What Silver Life does

Silver Life Co., Ltd. (株式会社シルバーライフ) is a Tokyo-headquartered, publicly listed Japanese company (TSE Standard Market, ticker 9262) that operates as a franchise headquarters for elderly meal delivery services. Founded in October 2007, the company runs three franchise brands — Magokoro Bento (まごころ弁当), H-Fureai (配食のふれ愛), and Takushoku Life (宅食ライフ) — collectively comprising over 900 stores nationwide that prepare and personally deliver bento meals to elderly households, with payment collected on delivery. The company also supplies chilled and frozen ingredients to elderly and disability care facilities, sells frozen bento directly to consumers via its own EC sites (Life Meal and Magokoro Care Shoku), offers OEM manufacturing, and rents out third-party warehouse capacity.

Silver Life owns and operates two manufacturing facilities: the Gunma Factory (acquired February 2013, 40,000-50,000 meals/day of frozen capacity) and the Tochigi Factory (operations began March 2021, approximately 150,000 meals/day of chilled capacity). The company's proprietary vacuum cooking method (真空調理法) seals ingredients, dashi, and seasonings together in vacuum packs and cooks them by direct heating, enabling extended shelf life and labor savings relative to traditional large-pot cooking. Supporting infrastructure includes the Kazo Logistics Center in Saitama (~4,500 pallet capacity) and tunnel freezers at both factories. Recent operational upgrades include label-less thermal labeling via RN Smart Packaging (Ricoh) and self-consumption solar power generation equipment.

The business model generates revenue from four streams: (1) sales of pre-cooked ingredients plus royalty fees from FC franchisees (with both a standard plan and a zero-fee plan available), (2) B2B ingredient sales to elderly and disability care facilities under brands such as Kodawari Chef and Magokoro Shokuzai Service, (3) direct-to-consumer frozen bento EC sales with free freezer rental as a customer incentive, and (4) OEM contract manufacturing plus warehouse logistics services. Daily delivery volume exceeds 100,000 meals to elderly homes, and 4,200+ care facilities have adopted the company's 1-minute meal preparation system. FY2025 revenue exceeded ¥14.9 billion, marking 17 consecutive years of revenue growth; the company holds the #1 franchise store count position in Japan's elderly meal delivery service market.

Name

Silver Life

Legal name

株式会社シルバーライフ

Website

https://silver-life.co.jp

Company type

Public

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Silver Life (株式会社シルバーライフ) is a Tokyo-listed Japanese company operating Japan's largest franchise network for elderly meal delivery, serving over 900 stores and 4,200 care facilities with vacuum-cooked bento meals, in-house manufacturing, and direct-to-consumer frozen meal e-commerce.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Elderly Meal Delivery Services

NAICS

Frozen Specialty Food Manufacturing (311412)

SIC

Canned, Frozen & Preservd Fruit, Veg & Food Specialties (2030)

akta.pro primary industry

Frozen prepared meals & entrées manufacturing (AFAKAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Specialty & Gourmet Foods Wholesale Distribution (CRAOAAAI)

Keywords

• Elderly meal delivery
• Frozen bento meals
• Franchise meal services
• Care facility catering
• Food service logistics

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. FC Franchise Ingredient Sales & Royalties: The company sells pre-cooked meal ingredients to franchisee (FC) stores under the 'Magokoro Bento' and 'Haishoku no Fureai' brands. It collects ingredient payments plus royalty fees from FC franchisees. Two FC plans are offered: a standard plan and a zero-plan (free initial fees and royalties). The company also provides management guidance through company supervisors.
2. Elderly Care Facility Ingredient Sales: Sales of chilled and frozen ingredients manufactured at company factories (Gunma Factory, Tochigi Factory) and sourced from partner factories to elderly care facilities (senior homes, day care facilities) and disability facilities.
3. Direct EC Sales (Frozen Bento): Direct sales of frozen bento to individual consumers through the company's EC site (Life Meal, まごころケア食), with optional free freezer rental. Revenue from end consumers placing orders online.
4. OEM Manufacturing: Manufacturing frozen bento under other companies' brands at the Gunma factory, which are then sold through e-commerce and other channels. The company serves as an OEM/ODM partner for other bento delivery operators.
5. Warehouse Logistics Services: Warehousing services offered at the Kazo Logistics Center (opened March 2022), utilizing unused space within the facility for external clients.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Silver Life is a franchise headquarters (FC) for elderly meal delivery services in Japan. It manufactures pre-cooked ingredients using vacuum cooking at its Gunma and Tochigi factories, sells them to franchisee stores that prepare and deliver bento meals directly to elderly customers' homes, supplies ingredients to elderly care facilities, sells frozen bento directly to consumers via its own EC sites, and produces OEM frozen bento for other delivery operators.

