When they arrived in the US, back in the 60ssushi restaurants were true extravagances, establishments with a diverse audience in which immigrants and businessmen eager to try new flavors mixed. The oldest business in Chicago, for example, Kamehachi, was dedicated to prepare nigiris and makis traditional for the people who came to the Buddhist Temple of the Midwest. Today things are different. Sushi has permeated US culinary culture and has become so popular that it is even in demand at children’s parties.
From a gastronomic rarity it has become a rival to the hamburger.
Sushi eats the US. We don’t say it. I said it in September The New York Times in a report which started with a headline that made things clear from the first line: “Sushi is more fashionable than ever in the US.”
The data managed by the industry certainly show growing popularity and, above all, enviable business expectations. The Kroger chainwhich operates stores in most of the US and has been selling sushi since the early 90s, says its sales they have shot up 50% since 2019. In practice that is equivalent to selling a million rolls a day.
Arrivals from Japan. The Blue Ribbon restaurant chain assures that in just a few years takeout sushi has gone from representing 6% of all your sales at 30%. Probably encouraged by this context, the Japanese firm Chiyoda Sushi has decided to bet big on the US market. A few weeks ago Nikkei revealed that in spring the operator will begin to market its trays of frozen sushi rolls in the US, where it has already achieved the support of a Japanese supermarket chain, Mitsuwa Marketplace.
A millionaire business. Beyond the income statements and decisions of specific companies, the sector conducts market studies that reveal that sushi is not doing badly in its expansion to the other side of the Pacific. The research firm Circana estimates that in 2024 the so-called sushi deli (sushi sold through retail channels, such as supermarkets) represented a business of 2.8 billion dollars7% more than the previous year. All this after experiencing a notable sales increase since the pandemic.
In general, according to data from the Government of Japan, in North America there are between 29,000 and 30,000 ramen restaurants and other Japanese specialties. If compared to data from a decade ago, it represents a growth of 17%. And there is no reason to think that it has peaked. a year ago Technavio estimated that the global market (not just in the US) for sushi restaurants will continue to expand in the remainder of the decade, with a growth rate of 3.5%.
Beyond the numbers. The popularity of sushi in the US is not measured only in market reports and growth percentages. Much of their success is based on a more qualitative and abstract factor: nigiris and makis succeed simply because they are no longer seen as something extravagant and alien.
It explained well in The New York Times the owner of Kamehachi, the oldest sushi restaurant in Chicago: after almost six decades of history, the business has seen an increase in demand for increasingly “creative” rolls, made with new ingredients, such as mango, cheese or jalapenos.
Opportunity… And risk? This trend is a sign of the interest that the dish arouses, but also a risk. “The more we explore different types of rolls, the more I worry about moving away from the origins of sushi,” recognizes Giulia Sindlergranddaughter of the founder of the business, who admits in any case that she is delighted to see how Japanese cuisine is no longer something exclusive to the fooders more daring to be a pleasure shared by several generations.
In a way, this assimilation into North American gastronomic culture can be traced back to the 1970s, when the California roll was invented in an attempt to hide raw fish and make the dish more palatable to Americans.
Goodbye Happy Meal, hello nigiri. Perhaps the clearest proof of the extent to which sushi has penetrated the gastronomic heritage of the USA was given a few days ago. The Wall Street Journal in an article in which he revealed something surprising: in the US it is no longer strange to find children’s parties in which Japanese food has replaced ‘orthodox’ options, such as pizza or hamburgers.
The reason? Probably a combination of factors that combine its growing popularity, but also the presentation of the sushi, the aesthetics of the premises or even the content of the rolls. “The more sugar we put in rice, the more it is eaten,” recognize Trevor Corson, author of ‘The Story of Sushi’.
Your consumption level may be far from the huge intake of hamburgers that the US registers each year, but the trend led by sushi is surprising to say the least. Especially in a context marked (at least in Spain) by the fall in consumption of fish. “He doesn’t want fries or chicken nuggets. He wants tropical shrimp tempura,” joke Laureano Escobar, a 40-year-old man, when he talks about the culinary tastes of his six-year-old daughter.
Images | Daniel (Unsplash) and Only Seafood (Unsplash)
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