Surf’s Up with Wave of Japanese Products
Making the Scene at Boston Seafood Show
Reported by John M. Saulnier

Shrimp consumption in the United States probably declined last year, reports Howard M. Johnson.

The sun rose again for Japanese exhibitors at the International Boston Seafood Show, as a government-sponsored pavilion showcased the fishery products of 10 companies offering everything from sushi to clams.

One of the highlights of the three-day show, as least for food editors, was indulging in an authentic Japanese breakfast on Feb. 25. The menu profiled delicacies offered by the exhibiting contingent, as well as miso soup, short-grained sticky rice and gyokuro green tea.

Yoichi Suzuki, Boston-posted Consul General of Japan, kicked off the event with welcoming remarks, noting that his country consumes about one-third of the world’s production of fishery products [which equates to per capita intake of approximately 150 pound per year]. While the home market is huge, producers of value-added seafood in Japan are increasingly eyeing export markets in North America.

The export target for seafood products has been set at ¥1 trillion ($10 billion) by 2013, said Toshinori Uoya, an export promotion officer with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

“Bringing Authentic Japanese Seafood to the American Palate” was the theme of the breakfast meeting, and Japanese producers are already quite successful in this endeavor. Last year exports of tuna alone to the USA reportedly more than doubled to 417,279 kilos worth $5,448,349 million. The boom in sushi restaurants serving up everything from bonito sashimi to saku no doubt is one reason for the surge.

“A generation or so ago, sushi was totally unknown to Americans. Today it is sold in take-out-packs at schools and universities,” said keynote speaker Theodore C. Bestor, chairman of Harvard University’s Department of Anthropology. The professor knows a lot about the subject, as he is the author of Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World.

As the sushi wave has now washed across most of America, Ocean Rim Japan Inc. has seized the opportunity to introduce fresh-frozen fish fillets in 150-gram vacuum packs. The Hakata, Japan-headquartered company, established last year, exclusively sources raw materials from environment-friendly, organic fish farms on Goto Island in Kyushu, Hiburi Island in Shikoku, and the Uwa Sea off Shikoku.

Among products currently sold under the Satoko Japan label are sushi/sashimi grade yellowtail tuna fillets, smoked sea bream and sea bream fillets (as pictured above).

“They are convenient to serve guests at home. You just take a bag or two out of the freezer, remove the contents from outer packaging and leave it in the refrigerator to thaw for about five hours. Thereafter the fish is ready to slice into half-inch cuts of sashimi or Italian-style carpaccio,” said Satoko Otsu, executive officer of the company’s Seattle, Washington-based distribution arm (Phone: +1 703-969-3650).

Among other companies at the Japan Pavilion offering frozen products were: Fukuichi Fishery Co., Ltd., with a range of tuna; Kanedai Co., Ltd., the largest processor of crab in the country’s northeast, also produces albacore tuna carpaccio; Nomura Trading Co. Ltd., high-quality salmon and sushi cakes; Sugiyo Co., Ltd., Sugiyo Co., Ltd., “Snow Leg Queen” surimi.