Tell Us Your Story. What motivated you to start your business? Why are you passionate about what you do?

I was a single mother coming to Canada and studied abroad with my 2 children in 2018. While working as a remote support worker for a Japanese marketing company, I attended English school, enlisted in cosmetic school and also worked as a chef at a local Japanese restaurant. Due to Covid-19, I chose to start my own company, even if it was risky, rather than being employed. We have faced many challenges in order to differentiate ourselves from the many Japanese restaurants out there in Vancouver, and to create a restaurant that is desired by people in a diverse environment where diverse cultures coexist. We update our sales figures every year, are featured in local articles on CTV and Crave TV, and have a great response to Google reviews. The COFU VEGAN RAMEN trailer also launched in the same year. I created a creamy, rich broth entirely plant based served with noodles made locally. This is a new style that skillfully combines the idea of traditional Japanese pressed sushi with original homemade vegan sauces derived from plants and vegetables, and vegan ingredients that are attracting attention from many quarters. I quickly realized I wanted to open a unique store that would introduce the wonders of Japanese food to the Canadian market, which was beginning to embrace vegan tastes. We have developed vibrant sushi that was suitable for takeout even during the Covid19 pandemic, and our next-generation sushi, which created a new style of high-quality sushi restaurant from scratch that does not require a chef to produce, has won the hearts of our customers. This new business plan will invite more customers and provide a unique dining experience to visitors. Cofu is looking for a new location. The 80's city pop music culture, which is currently attracting attention in the US and abroad, will be deftly incorporated into the background music and interior decoration, and nostalgic Japanese anime and movies are shown in colour and vibrance on a projector. Our aim is to provide high quality, delicious, creative, and sustainable food options for people that make people happy and leave little to no waist.

Describe and demonstrate, including metrics, your community support. How do you support and uplift your community, and how do they show that support in return? Minimum 25 words, maximum 2500 characters.

Not all of our customers are vegan. We are happy to support people have allergies, pregnant ,people sustainability and health-conscious people through food, to be a haven for oriental vegans, and to offer our customers an experience they have never had before. we have some movie nights in the restaurant, having meetup community, even people have multiple culture we are happy to support. We are not reliant on any source of meat, cattle, sea life or poultry.

Why do you deserve to win the Business Impact award?

I can prove that no matter what career path you pursue, you can earn the support of many people and achieve success by being faithful and serious about your goals more than anyone else. And people are who build your business. Even if you are a single mother, father or a foreigner, or if you have a chronic illness, you can do it as long as you don't give up on your dreams, you can get closer to them.

Tell Us About Your Culture. How are you creating a sustainable and healthy workplace where everyone feels welcome? Provide examples of leadership you show in interactions with clients, vendors, contractors, staff and others.

I originally worked as an executive assistant, supporting the top management of a large company. Although the motivation and weight of responsibility between employees and the company's top management are vastly different, it is possible to align goals and objectives. I always to communicate our goals to my employee .it is also my pleasure to help our employees realize their dreams for the future, so I am very honoured to be able to support them to gain new skills and enhance their abilities to be ahead of the game in the service industry. By doing so, although motivation for work differs from person to person, it becomes possible to achieve it by aligning the goals.　 We are always striving to build clean human relationships within the company. A feeling of caring for others leads to good customer service. Since our products are creative, we always need to explain them to first-time customers. We aim to educate our employees so that they take pride and responsibility in our products, and feel joy in communicating that pride. Most of my products are made in-house, but some materials come in from vendors. Our vendors also work like a family and support each other. Most of the vendors are local so I support them and they always help me with advertising. I have realized that we have a good relationship, and I intend to continue to notice even better relationships in the future.

Why do you think you should win the Premier’s People’s Choice Award?

If i can win this award with the support of many people for a business that we realized on our own without the need for investors or assistance, it will lead to the hopes of many people. Vancouver is currently said to be difficult to live in. Labor costs are rising, rents are rising, and many businesses are closing. The industry is no longer something that anyone can do, as it was in the past, and requires many skills. However, thanks to the reviews and support from many people, we have been able to grow our business. Our product and service has withstood Covid, and escalating commercial rent increases. We are here to stay.