Photo/Illutration Sashimi on a normal food tray with a garnish of radish strips, left; on a tray for reduced garnishing, center; and on a tray for no garnishing at FP Corp.’s head office in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, on Nov. 25, 2022 (Jun Ueda)

FUKUYAMA, Hiroshima Prefecture--To save on costs and reduce food waste, some sashimi retailers are cutting back on the small strips of radish that have long served as a garnish in packages of the raw fish sold in supermarkets in Japan.

In addition, food trays have been developed for selling sashimi without the adornment, further encouraging the trend as costs continue to rise. 

DOING WITHOUT THE EXTRA

On a recent day, a refrigerator shelf at a Shoji supermarket was lined with packages of sashimi arranged with no garnish on a food tray. They sat alongside many packages of sashimi with the extra.

“I typically throw away the radish strips without eating them when I get home,” said one customer in his 70s as he bought an ungarnished package. “I prefer the cheaper one without the garnish.”

Saijo-Shoji Co., which operates the Shoji supermarket chain comprising 15 outlets in Hiroshima Prefecture, began offering packages of ungarnished sashimi at four of its outlets last summer.

“Going without a garnish allows us to cut costs as much as possible, even though only a small bit of garnish was used in each package,” said Masaru Yamashita, head of Shoji’s fish products division. “That has cut the work time required for packaging, thereby improving our work efficiency. We hope to offer prices that are as affordable as possible for our consumers as well.”

The Shoji supermarket chain has been purchasing industrial-use radish strips to decorate its packages.

The company is also offering separate packages just of the garnish as some consumers still prefer eating sashimi with it.

Company officials said they hope to make ungarnished packages available in more of their outlets in the future.

REDUCING FOOD LOSS, CUTTING COSTS

The radish slices are called “tsuma” and have served not only as a palate cleanser but also as a mount for the sashimi to give the fish a nice presentation.

However, the Shoji supermarket chain has introduced food tray products with a unique bottom that allows sashimi arranged on it to stand out without needing the addition. 

The container was developed by FP Corp. (FPCO), Japan’s leading food tray manufacturer, which is based in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture.

FPCO developed a “reduced garnish” tray product, which has only about half as much garnish as usual, in 2012. The company released a “TZ” tray product in 2020 that offers sashimi without a garnish. The product’s name is short for “tsuma zero,” or zero garnish.

The two products account for 16 percent, in terms of the sales volume, of all trays of food the company offers for sashimi, company officials said.

“Our sales have been slightly on the rise since we released the new (zero garnished) product,” said an FPCO representative, adding the TZ product is being used at supermarkets across Japan, including in Osaka and Tokyo.

Izumi Co.--a company based in Hiroshima’s Higashi Ward that operates more than 100 retailing outlets under the name “Youme Town” and other names in the Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu regions--began using no-garnish and reduced-garnish food tray products in 2021.

“Customer feedback showed that some don’t eat the garnish, so we are gradually introducing (ungarnished packages) in hopes of reducing food loss,” an Izumi representative said. “That has also naturally allowed us to cut costs.”

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