VS Series
Itsu v Wasabi
Grab-and-go Asian food, head to head
Wasabi leads on 3 of the five measures that matter most: turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin, growth and net assets. Wasabi is the biggest by turnover at £125m, against £124m at Itsu. Both lost money; Wasabi lost the least, £0.89 of every £100 it took.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like.
Accounts compared: Itsu to Jan 2026 · Wasabi to Dec 2025
Who they are
Itsu
Itsu Limited · 03286342Itsu runs Asian-inspired food-to-go shops selling rice bowls, sushi, salads, noodle and soup dishes, steamed gyoza and bao.In brief: Asian-inspired food to go · sushi, rice bowls and gyoza · own shops · evening half-price saleFull profile →Wasabi
Wasabi Co. Ltd · 04431046Wasabi runs sushi and bento food-to-go shops selling sushi rolls and sets, sashimi, hot bento boxes such as katsu curry, noodles, dumplings and soup.In brief: sushi and bento food to go · own shops · eat in, takeaway and delivery · loyalty appFull profile →The Numbers
| # | Company | Turnover | Change | Pre-tax profit | Margin | Employees | Pay per head | Turnover per head | Net assets | Bank and cash | Accounts to | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WasabiWasabi Co. Ltd | £125m | +2.8% | -£1.1m | -0.9% | 1,122 | £34,000 | £112,000 | -£36m | £2m | Dec 2025 | Single company |
| 2 | ItsuItsu Limited | £124m | +2.8% | -£5m | -4.2% | 1,195 | £34,000 | £104,000 | -£17m | £3m | Jan 2026 | Single company |
Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
The Takeaway
- Wasabi loses the least. Of every £100 it takes, it loses £0.89, against a loss of £4.21 at Itsu.
- Wasabi is the largest on the top line, £125m of turnover, 1.0x Itsu's £124m.
- Itsu is growing fastest, turnover +2.8% on its own prior year.
- Itsu is the biggest employer with 1,195 people; Itsu pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £34,000.
- Itsu has the largest balance sheet, net assets of -£17m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Every company here made a loss. Wasabi lost the least, £0.89 of every £100 of turnover. Itsu does worst, losing £4.21.
Financing bites hardest at Itsu: £2.06 of every £100 goes on interest.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Wasabi (£125m), Itsu (£124m).
By headcount, Itsu leads with 1,195 employees.
The accounting periods all end in the same month. All are on the same filing basis.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Itsu grew fastest, turnover +2.8% on its own prior year, ahead of Wasabi (+2.8%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Itsu employs the most, 1,195 people, against 1,122 at Wasabi.
Itsu has the highest average staff cost, about £34,000 a head; Wasabi the lowest, about £34,000.
Wasabi brings in the most turnover per employee, about £112,000, against £104,000 at Itsu. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Held by Butterfly 21 Bidco Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 5 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Itsu →
Wasabi Co. Ltd · 04431046Held by Wasabi Sushi Bento Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 10 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Wasabi →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Itsu | Wasabi |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | ITSU LIMITED | WASABI CO. LTD |
| Company number | 03286342 | 04431046 |
| Incorporated | 1996 | 2002 |
| Accounts filed | 7 September 2026 | 29 July 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £120m | £122m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | -£7m | £2m |
| Staff costs | £41m | £38m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 32.9% | 30.2% |
| Employees, prior year | 1,217 | 1,186 |
| Dividends paid | n/d | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 5 | 10 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Itsu v Wasabi: common questions
Who is the biggest of Itsu or Wasabi?
Wasabi, with turnover of £125m in the year to December 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
Wasabi: the smallest loss, -£1.1m pre-tax in the year to December 2025.
Which employs the most people?
Itsu, with 1,195 employees in its latest accounts.
Itsu or Wasabi: which is bigger?
Wasabi, with turnover of £125m against £124m at Itsu on their latest filings. On margin, Wasabi keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.