Increase Profits from Sake

Just by looking at recent movies such as “The Last Samurai,” “Tokyo Drift,” and the first English subtitled film in the history of Hollywood, “Letters From Iwo Jima;” the height of the interest level in “Japan” can be seen. In the last 2-3 months, stories concerning Japanese food - in particular “sake” - have been carried regularly in newspapers, in magazines, on TV and so forth, and sake is beginning to attract more and more
attention.
All over America, sake traders and others are holding events like sake tastings, and with attendance almost doubling expectations, these have been largely successful. At a time when the market for sake is hot, how about trying to increase your sales of sake that is cold?

The market for sake in America
Currently somewhere around 350 sake brands are in circulation in America. Via dealers in Japanese imports, the outlets at which almost all sake is consumed are Japanese restaurants, which is quite different from Japan. Besides restaurants, there is a small amount of retail sales centered on Japanese supermarkets, and sake has also become available at the American high-end supermarkets Bristol Farms and Whole Foods. Since it is not yet familiar to Americans, sake depends on face-to-face sales at places like restaurants, and sales have gradually grown over the last 10 years. Cold sake in particular has shown a large increase in sales the last 4-5 years, and the way of thinking about sake for Americans - who were once wholeheartedly devoted to hot sake - has changed dramatically. At urban sushi bars, the Sake Bomb (in which a cup of sake so hot it can’t be tasted is dropped into a mug of beer) is becoming a thing of the past.
At Japanese restaurants, where the share of sake sales is large, there is a decreasing trend away from hot sake: until now, if there were 10 people drinking hot sake, it is now four or five people doing so; furthermore, there is a trend for those who previously drank only wine and beer to give sake a try. From the restaurant side too, it is has become necessary to respond to this “de-heating” of sake with things like creating a menu, figuring out the proper sake cups, and educating employees.

Increasing small individual dishes
One reason given for the decrease in the drinking of sake at meals in Japan is the plates.
Of course, the Westernization of food is another reason, but it can be said that serving foods that have been divided up stimulates a demand for sake. It would be difficult to rely on sake with things like hamburger steak or croquettes, which have several varieties of vegetables placed alongside on large plates. However, even if the food is Western, if it’s bite-sized and in Japanese-style sauce; and if the vegetables alongside are just dressed with ground sesame, ponzu, or miso-based sauce, the dish is completely changed. Even when ready-made side dishes are served, if they are broken down into small individual dishes, sake can also be enjoyed.

A menu that is a “hit” with sake
For appetizers, consider a total of no about 10 items and be conscious of having two parts of a menu that is a hit with sake – one that appeals to Japanese guests and another that is sensitive to American guests. First of all, for Americans, use foods they are familiar with like fried foods (represented by calamari), “fireside-type” grilled skewers, and roasted foods. For Japanese tastes, it would be good to use shiokara (salted and fermented items), mezashi (dried sardines), tsukudani (foods simmered in soy sauce and mirin), or otherwise uncommon “hits.” Moreover, it would be best if the menu had some soups, like shellfish soup, to help guests sober up a little.

Sake cups
For wine, choosing the appropriate cups is a matter of course, and there are appropriate choices for sake too, but they are rarely put into practice. If actually tried it will be understood, but in instances where small sake cups and glasses for wine are both used, the way the fragrance comes out is altered to the extent you won’t believe it is the same sake.
I recommend trying the use of two kinds of cups for different varieties of cold sake (one for junmai, one for ginjo).

Educating employees
If there is a sushi bar, no matter what, the sushi chefs should offer the restaurant’s top brands. At that stage, decide on the manner in which guests can sample those brands. For the server, if they can be made to remember and recommend just two brands along with their special characteristics and selling points, the results will be exceptional.


For seminars on Japanese sake or shochu, contact Yuji Matsumoto at 310-936-4649 or ymatsumoto001@gmail.com.



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