ASMI promoted at Osaka seafood show

The 11th Annual Seafood Show Osaka was held 20 to 21 February at ATC Hall.  

There were 250 small booth spaces. The show shared its venue with the Agrifood show, which had 300 small booths featuring agricultural products from Japan’s 47 prefectures.

The organizer, Exhibition Technologies, Inc., expected 15,000 visitors to the combined shows, based on 2013’s head count of 14,562, but instead attendance was off a bit to 13,860. This may have been a blessing, as the narrow aisles were a tight squeeze as it was. Though there was a detailed site map, it was easy to get disoriented in the maze-like event space incorporating several connected halls.

Exhibitors were mainly domestic, a notable exception being the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI). One of ASMI’s goals at the show was to secure more Alaska Seafood Fairs in Western Japan. Benjamin Roitblat, online/offline promotions manager, said that though ASMI has been active in Japan for over 40 years, the organization’s past promotions have been overwhelmingly in the Kanto area around Tokyo.

Akiko Yakata, ASMI Japan trade manager, said that rather than focusing on a specific seafood species, they are trying to let the trade know what ASMI can do for them. A flyer at the booth titled (in translation) “What is the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute?” describes the support they offer, including holding Alaska Seafood Fairs, allowing display of the Alaska Seafood logo, menu planning assistance, and help in acquiring chain-of-custody (CoC) certifications for third-party sustainability programs.

Roitblat admitted that interest in acquiring CoC certification is low in Japan, though it is very important in the EU, for example for pollock. He also noted that Alaska salmon is currently having a hard time in the Japan, due to short supply. Consumers in America’s lower 48 states place a premium on wild sockeye and are consuming most of it, while the Japanese are already quite familiar with their domestic sockeye and don’t consider it to be such a big deal. Salmon buyers here are mainly focused on price, giving Chilean farmed product an advantage.

The longest line for samples at the show was easily at the booth of Eyre Premium Tuna, a brand of Shinki Co., Ltd. based in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture. The company imports and processes southern bluefin tuna farmed in Port Lincoln, Australia. This premium brand uses tuna from smaller producers who do not use medicines in their production. Southern bluefin has a brighter color and sweeter taste than its northern cousin, while being lower priced due to higher availability and being less well known. Almost as interesting as their tuna was their Fujiseiki brand sushi former that churned out formed rice for nigiri-sushi as fast as it could be topped and served.

A general trend at the show, aside from a marked trend toward wearing goofy attention-grabbing hats (shaped as an octopus or a fish), was the need to appeal to modern women with dishes that are easy to prepare. Young women of today refuse to clean and cut up fish, and prefer ready-to-cook foods. This often includes being pre-marinated, breaded or spiced. Children are also getting more finicky and complain about having to be careful of fish bones when eating. These are preferences the industry must address if it has any hope of reversing the increase of meat and decline of seafood in the Japanese diet.

Japan Ocean Resources Development and Engineering Co., based in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture was introducing “salmon karaage,” battered and fried salmon meant to resemble fried chicken. The batter contains malted flour that is claimed to reduce the fishiness of the salmon. It is boneless and bite-sized, so it can be used as a convenient afternoon snack, in a lunchbox, or as an accompaniment for beer.

The company was also offering “ikanago kugini” sand lance fry boiled in soy sauce, mirin and sugar.  Once cooked in this way, the fish last for months in the refrigerator and are a handy topping for rice. The company rep said that while many grandmothers make their own kugini every year, few young women do so nowadays.

Fishcake is another product that meets the criteria of easy to prepare and easy to eat.  Abui Kamaboko Co., of Tohaku-gun, Tottori Prefecture, was offering a fishcake including black beans, and another with boiled egg. Chikua, a tube-shaped fishcake, was offered in versions containing soy milk and flying fish. The company has exported its products to Korea and Taiwan for the last decade.