Japan's competition authority says Toridoll Holdings, the Tokyo-based food group, was the real party behind a fee that quietly clawed back money from 37 small food manufacturers, even though a wholesaler processed the actual payments. The Japan Fair Trade Commission recommended on September 9 that Toridoll repay the deducted sums under Japan's subcontractor-payment rules.
Toridoll had a food wholesaler place manufacturing orders for food it later sells to its own subsidiaries. The wholesaler ran the ordering system, but the commission found it did no more than relay purchase orders, bill suppliers and pass along payments: it never picked the 37 manufacturers, set product specifications, or fixed prices. Those decisions all belonged to Toridoll, which is why the JFTC treated Toridoll, not the intermediary, as the entity bound by the law.
From August 2024 to July 2026, every payment to the 37 suppliers was cut by a flat 1.1%, billed as a "system usage fee." The wholesaler collected that fee from suppliers and forwarded part of it back to Toridoll, an arrangement the commission says shows Toridoll effectively used the wholesaler to dock its own subcontractors' pay. Deductions made through December 2025 alone totaled ¥147.4mn (¥147,411,330), all without any lawful reason tied to supplier performance.
The case straddles a legal handover. Contracts made through December 2025 fall under the old Subcontract Act; from January 2026 the renamed Subcontract Transactions Proper Act applies, carrying a broader delay-interest obligation. Deductions taken from January 2026 onward must be repaid with 14.6% annual interest, running from 60 days after the deduction or delivery date, whichever is later, until Toridoll actually pays.
| Period of deduction | Legal basis | Deducted amount | Delay interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 2024 - December 2025 | Former Subcontract Act (下請法) | ¥147.4mn (¥147,411,330) | Not specified for this period |
| January 2026 onward | Revised Subcontract Transactions Proper Act (取適法) | Not disclosed in the release | 14.6% a year, from 60 days after deduction or delivery (whichever later) until repayment |
The recommendation goes beyond a refund. Toridoll's board must pass a resolution acknowledging the deductions violated the law and committing not to repeat them, train its ordering staff on the revised rules, notify all affected subcontractors of the recommendation, and report back to the commission on the measures it has taken.
Toridoll reported capital of ¥5.47bn as of June 9, 2026, and lists food sales as its core business. The action is an administrative recommendation, not a criminal finding. It covers 37 subcontractors, though the appendix table listing their names was omitted from the published release.