Product overview

Silver Life operates a multi-brand meal delivery and food service platform consisting of three main pillars: (1) Elderly meal delivery franchise (FC) services including まごころ弁当, 配食のふれ愛, and 宅食ライフ; (2) Facility food ingredient services including まごころ食材サービス, こだわりシェフ, おてがるシェフ for elderly and disability care facilities; and (3) Direct-to-consumer frozen bento sales including まごころケア食 and ライフミール, supplemented by rice-inclusive services (拉克ゴハン, 拉克ミール), children's bento (すくすく弁当), and discounted side dishes (わけありなおかず屋さん). Supporting infrastructure includes OEM contract manufacturing, logistics/warehouse services, and franchise programs for all three delivery brands. The company operates two own factories (Gunma Factory for frozen products, Tochigi Factory for chilled products) and uses subcontractors for additional production.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• まごころ弁当: Core elderly meal delivery franchise brand offering regular bento, cut/soft-texture variations for seniors. Flagship brand of the company.
• 配食の、ふれ愛
• 宅食ライフ
• まごころケア食
• ライフミール (Life Meal)
• まごころ食材サービス
• こだわりシェフ
• おてがるシェフ
• ラクゴハン
• ラクミール
• すくすく弁当
• 楽らく弁当
• わけありなおかず屋さん

