Though salmon is now a staple in Japanese sushi culture, four decades ago, the fish was not used as an ingredient in the practice.
It took a group of Norwegians traveling to Tokyo in the mid-1980s to convince Japanese sushi chefs that the Scandinavian country’s high-quality raw salmon could complement their national dish, and from “Project Japan,” a global phenomenon was borne.
The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the introduction of salmon into Japanese sushi, as well as the success of Project Japan, through a series of initiatives this year.
According to NSC estimates, around 30 percent of Norwegian salmon now ends up as sushi and/or is consumed raw. The marketing body has also conducted research of 20 sushi-consuming countries, finding that for 17 of these, salmon is the most preferred sushi topping. The council also said that its application in sushi has spearheaded the use of Norwegian salmon in other globally popular dishes like sashimi and poke.
“Few products have made Japanese cuisine so popular abroad as Norwegian salmon,” NSC Communications Director Martin Skaug told SeafoodSource. “The story of Norwegian salmon’s introduction to Japan is a great story in any diplomatic meeting or culinary collaboration. Norway is, this year, celebrating 120 years of diplomatic ties between Norway and Japan and 40 years of a perfect marriage between Japanese sushi and Norwegian salmon worldwide.”
In the 1980s, Project Japan recognized that demand for sushi was outweighing the East Asian nation’s domestic supply of tuna – Japan’s most popular sushi ingredient – and felt that this supply gap offered an opportunity for Norway’s farmed salmon. NSC acknowledges that while the initiative wasn’t immediately successful, with just 2 metric tons (MT) of Norwegian salmon exported to the country in 1980, within 20 years, it was a different story, with 45,000 MT of product heading to the market annually.
One of the biggest hurdles the initiative initially faced in convincing Japan to use raw Norwegian salmon was changing the public perception that the fish wasn’t fit for sushi, Skaug said.
“Norwegian salmon was safe to eat and free of parasites, which was not the case for the salmon that Japan was used to,” he said
During the course of its 10-year lifespan, Project Japan implemented a number of different strategies. One of its biggest achievements was the introduction of Norwegian salmon to “kaiten sushi,” or revolving sushi, restaurants, which was a major contributor to the initiative’s success, Skaug said.
“This made it possible for kids themselves to pick their own seafood nigiri. They picked Norwegian salmon because of its beautiful pink color, and when the kids liked it, the parents also had to taste it,” he said.
At the same time, detailed traceability and a high focus on hygiene and food safety has become a staple of the salmon supplied to Japan.
“We continue every day to always deliver fresh, never frozen Norwegian salmon to the Japanese market. As the products are always served raw, we can never compromise on food safety or traceability,” Skaug said.
With raw salmon now a main ingredient in a wider array of international cuisines beyond sushi, including poke and sashimi, origin marketing has become central to ensuring Norway stays relevant to these and other new food trends. Thanks to the success of such campaigns as Project Japan, it is now placed at “the core” of NSC’s business, Skaug said.
“We promote the origin of Norwegian salmon, what makes Norwegian salmon stand out, and the attributes that we know are meaningful for the consumer. Furthermore, we highlight characteristics that make the consumer understand the difference between Norwegian origin and others in the market – to differentiate it from the competition,” Skaug said. “Norwegian salmon in Japan is sashimi-quality, which is important, since 97 percent of Norwegian salmon consumption in Japan comprises sashimi raw consumption.”
Beyond Japan and amid heightened geopolitical and trade tensions, the NSC “continuously scouts” for information on changing trade regulations and market access challenges as part of its support to salmon exporters. In this regard, it aims to keep a close eye on market movements and consumer trends and, most importantly, shares its perspectives frequently with both the industry and the Norwegian government.
“Using Japan as an example, there has been close and tight dialogue between Norwegian exporters of salmon and Japanese importers,” Skaug said. “We are working together with the authorities in both countries to ensure that the industry is on top of any regulations or new challenges that could occur in the markets – because of our common interest of keeping trade flow going.”
Asked whether another Norwegian fish species or product could follow salmon’s lead and achieve similar prominence on the global stage, Skaug said it would take a confluence of factors to occur at the same time, similar to what happened for salmon in Japan.
“A success story like the one of salmon sushi, of course, consists of several things aligning and working together at the same time. It's both the happy coincidence of establishing trade relations with a nation with a similar relationship toward seafood, as well as filling the gap where they need a new product – not to mention all the hard work from everyone involved, building a relationship between nations and experimenting with new cuisines,” he said. “With increasing globalization and travel activity, the likelihood of new global food trends emerging increases. Salmon's quality as a raw material makes it very applicable and can, thus, replace other raw materials. Salmon's properties as a superfood are also positive. Salmon, therefore, has great potential to find new applications. When it comes to other seafood products, the possibilities are also great. Clean food with clean flavors is one such opportunity.”
