ASMI co-sponsors Alaska Seafood Fair at Seven & I Group supermarkets

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) announced in a 19 August press release that it will be co-sponsoring an "Alaska Seafood Fair" at three Seven & I Group companies: Ito-Yokado, York, and York-Benimaru.

As part of a celebration of Sustainable Seafood Month, seafood from Alaska will be offered in the fish department of each Japan-based Seven & I store through August.

Tokyo-headquartered Seven & I approach to marine product procurement includes sales of products certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Since October 2018, under Seven & I Group’s “Seven Premium” house brand, eight cod roe products and 11 karashimentaiko (salted cod roe with red pepper) products certified by MSC have been sold at its stores. In the fiscal year ending 28 February, 2021, MSC certified products accounted for 10 percent of Seven Premium marine products sold by the company.

Featured items in the new Alaska Seafood Fair include kirimi salmon slices, thin slices of salmon that are popular grilled for breakfast in Japan; and Arabesque greenling – also called Okhotsk atka mackerel, or hokke in Japanese.

Ito-Yokado, with about 100 stores, held the fair from 20 to 22 August; York Foods/York Mart, also with about 100 stores, will hold it 27 to 28 August; and York-Benimaru, with about 240 stores, will hold it from 26 to 28 August. 

The offerings expand on the group's existing sustainable products. At Ito-Yokado, York-Benimaru, and York, five products with Aquaculture Sustainability Council (ASC) certification, including shrimp, are being sold under the Seven Premium brand. Last year, ASC certified products accounted for 1.4 percent of Seven Premium marine products.

The group also sells six products certified by the Japanese domestic eco-label Marine Eco-Label (MEL): yellowtail, amberjack, red sea bream, flatfish, wakame seaweed, and silver (coho) salmon.

“Alaska Seafood is all-natural marine products, and strictly manages resources and fisheries in the region of product origin of Alaska, to ensure that no damage results to the ecosystems which conserve the natural marine resource," the company's website states.

Photo courtesy of Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute