- LFC Composte Set (subscription / 定期便) Bag-type home composting system using a proprietary microorganism-based substrate blend; converts household food waste into compost in about 3 weeks. Sold via subscription (1-4 month cycles) and one-time purchase through the LFC Composte website. Target user: urban Japanese households and families.
- LFC Gardening Set Trial-sized compost + planter bundle designed to let urban households start composting and balcony gardening. Includes the bag, base material, and planter. One-time purchase.
- LFC Composte + Book Set Bundle of the LFC Composte home composting system together with the book おいしい循環 (Oishii Junkan) by representative Taira Yuiko, sold as a discounted combo set.
- LFC Raised Bed (LFCレイズドベッド) Compact Hugelkultur-style wooden raised bed planter designed for urban balconies; layers wood, branches, fallen leaves, soil, and compost from bottom to top to recreate the forest soil-building mechanism. Sold in DIY and pre-assembled variants, with optional casters.
- 雨葉ネット (Rain Leaf Net) Leaf-shaped, wind-resistant open-mesh rainwater collection net sized for balconies and fences; channels collected rainwater into tanks or buckets. Designed to complement LFC composting for a full circular-living system.
- Wooden Frame Composter (屋外用木枠コンポスト) Larger-format wooden-frame composter for outdoor household use; sized above the bag-type unit for customers with garden or yard space.
- LFC Composting & Gardening Accessories (Shovel, Composte Base, LFC Raised Bed Caster) Supporting accessories for the LFC ecosystem, including a stainless-steel shovel (600 yen), a 2-piece Composte Base to place under the compost bag (820 yen), and a set of 4 casters with mounting screws for the Raised Bed (3,300 yen).
- Book: おいしい循環 — 生ごみを捨てない暮らし (Oishii Junkan) Book authored by representative Taira Yuiko and published by Fujin no Tomo Sha, presenting a philosophy of kitchen-initiated circular living without throwing away food waste. Sold as a standalone book or bundled with the composter set.
- Summer Compost Research Kit 2026 (なつやすみコンポスト大研究) Limited-edition summer holiday research kit for elementary-school children and families, combining a small composter / planter, soil, seeds, thermometer, handbook, online course, and LINE support to enable a child-led environmental project. Sponsored by AXA Holdings Japan.
- Composting, Gardening and Ambassador Courses Paid in-person and online courses covering beginner composting, balcony gardening, ambassador training (to run local workshops), compost consultation/recycling events, and the My LFC Farmer program — sold to consumers and aspiring local ambassadors.
Quantifiable outcome
- 1,019 tonnes of food waste composted nationwide as of 2024
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Local Food Cycling
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Local Food Cycling technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Local Food Cycling partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and minor.
- Tokyo Shinjuku WardcoreLFC signed a memorandum of understanding with Shinjuku Ward in December 2025 for promoting food loss reduction through LFC Composte dissemination. Shinjuku Ward has a population of 350,000, and the partnership aims to reduce food waste incineration within the ward.
- Kawasaki City eco-wa-ring Kawasaki (川崎フードサイクルプログラム)strategicLFC participates in the Kawasaki Food Cycle Program — a self-sustaining nutritional cycle community creation project. Residents compost food waste, grow vegetables, and consume them locally.
- Orange Page Co., Ltd. (株式会社オレンジページ)coreInclusive partnership for 'kitchen-initiated circular living.' Orange Page provides media reach and community networks while LFC provides composting technology. Joint activities include the 'Wellbeing 100' series and SDG-related initiatives.
- 4Nature Inc. (株式会社4Nature)minorLFC provides composting kits and advice for the '1.2 mile community compost — Omotesando' project managed by 4Nature. Local community members near Omotesando jointly manage food waste composting using LFC bags.
- Sakanomichi Co., Ltd. (株式会社坂ノ途中)strategicPartnership to provide a 'vegetable subscription delivery' service combining Sakanomichi's organic vegetable delivery with LFC Composte packages. Sakanomichi's producers provide seeds and seedlings, which are bundled with LFC Composte products for sale. LFC Compost advisor support is provided to Sakanomichi customers.
- Pocket Marche Inc. (株式会社ポケットマルシェ)strategicPartnership to offer a 'experience course where you grow vegetables with farmers.' LFC handles composting guidance while Pocket Marche producers provide vegetable growing support, creating a comprehensive service for consumers who want to produce their own food using compost.
- Shizuoka Prefecture Mishima CitycoreLFC entered into a partnership agreement with Mishima City aimed at creating a circular lifestyle transition, promoting local food waste reduction and environmental load reduction through LFC Composte.
- Tokyo Taito Ward / Dainippon Steamship Kaisha (Daimaru Matsuzakiya)coreThree-party partnership between LFC, Taito Ward, and Dainippon Steamship Kaisha (Daimaru Matsuzakiya Department Store) for circular lifestyle initiatives. Joint events include 'HELLO! 循環縁日' held at Matsuzakiya Ueno store, with composting workshops, rooftop gardening, and product sales.
- UN Habitat (国連ハビタット)minorPartnership with UN Habitat starting 2009 for international technology transfer of composting methods. LFC'sNPO roots connect to international community development through composting.
- 未来定番研究所 (Miraiteiban Research Institute — Dainippon Steamship Kaisha)minorCollaborated on events such as 'Composte kara Manabu Kurasu no Junkan' (Learning Circular Living from Composting) at the future-necessities research institute run by Dainippon Steamship Kaisha.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Local Food Cycling competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- BioBag: Global manufacturer of compostable bags (including food-waste caddy liners) sold to municipalities and retailers. Adjacent / enabling to LFC's bag-type composter hardware, with broader product portfolio and B2G channel relationships.
Direct peers
- Back to the Roots: US-based DTC brand selling home composting kits (mushroom grow kits, indoor gardens, compost). Closest international analog to LFC Composte on direct-to-consumer home-composting hardware, education-led marketing, and consumer-pantry brand positioning.
- TeraGanix (EM-1 Bokashi): Distributor of Bokashi One / EM-1 microbial composting products to households in the US and internationally. Comparable to LFC on the microorganisms-based home composting technology and DTC / education-led model.
- EM Research Organization (EMRO Japan): Established Japanese manufacturer and distributor of EM Bokashi home-composting products for households. Directly comparable to LFC Composte on product category (microbial-based home composting kits), target customer (urban Japanese households), and subscription/DTC go-to-market.
- Bokashi Living (Bokashi Cycle Japan): Japanese and international marketer of bokashi fermentation composting kits targeting apartment dwellers. Closely overlaps LFC's urban balcony use case, subscription base-material model, and food-waste-reduction positioning.
- SCD Probiotics Japan: Japanese distributor of SCD bokashi-style microbial inoculants for household food-waste composting. Competes with LFC's proprietary base material blend through a similar microorganism-driven approach and shared Japanese household customer base.
- VegTrug: Manufacturer and DTC seller of raised garden beds and balcony planters for urban and small-space gardening. Direct comparable on the LFC Raised Bed product line and adjacent balcony-gardening hardware category.
Emerging players
- Plenty (vertical farming): US-based indoor vertical farming company producing leafy greens in urban facilities. Thematic adjacency to LFC's 'grow your own food from your own compost' narrative and urban sustainability positioning; not a direct competitor in composting hardware.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Local Food Cycling social profiles
Digital presenceLocal Food Cycling financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Local Food Cycling leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Local Food Cycling funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Local Food Cycling M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Local Food Cycling
What does Local Food Cycling do?
Local Food Cycling designs, manufactures and sells the LFC Composte bag-type home composting system, which uses a proprietary base-material blend developed over 30+ years to convert household food waste into usable compost in roughly three weeks. The company bundles the composter with a subscription delivery of consumable base material (1-4 month cycles), and sells complementary urban gardening products such as the LFC Raised Bed (Hugelkultur-style planter), the Rain Leaf Net rainwater collector, shovels, base plates, books and summer children's research kits.
Is Local Food Cycling a public or private company?
Local Food Cycling is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Local Food Cycling founded?
Local Food Cycling was founded in 2019.
Where is Local Food Cycling based?
Local Food Cycling is headquartered in Fukuoka, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does Local Food Cycling make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Product Sales (E-commerce) is the primary driver. The others are subscription / Regular Delivery and online/Offline Courses and Workshops.
Who are Local Food Cycling's main competitors?
BioBag is listed as a broad incumbent. Direct peers are Back to the Roots, TeraGanix (EM-1 Bokashi), EM Research Organization (EMRO Japan), Bokashi Living (Bokashi Cycle Japan), SCD Probiotics Japan and VegTrug. Plenty (vertical farming) is listed as an emerging player.
Does Local Food Cycling have an API?
No public API is recorded for Local Food Cycling.
What industry is Local Food Cycling in?
Local Food Cycling's product category is Home Composting Equipment. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFABADAE, Compost & Compost Blends, with a secondary code of BPALAEAH, Compost & Soil Amendment Product Manufacturing/Blending (Value-Added Organics). Its NAICS code is 325315 and its SIC code is 4953.