YO! announces the return of RAMEN to the menu as part of their award-winning partnership with Movember

London, 2nd November 2020 - This Movember, YO! is doing their bit to encourage meaningful conversations and raise money for a great cause with a selection of comforting new dishes and perfect pairings.

YO! is proud to be partnering again with Movember, the moustache-encouraging charity that funds groundbreaking men's health projects across and raises much needed awareness across mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. To champion the charity this year, YO! has created a bespoke Movember Meal Deal and relaunched its popular ramen menu in time for Movember.

“Working in the hospitality industry can be stressful enough without the added pressures and challenges that this year has brought. So while we've long encouraged conversations around mental health at YO! to support our team members better, this Movember we want to reach our guests too.”

Through research conducted this year, Movember found that almost a third of men (30%) noted increased feelings of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic[1]. Movember has also found that men find it easier to have meaningful dialogues when they are shoulder-to-shoulder with a friend. YO!'s sushi bar style of seating creates ideal environments to have these important stress-relieving conversations.

From November, YO's much missed bowls of hearty, flavour-packed ramen will make a welcome return to the YO! menu, and for every bowl sold,10p will be donated to Movember. Dishes include Spicy Seafood, Chicken Curry and Shiitake Mushroom ramen.

YO! is also running a Perfect Partners Movember Meal Deal of ramen & guyoza, a combo that is traditionally eaten together in Japan, for only £9.95 (T&Cs apply). The Meal Deal consists of a choice of veggie, chicken or prawn gyoza (3 dumplings) alongside a warming bowl of steaming ramen from the new ramen menu. For every Meal Deal sold in November, 10p will be donated to Movember.

YO! will also be adding an optional £1 to each bill to help raise even more money for Movember and the brilliant work it does.

The YO! partnership with Movember began in 2019, where a bespoke 'Guy-oza' menu was launched across all restaurants, highlighting information about Movember and the ALEC guide to help customers kickstart conversations over a tasty feed. The success of the partnership shone through as it won a Partnership Award at the Business Charity Awards 2020.

For more information please visit yosushi.com/movember

- ENDS -

Media contact

Alice Stanners, Table PR, alice@tablepr.com,  07886010692

Notes to editors

• Spicy Seafood Ramen (£6.95), Chicken Curry Ramen (£6.50) and Shiitake Mushroom Ramen (£5.75) can be bought individually or as part of the Perfect Partners Ramen & Guyoza Meal Deal (£9.95)
• For each Perfect Partners Ramen & Guyoza Meal Deal (£9.95) purchased in November, 10p will be donated to Movember at the end of the month.
• For each ramen dish purchased in November, 10p will be donated to Movember at the end of month.
• YO! will also be adding an optional £1 to each bill and donating proceeds to Movember at the end of the month.

Dine in/takeaway/delivery

Glasgow West George St

Glasgow Silverburn

Glasgow Braehead

Cardiff St David`s

Edinburgh Princes St

Aberdeen Union Square

Belfast Victoria Square (from 16th November)

Takeaway/ Delivery Only

Newcastle

Liverpool ONE

Belfast Victoria Square

Bristol Cabot Circus

Worcester

Cheltenham

Heathrow T2

Exeter

Plymouth

Leamington Spa

Norwich

York

Birmingham Grand Central

Harrogate

ABOUT YO!

YO! (formerly YO! Sushi) restaurants specialise in handcrafted Japanese street food, ramen and sushi, delivered to guests via a 'kaiten' conveyor belt, with locations across the United Kingdom, United States, Europe and the Middle East.

HISTORY

YO! burst onto the restaurant scene in 1997, with a disruptive Japanese 'kaiten' sushi bar in London's Soho that introduced the UK to a new way of dining out; delivering food to guests via a conveyor belt. Buzzy open kitchens and a rotating stream of vibrant dishes provided theatre, a dollop of fresh thinking, and a taste of Tokyo living. Fast forward to 2020 and YO! is now a global brand with over 80 restaurants operating across ten countries serving over 7 million customers a year. Most are located in the UK, with restaurants spanning the country from Aberdeen to Plymouth. Eighteen restaurants are franchised overseas in France, Norway, Denmark, UAE, KSA, Australia and Turkey.

The current owner is Mayfair Equity Partners. YO!'s CEO is Richard Hodgson, who has been CEO since 2017.

MENU

YO!'s menu of mouth-watering favourites and signature dishes, ranging from sashimi and sushi to the number one bestseller Chicken Katsu Curry, is being added to regularly. YO!'s much-loved ramen returned to the menu in November 2020.

Since June 2020, dishes from the YO! menu are being served via a new and improved 'kaiten' conveyor belt providing guests with a personal, contactless dining experience. Customers are able to take a picture of a QR code and order and pay for their food through their phone. The food, which is freshly prepared in each site's kitchen, will then arrive straight to the customer on the kaiten belt.  An interactive traffic light system turns amber to tell customers when their food and drink is on its way and then green when it arrives in front of them.  As well as the new belt, guests will be guided to seats which are at a safe distance from their neighbours.

YO!'s food is hand-crafted and made with passion, using the freshest of ingredients with impeccable sustainability credentials. YO! sources all its fish from reputable suppliers who share the same concerns with regards to environmental issues and sustainability of at-risk species through overfishing and the subsequent depletion of certain fish.

YO! has a wide selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes (PETA Award for Best Vegan Dish 2016)

For further information, please visit: www.yosushi.com or follow YO! on social media @YOSUSHI

About Movember

Movember is the leading charity changing the face of men's health on a global scale, focusing on mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. The charity raises funds to deliver innovative, breakthrough research and support programmes that enable men to live happier, healthier and longer lives. Committed to disrupting the status quo, millions have joined the movement, helping fund over 1,250 projects around the world.

In addition to tackling key health issues faced by men, Movember is working to encourage men to stay healthy in all areas of their life, with a focus on men staying socially connected and becoming more open to discussing their health and significant moments in their lives. The charity's vision is to have an everlasting impact on the face of men's health. To donate or learn more, please visit Movember.com.

[1] SRC conducted a survey through an online panel with 5,737 people aged 18 or older across the UK, US, Canada and Australia (approximately 1,430 respondents in each country). This included 809 men in the UK, 804 men in the US, 794 men in Canada and 806 men in Australia. Response quotas were set based on age, region and gender and the final data were weighted to reflect the profiles of each country. Fieldwork ran from 22nd April – 4th May 2020.