Gaia Series 10: Makeover! Izakaya Become A Fish Professional
The impact of COVID-19 on izakaya restaurants and how Sanko Marketing Foods ventured into a new business model of combining a fresh fish market and izakaya are highlighted in this week's episode.
Three years have passed since the COVID-19 global outbreak, but Japan’s izakaya industry is still struggling. Major izakaya chains have thus begun to take on new challenges by changing their business format. Sanko Marketing Foods, which operates Kinno Kura, a low-priced izakaya chain, is one of them. Sanko’s president is Naruhiro Nagasawa and the company’s headquarters are located in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.
About 10 years ago, Kinno Kura was all the rage among businessmen for its low price of 270 yen for all its items - from karaage to salmon belly - which come in generous servings. However, due to the impact of COVID-19, the number of stores plummeted from nearly 100 in 2011 to less than 10 in 2021.
Mr Nagasawa then decided to try a new business model by opening a restaurant which combines a fresh fish market and an izakaya. That is how the idea of the Akamaruya Fresh Fish Market in Omiya Ward, Saitama City, came about.
Mr Nagasawa formed a business partnership with a fishing port in Numazu City in Shizuoka Prefecture. It overlooks Suruga Bay, which is home to about 1,000 species of fish. Tsutomu Hirooka, the general manager of Sanko’s Fisheries Division, was appointed by Mr Nagasawa to be responsible for the business in Numazu. He goes to the auction daily and later started training to become a buyer. He manages to get Numazu’s signature fish - cutlass fish - and other fish such as red sea bream, yellowtail amberjack, Pacific barrelfish and black-fin seabass at the auctions.
Mr Hirooka lives in a house that the company rents and has even got a boat licence. His roommate is Kenichi Fuke, head of Sanko’s processing plant for fish. One day, Mr Nagasawa and Mr Hirooka receive a gift - a fishing boat - from Nobukazu Suzuki, a special advisor to the Numazu Ganyudo Fisheries Cooperative. Mr Suzuki wants Sanko to have a boat and become an official member of the fishermen's cooperative. The number of people in the fishermen's cooperative is decreasing and he also wants the employees of Sanko to use the fishermen's training boat and learn from their involvement in the fishing industry. This way, the employees at the izakaya can become fishermen and also serve the fish they catch at the new Omiya restaurant.
Due to the spread of COVID-19, the construction of the new restaurant in Omiya, which was scheduled to open on March 1, had to be suspended. Kinno Kura also temporarily closed all its stores until late March. The construction of the Omiya restaurant resumed in early April and it opened at the end of April.
Mr Hirooka checked out the central wholesale market. in Hamamatsu City, where tuna is auctioned off every day. He visited Maguro no Kaisho, which purchases tuna from all over the world and handles processing. With the help of Mr Suzuki of the Numazu Ganyudo Fisheries Cooperative, Sanko became a subsidiary of the company. This way, Sanko succeeded in acquiring tuna for the new restaurant in Omiya.
The new store in Omiya Ward, Saitama, opened in April and its selling point is fresh fish from Numazu. Mr Hirooka acquires the fish from auctions and drives a truck loaded with fish such as croaker, grunt, Matsuzaki fish, cardinal fish and cutlass fish for 2.5 hours from Numazu to Omiya. Mr Fuke from Numazu is in charge of the fresh fish market. The fish which is bought can be cut into a fillet or made into sashimi for free, if requested.
The izakaya restaurant at the Akamaruya Fresh Fish Market can accommodate around 90 people. The restaurant boasts a selection of more than 70 items on the menu, including assorted tuna from the Hamamatsu speciality store, simmered red sea bream head, cutlass fish wrapped in green onion and grilled on skewers, and fried horse mackerel.
Sanko raked in 770,000 yen on the first day of sales at the new Omiya restaurant, double the sales target. In early May, Mr Nagasawa, Mr Hirooka and some employees of Sanko visited the Izu Peninsula. It is six hours away by boat from Numazu Port. They take the boat gifted to them and go to Zenisu, a sacred place for Izu fishermen. They manage to catch more than 100 fish, which they eventually sell at the Akamaruya Fresh Fish Market.
Tips:
1) Check out the Akamaruya Fresh Fish market - with an izakaya next to it - in Omiya, Saitama City
2) Maguro no Kaisho in Hamamatsu City is known for its tuna from all over the world
