Spanish seafood company Sushita teamed up with Air Europa for an experiment that brought sushi to international flights on a trial basis in August.
The founding partner of the company, José Manuel Segimon, told SeafoodSource the new offering was a pioneer initiative in Spain, “a little test of 20 days, in which we are going to see what feedback we have among the passengers.”
During the trial, sushi appeared as an aperitif menu for the business class of Air Europa, with three pieces of avocado and smoked salmon because the sale of fresh seafood "is forbidden" in passenger airplanes, Segimon said, adding that they would like to continue working on this idea.
Sushita is a Spanish company founded in 1999 and dedicated to production and distribution of sushi to large areas of Spain. The founding partner explained the plan in short and medium term for the firm: “We will continue promoting the sale in large (areas). We will try to start with the frozen range to sale in the rest of Europe.” Furthermore, they will soon explore another new way; in October they plan to open their first dine-in and takeaway location in Madrid.
The economic crisis in Spain has not affected the company. “We have not been affected by the crisis, because we have grown in an important way in the last five years,” said Segimon. Among the keys of the success, he highlighted that “the sushi has really given an important step, of being a product with a niche of small market it has been opened and has become very popular. Apart, I believe that people are every day more mentally prepared to eat healthily and to look after themselves … and the sushi fits very well with this type of philosophy.”
The company has its center of production and distribution in San Sebastian de los Reyes, Madrid, and distributes its products to different food chains, as well as "sushipoints," where sushi is the featured product.
