DESPITE domestic and international restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, Singapore restaurant operator Japan Foods Holding : 5OI 0% turned a profit and stayed debt-free – and even expanded its store count — with the help of a lucrative foray into the halal dining segment.

Does the management’s approach sound like a traditional way to run a business?

“Yeah, I don’t think so. Not traditional,” said its colourful chief executive and chairman, Kenichi Takahashi, who founded Japan Foods in 1997 to open an Ajisen Ramen franchise in Singapore.