NZ salmon king in Japan
Rare king salmon species farmed predominantly in New Zealand reign on Japanese premium food channels.
New Zealand King Salmon general manager of marketing Jemma McCowan said premium restaurants in Japan use the fish in sashimi.
‘‘Japanese consumers are known for their eagle eye for quality. But overall they have a hugely positive image of New Zealand and our food.’’
Asia is New Zealand King Salmon’s second-largest international market, following North America. Asia makes up 10 per cent of King Salmon’s sales, and Japan accounts for half of that.
McCowan said the business hoped to grow the region’s share to 17 per cent in the next five years.
Although domestic producers of the king salmon species contribute to about 70 per cent of world’s supply, McCowan said being the largest producers of the rare species made New Zealand ‘‘a big fish in a small pond’’, as the country makes up only 5 per cent of the global salmon market.
NZ King Salmon also exports to Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, China, Philippines.
McCowan said Japan was a key focus because it had the most developed salmon market in the world and a savvy customer base.
King salmon is also growing in popularity in Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Since Asia was a complex array of markets, understanding customer behaviour in each country was important, McCowan said.
‘‘It’s not a homogeneous market, you really do need to look into each market on an individual basis.
‘‘Each country is in a different stage of development across Asia in terms of what they’re demanding from food.’’
She said that in Singapore and Hong Kong, customers were more aware of trends in the food industry and humane and sustainable fishing whereas Chinese consumers were more concerned with food safety.
King Salmon has also been trying to introduced smoked salmon to the region. This was gaining traction in Southeast Asia but had been a harder sell in Japan.
‘‘Japanese prefer to consume raw salmon. Smoked salmon is not a traditional food in Asia but the growing Western influence in particularly Singapore, and because of expats, is making it more popular.’’