Products and services

• Magokoro Bento (まごころ弁当) Flagship elderly meal delivery franchise brand of the company, offering daily nutritious bento delivery to seniors' homes with texture modifications for varying swallowing abilities.
• H-Fureai (配食のふれ愛) Elderly meal delivery franchise brand operated as a separate brand from Magokoro Bento, offering safe, reliably delivered bento to elderly customers.
• Takushoku Life (宅食ライフ) Quality-focused elderly meal delivery franchise brand launched in September 2021, part of the Silver Life FC chain.
• Magokoro Shokuzai Service (まごころ食材サービス) Ingredient sales service for elderly care facilities and facilities for persons with disabilities, delivering chilled and frozen food products manufactured at the company's factories.
• Kodawari Chef (こだわりシェフ) Premium chef service for elderly and disability facilities, offering fully prepared ingredient packs developed with professional chefs and registered dietitians.
• Otegaru Chef (おてがるシェフ) Simplified chef service for facilities, providing easy-to-use prepared ingredient packs.
• Magokoro Care Shoku (まごころケア食) Freezer-delivered care meal bento for individual consumers, nutritionally designed by registered dietitians and available in regular, calorie-controlled, protein-controlled, mousse, and soft texture varieties.
• Life Meal (ライフミール) Direct-to-consumer frozen bento brand sold through the company's EC site, also used for shareholder benefit coupons.
• Rakugo Han (ラクゴハン) Rice-with-frozen-bento service delivering complete meals with rice included, sold through direct channels.
• Rakumeal (ラクミール) Frozen breakfast bento service specifically for facility use.
• Sukusuku Bento (すくすく弁当) Children's bento delivery service for children and school-age youth.
• Rakuraku Bento (楽らく弁当) Daily-changing lunch delivery bento service for office workers.
• Wakeari no Okazuya (わけありなおかず屋さん) Discounted side dishes retailer offering value-priced prepared foods.
• OEM Contract Manufacturing Contract manufacturing service producing frozen bentos for other bento delivery operators under their brands, leveraging Gunma Factory's production capacity.
• Logistics Warehouse Services (物流倉庫業) Warehouse rental and logistics services utilizing Kazo Logistics Center's excess space for frozen, chilled, and ambient storage, offered to external clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• 17 consecutive years of revenue growth since founding
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles10 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Koden Sha (株式会社恒電社)minorOthers · 29 January 2025Koden Sha conducted an interview with Silver Life regarding the company's installation of self-consumption solar power generation equipment, demonstrating the company's sustainability initiatives.
• Entrenet (アントレ)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSilver Life was featured on Entre's YouTube channel 'Entre | Franchise Business TV' as part of franchise recruitment and brand awareness content targeting prospective entrepreneurs.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• NH Foods Ltd. (Nippon Ham): NH Foods is one of Japan's largest food manufacturers, producing processed and prepared foods for retail and foodservice. It overlaps with Silver Life's manufacturing operations in prepared and frozen meal categories and supplies to institutional and consumer channels comparable to Silver Life's B2B and DTC businesses.
• Maruha Nichiro Corporation: Maruha Nichiro is one of Japan's largest seafood and processed/frozen food manufacturers, serving retail, foodservice, and institutional channels. It is a broad incumbent supplying frozen prepared foods to institutional buyers, including elderly and care facilities that overlap with Silver Life's B2B customer base.
• Nichirei Corporation: Nichirei is one of Japan's largest frozen food manufacturers and operates an extensive cold-chain logistics network. While Nichirei does not focus on the elderly meal delivery niche, it competes as an ingredient supplier and contract manufacturer for prepared frozen meals in the same food manufacturing and cold-chain categories Silver Life operates in.
• House Foods Group Inc. House Foods is a major Japanese food manufacturer with a curry and frozen prepared meal portfolio. It competes broadly with Silver Life in the prepared frozen foods category through retail grocery channels rather than the elderly meal delivery niche.
• Toyo Suisan Kaisha, Ltd. (Maruchan): Toyo Suisan (maker of Maruchan ramen and other frozen foods) is a major Japanese food manufacturer with significant frozen prepared food operations. It is a broad incumbent overlapping with Silver Life in frozen meal manufacturing, although focused on retail grocery rather than elderly-specific delivery.
• Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Ajinomoto is a major Japanese food manufacturer with frozen and prepared meal product lines (e.g., the Cook Do and frozen entrée ranges) sold through retail and foodservice channels. It is a broad incumbent in the same food manufacturing space as Silver Life, though its focus is mainstream retail rather than elderly-specific delivery.

Direct peers

• Nishida Shoten / Nishida Shoji: Nishida Shoji operates elderly meal delivery services in Japan (なごやか宅配便 and related brands), directly competing with Silver Life's Magokoro Bento franchise in the home-delivery senior meal category. Both companies target the same elderly customer with similar bento-style daily delivery offerings.
• Nosh (株式会社ナッシュ): Nosh is a leading DTC frozen meal subscription service in Japan delivering nationwide via cold-chain logistics. While it focuses more on working adults, it competes directly with Silver Life's DTC channels (Life Meal, Magokoro Care Shoku) for the same at-home meal occasion and uses frozen-meal cold-chain infrastructure comparable to Silver Life's.
• Watami Co., Ltd. Watami operates the WATAMIの宅食 (WATAMI Home Meal) elderly meal delivery franchise service in Japan, directly competing with Silver Life's Magokoro Bento and H-Fureai brands for the same home-delivery senior customer. Both companies run nationwide franchise networks targeting elderly consumers with similar bento-style meals.

Others

• Toridoll Holdings Corporation: Toridoll Holdings operates large restaurant chains (Marugame Seimen, etc.) and has been expanding into prepared meals and food services. While not a direct competitor in elderly meal delivery, it is an adjacent Japanese food-service platform with growing overlap in prepared meals and delivery operations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCdLQy5n5e5d7ZQw0Z4fR5_g

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Silver Life