Four renowned sushi chefs from Brazil have taken part in a trade mission around Scotland designed to promote UK seafood and boost exports to South America.
Regis Sasaki, Marcelo Shiraishi, Luiz Hirata and Cris Mori were hosted in a five-day visit to learn about various seafood species across Scotland, including salmon, pelagic species including mackerel and herring and whitefish.
Their trip, which was supported by Seafood Scotland, saw them cook with locally-produced whisky and gin at Arbikie Distillery, before visiting Peterhead Fish Market to meet with Peter Duncan, Head of Fishing at the Peterhead Port Authority and representatives from Seafood Scotland, including its Chief Executive Donna Fordyce.
While there, they also toured the nearby Denholm Seafoods Processing Factory, before travelling to the west coast where they met with the owner of Caledonian Oysters and had a tour of Bakkafrost Scotland’s salmon farm in Loch Fyne.
In Edinburgh, they had a tour around Welch’s Fish Market and Fishmongers at the historic Newhaven Harbour, before finishing the trip at Harajaku Kitchen, where they carried out a cooking demonstration.
Scotland’s Minister for Exports Andrew Bowie said, “We land and produce some of the finest seafood in the world in the northeast of Scotland. It’s great that we’ve been able to show what we have to offer on this trade mission and it’s no wonder that they were impressed with what they saw.
“Brazil is just one of many markets we’re targeting as we seek to do all we can to promote our seafood exports around the world. “
Brazil is home to the largest Japanese community outside of Japan. Sushi is extremely popular in the country, with São Paolo home to 500 Japanese restaurants, five of which have Michelin stars.
The trade mission was organised by the Department for International Trade, in partnership with Defra, to promote UK seafood and to encourage the chefs to consider importing fish from the UK.
It was delivered through the UK government’s £1 million Seafood Export Package, part of the £100 million UK Seafood Fund, which aims to boost seafood exports and promote the industry’s produce overseas.
Despite Brazil’s vast coastlines and rivers, the country lacks the cold waters for species such as salmon, cod, haddock, herring, mackerel and others – making it reliant on imports.
Chef Shiraishi, who is President of the Brazilian Association of Japanese Gastronomy and administrative manager of Restaurante Aizomê in São Paulo, said, “If I were to define the Scottish market in one word, that word would be quality. That’s because we could see, in Peterhead’s Fish Market, the high level of requirement regarding the tracking of the ingredients.
“This means that people know exactly where the fish that are consumed came from, how they were fished and in which region they were fished. These are all very relevant information for the final consumer.
“Another thing that caught our attention was the salmon farming – avoiding the use of antibiotics, the cleaning and the care while dealing with the species. These factors are extremely positive.”
The visit also enabled Scottish businesses to hear from seafood importers to Brazil and to understand key trends and demands of the market.
Seafood Scotland’s Head of Trade Marketing Adam Wing said he was particularly encouraged by the comments from the guests which reinforced what was already known – that seafood from Scotland is amongst the best in the world.
“We look forward to working with DIT to develop opportunities for our industry in Brazil and beyond,” he said.
