Assentia Holdings, supporting overseas franchise expansion, opens in Liberia as its 30th country. Acceleration of store openings in Europe and Africa through "intellectual property creation" for Japanese companies.

Assentia Holdings Inc. (English name: Assentia Holdings Inc., Head Office: Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, Functional Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, President: Akira Tsuchiya, hereinafter "Assentia Holdings") has expanded its track record in supporting overseas franchise expansion, which began with the restaurant franchise business in 2010. In 2026, it opened the restaurant brand "Donabe Miso Ramen Take-san" in Warsaw, Poland, marking its 29th country. Furthermore, as its 30th country, it has opened a self-service laundry "SELFIE" in Liberia, Africa.

Assentia Holdings does not merely expand franchised businesses overseas. Instead, it creates a win-win relationship for both Japanese and overseas companies by commercializing the intellectual property of Japanese companies, such as their experience and know-how, and expanding through overseas franchising.

Expansion is scheduled to continue not only in Asia but also in Europe and Africa in the latter half of 2026.

Key Points of This Release

Assentia Holdings' overseas franchise expansion support reaches 30 countries and over 250 stores worldwide.

29th country: Poland (Donabe Miso Ramen Take-san Warsaw Store), 30th country: Liberia (Self-Service Laundry SELFIE).

Franchising is the "intellectual property creation" of a business.

The sole success factor in franchising is "who you partner with."

Headquarters and franchisees are equal partners, not in a superior-subordinate relationship.

Maintain long-term relationships with foreign companies that share philosophy and values.

No sales through master franchises.

Assentia Holdings is not a consulting firm or a franchise development agency, but a "Business Design Firm" that designs businesses.

[Image] Map of countries where Assentia Holdings operates (30 countries worldwide, over 250 stores)

Intellectual property creation of a business facilitates overseas expansion.

Assentia Holdings is a company that supports the overseas expansion of Japanese companies through the management method of franchising.

We do not limit our support to companies already engaged in franchise expansion. We also support companies that have no franchising experience in Japan to utilize the management method of "franchising" in their overseas business expansion.

Franchising is nothing less than the "intellectual property creation" of a business. The intellectual property, such as experience, knowledge, and know-how, that the company possesses is organized into a reproducible state and transplanted to overseas companies for business development.

Success factor in franchising is selecting the right franchisee.

Based on over 35 years of experience in the franchise business, Assentia Holdings believes that the success factor in franchising lies entirely in "who you partner with," that is, in selecting partners (franchisee companies).

In the franchises we have supported, we have limited franchisees to companies and have not accepted individual franchisees without business experience. This is also a result of emphasizing "who you partner with."

In selecting overseas partners, we go through a process of identifying candidates who align with the philosophy and values of the Japanese headquarters through repeated discussions.

Headquarters and franchisees are equal partners. They are on equal footing, not in a superior-subordinate relationship.

Franchising is a division of management functions. It is a contract where the headquarters handles management functions such as development and planning, and the franchisee handles management functions such as recruitment and on-site operations.

Franchise agreements worldwide clearly state that "the headquarters and the franchisee are independent businesses and are not in an agency or superior-subordinate relationship." However, in Japan, there is often a discourse that "the headquarters is superior and the franchisee is subordinate."

The overseas franchises supported by Assentia Holdings are based on the global standard definition of franchising, where the headquarters and franchisees build relationships as equal business partners.

When discussing the franchise business, one sometimes encounters the argument that "franchising is advantageous to the headquarters." While it is true that franchising is an excellent strategy for the headquarters, it is equally an excellent strategy for the franchisee. There is no other way to enter new business fields in a short period of time. Franchisees can enter new business areas by selecting franchises in promising business fields, predicting the current situation and future of the region.

The headquarters aims to be a headquarters chosen by many franchisees, and the franchisee aims to be a company chosen by the headquarters. Franchising is this relationship of mutual selection.

Maintain long-term relationships with foreign companies that share philosophy and values.

Since Assentia Holdings' days of supporting franchise businesses in Japan, the "multi-franchisee strategy," where one franchisee joins multiple franchises, has been central to our support.

