Stable supply to local customers! They say it tastes the same as raw, and even though we've increased the price by 20%, they still want it!

assignment

I want to stock up on the day I catch a lot of whitebait.

We want to achieve stable supply to restaurants.

Background of considering the introduction of rapid freezer

The raw demand for restaurants is on Saturdays and Sundays. However, fishing was not always available on Saturdays and Sundays, so I was worried.

Before the introduction of rapid freezer, I would only sell whitebait on days when I was fishing by contacting local restaurants I knew.

Raw whitebait can only be eaten deliciously for a few hours after being caught. If you leave it for longer than that, the flavor will deteriorate.

As a result, fresh whitebait was only available at restaurants on days when there was fishing that morning.

The demand for raw whitebait from restaurants is concentrated on Saturdays and Sundays, but since fishing is dependent on the weather, it is not possible to supply whitebait conveniently.

I was worried because I was told by a restaurant I knew that if they couldn't serve fresh whitebait for at least one day, they wouldn't be able to put it on the menu.

Meanwhile, I learned that another shop was rapid freezing whitebait, and I became interested in rapid freezing.

Once raw whitebait can be frozen, it will be possible to freeze it on the day of the big catch and ship it at any time.

Additionally, since the expiration date is extended, it can be delivered to people in inland areas who have not been able to eat raw shirasu until now.

In this way, I felt that installing rapid freezer would greatly solve the problems I had.

Effects after introducing rapid freezer

It has a much longer shelf life and has a stable supply with the same taste as fresh. Customers are also very pleased.

By rapid freezing whitebait, the shelf life has been extended by more than 30 times.

Raw shirasu has an expiration date within the same day. However, if rapid freezing, it will definitely last for a month if stored at -18℃ or below.

After obtaining approval from an inspection agency, we would like to eventually increase the expiration date to six months, and be able to supply delicious whitebait throughout the year.

The most important thing is the frozen quality of whitebait, but when I asked an acquaintance to try rapid freezing whitebait, she said that the taste was no different from fresh whitebait.

Although we have increased the price by 20% compared to regular raw whitebait, they still say they would buy it if they could get it when they needed it.

In addition to freezing raw whitebait, I also use rapid freezer these days.

It can be used to cool down food even if it is still hot, so it can be used to cool whitebait fried in a pot or to kill parasites on fish you have caught.

Future outlook

I don't have anything left over, so I'm looking forward to going fishing more than ever!

If you can freeze whitebait, you won't have any leftovers, so you can fish more than ever before.

Whitebait does not move to the fish finder, so I fish after the sun rises and it becomes bright.

If you catch the first shot in the morning, you'll be able to make it to the morning market in time, but the only options for the whitebait you catch after that are to process it yourself into kettle-fried whitebait or sell it to a local shop.

Therefore, last year, before the introduction of the system, even when I went out fishing, I only caught enough to sell to the locals, but this year I am hoping that I will be able to fish twice or even three times a day because I can store it in the freezer.

The amount of fish caught has doubled and tripled, and sales have also doubled and tripled.

Also, since we only use it for about 3 hours a day, we are thinking that we can lend it to someone who wants to use it when they are not using it.