Wholesalers at Tokyo’s Toyosu Market are preparing online tuna sets to appeal to consumers directly, in a bid to make up for struggling restaurant sales due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Tuna items are being sliced before shipping, a departure from the traditional loin blocks, which are usually the smallest units sold by wholesalers. Chou Gyorui, a wholesaler operating from Tokyo’s Toyosu Market, is trying out this new format, according to Nippon.com. The company is offering a set of bluefin and albacore tuna slices 6.5 millimeters thick – a girth determined to hold up well in terms of texture, savoriness, and color.
Another high-end fish wholesaler, Otatsu Shoten, saw restaurant sales recently drop to a quarter of what it experienced before the pandemic. As a result, the company has launched online sales of seafood and vegetables sets. Having sold to top restaurants, it has a reputational advantage when offering gourmet foods.
Meanwhile, tuna specialist Yamawa is selling skin-on tuna blocks and using videos to teach consumer how to remove the skin and bloodline.
The push to business-to-consumer sales reflects the continuing weakness of the restaurant market, especially in Japan’s capital, which has seen a spike in daily cases, alongside Osaka. When comparing the current volumes and prices at the Toyosu market on Friday, 29 August, 2020, with the figures of 30 August, 2019 (also a Friday), approximately a year ago, the effects of COVID-19 on the restaurant trade can be clearly seen.
A volume of 22,072 kilograms of fresh bluefin sold at Toyosu Market at an average price of JPY 3,816 (USD 36.14, EUR 30.37), while 8,647 kilograms of the frozen fish was sold at an average price of JPY 2,786 (USD 26.39, EUR 22.17). The volumes have not changed significantly, as much of this is domestic, but the prices are down considerably. Using fresh domestic product other than Hokkaido as the base, prices were off by 45 percent. For frozen, prices were off by 12 percent. However, a government subsidy is supporting the cost of long-term freezing of seafood, taking pressure off of the frozen market, though lack of freezer space is a problem.
Southern bluefin sold at the market was all frozen, amounting to 11,974 kilograms and selling at an average of JPY 1,447 (USD 13.70, EUR 11.51). The volume was steady, while prices were off by 19 percent.
Fresh yellowfin tuna sold in relatively small quantities: 2,832 kilograms for fresh and 2,270 kilograms for frozen. The frozen price averaged JPY 756 (USD 7.16, EUR 6.01), a rise of 11 percent. Yellowfin is a popular supermarket item, and supermarkets have maintained sales as people eat at home more in light of the pandemic. Fresh was not reported.
Bigeye tuna on the market was strongly weighted toward frozen, reflecting continued lack of flights for carrying fresh seafood to Japan. The cargo holds of passenger planes were often used before pandemic conditions worsened. The average price for the 1,056 kilograms of fresh bigeye was JPY 2,182 (USD 20.67, EUR 17.36), while the 44,797 kilograms of frozen was JPY 793 (USD 7.51, EUR 6.31). The fresh volume was down by 55 percent from a year ago. Prices were in a wide range, making a comparison difficult. For frozen, the volume was steady, but prices were off by 22 percent.
Photo courtesy of HikoPhotography/Shutterstock