Overseas, cases are emerging where one partner joins multiple brands. This is done by supporting the partner's long-term management strategy with Japanese franchise information.

The partner who opened "Donabe Miso Ramen Take-san" in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, in 2026 is actually a Ukrainian company. Our first encounter was in 2017. Since then, we have continued to advise them on their management strategy and provide information. During this time, there was the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, leading to the store opening in neighboring Poland to avoid Russian attacks. Building relationships with business owners over such long periods is Assentia Holdings' strength.

President's Blog: Overseas Business Partner Story (Ukraine, Poland Edition)

No sales through master franchises.

When proposing new brands in new countries, Assentia Holdings does not offer master franchises. We have clearly established a policy of "no sales through master franchises."

The reason is that it is impossible to know whether a given business will be a good match for the franchisee until the business actually starts. This applies equally to the headquarters and the franchisee.

Therefore, we recommend starting with a single-store franchise (straight franchise) (although we may promise priority rights for future master franchises at that time).

This policy was born from a past failure. We have experience where we sold master franchises, but the store network did not expand at all, which led to this decision.

Not consulting. Business Design Firm.

We are often asked, "What kind of company is Assentia Holdings?"

We are a "Business Design Firm" that designs businesses for both the Japanese headquarters and the partner (franchisee) side in countries around the world. Our job is to design businesses with intellectual property creation as the core and to foster growth potential.

Case Studies by Four Patterns

1. Business model established in Japan and already franchised.

"Saint Marc Cafe" and "Ramen Bari-Uma," our earliest brands in overseas franchising, are representative examples.

In the case of Saint Marc Cafe, around 2009, our representative, Akira Tsuchiya, directly proposed the large overseas market to Mr. Naoyuki Katayama, president of Bakery Saint Marc (his previous company, Venture Link), and achieved direct store openings in Singapore. This store was used as a showroom to promote expansion in ASEAN.

Saint Marc Cafe had an established business model with over 400 stores at the time, but struggled with "differentiation points" when entering the Singapore market. This experience led to the strengthening of their parfait menu.

President's Blog: The Trajectory of Saint Marc Cafe's Overseas Expansion

Saint Marc Cafe Singapore's first store (at the time)

In the case of Ramen Bari-Uma, also around 2009, we explained the potential of overseas markets to Mr. Eguchi, president of With Link (headquartered in Hiroshima), which was franchising about 30 stores domestically at the time, and achieved direct store openings in Singapore. This store served as a showroom and training facility to promote ASEAN expansion.

Bari-Uma was shipping frozen ramen soup to its 30 domestic franchise stores. Initially, they also used frozen shipping in Singapore, but due to high costs, they improved the soup to be transportable at room temperature and incorporated in-store noodle making, refining the business model for overseas specifications.

President's Blog: The Trajectory of Rich Tonkotsu Ramen Bari-Uma's Overseas Expansion

Bari-Uma Singapore's first store (at the time)

2. Business model established in Japan, but inexperienced in franchising.

From our experience with Bari-Uma Ramen, we understood that for foreigners, ramen is a "soup dish." Therefore, we thought about "what kind of soup would be accepted worldwide in the global market," and arrived at the answer: "miso." Our representative tasted miso ramen at 8 stores a day for 8 meals, and after trying all the existing miso ramen in Japan, we discovered "Take-san" Donabe Miso Ramen in Nagano.

We told Mr. Takeda, the president of Take-san, that menus without meat or chemical seasonings were essential for competing globally. Based on this, we developed a plant-based (VEGAN) donabe miso ramen that does not use animal ingredients. It remains a killer content for overseas stores.

Donabe Miso Ramen Take-san Mongolia's first store

3. Business model created by sensing and responding to the needs of the partner country.

"Nail it! TOKYO," a nail salon with over 50 stores mainly in Bangkok, is a brand that has achieved franchise expansion originating from Bangkok.

The headquarters is a Japanese company. Having experienced economic growth firsthand in Shanghai over 10 years ago, the nail salon operating in Shanghai quickly faced intense competition. This led them to seek new frontiers in ASEAN. They noticed that while Thai women are fashion-conscious, many had unadorned nails. By adopting a strategy of opening stores within BTS Skytrain stations, they increased brand recognition and succeeded in securing female customers and franchising within Thailand.

Nail it! TOKYO store

The agricultural materials brand "TOKYO8," which operates mainly in Africa, is another representative example.

Our approach to Africa, which began in earnest with TICAD 7 (the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development) in 2019, revealed that African countries are facing numerous social issues that need to be solved before proposing existing franchise brands like bakeries or ramen. Therefore, we focused on "agriculture" and "rural areas" and began searching for Japanese companies with the know-how to solve these problems. It was then that we encountered Taiyo Yuka Co., Ltd. (Itabashi-ku, Tokyo), the creator of TOKYO8.

We proposed overseas expansion to the company, which had begun developing microbial agents to improve agricultural productivity in Japan. After successful cultivation experiments in Indonesia starting in 2021, we established a locally produced business model that could be deployed in Africa, and began full-scale proposals to Africa in 2022. Currently, local production has begun in nearly 10 countries, with 7 factories operating in Malawi, supplying affordable, high-quality organic materials to farmers and rural communities.

TOKYO8 Malawi local production unit

4. Business model created to respond to the wants of the partner country.

We utilize the ABE Initiative (African Business Education Initiative for Youth) led by the Japanese government in our initiatives in Africa. Due to the positive response to the franchise for Africa developed with TOKYO8, an increasing number of ABE Initiative scholarship students are bringing information about African wants (demands) to Assentia Holdings.

One such young person from Mozambique approached us with a clear request: "I want to franchise self-service laundries and bring them back to my home country." We consulted with companies engaged in the laundry business among the Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises with whom we have long-standing relationships, and gained the support of Tateishi Corporation in Shiojiri City, Nagano Prefecture, to begin expanding the "SELFIE" brand of self-service laundries in Africa.

SELFIE is currently operating in three countries: Mozambique, Kenya, and Liberia. The opening in Liberia marked the 30th country of operation in Assentia Holdings' overseas expansion support.

SELFIE LAUNDROMAT Mozambique Branch

Recent Support Case: Overseas Expansion of a Long-Established Company Rooted in a Local Region

Most recently, we have begun supporting the domestic and overseas franchise expansion of "Jersey Brown" (Rookie Farm Co., Ltd.), a soft-serve ice cream brand of the Ichimaru Group, which celebrated its 70th anniversary in Obihiro City, Hokkaido. This brand, which focuses on a single breed of cow (Jersey cow), has won the New Chitose Airport Soft Serve Election for three consecutive years.

Supporting the overseas expansion of companies rooted in local regions with long histories and unique specialties is an area Assentia Holdings will continue to focus on in the future.

Even without franchising experience or store management experience, the possibilities for overseas expansion are infinite.

Why not start by discovering what "hidden intellectual property" your company possesses through a free online consultation?

Inquiries: https://www.assentia-hd.com/05_01/

Email: [email protected]

Company Profile

Company Name: Assentia Holdings Inc. (English Name: Assentia Holdings Inc.)

URL: http://www.assentia-hd.com

Industry: Service Industry (Overseas Expansion Support via Franchising / Business Design Firm)

Registered Head Office Location: Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture

Functional Headquarters (Tokyo Office): 3rd Takano Bldg. 6F, 2-17-5 Nihonbashi Kayaba-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Phone Number: 03-5614-0216

Representative: Akira Tsuchiya

Established: August 2006 (Japanese Corporation)

* Assentia Holdings operates as a group under the integrated management of the Japanese corporation (Assentia Holdings Inc., established in 2006) and the Singaporean corporation of the same name (Assentia Holdings Pte Ltd, established in 2009). The Singaporean corporation serves as the group's base for overseas franchise expansion.

Contact for Inquiries Regarding This Matter

Assentia Holdings Inc.

TEL: 03-5614-0216

E-mail: [email protected]