Japanese consumers are again faced with bad news. The traditional Japanese favorite: Katsuobushi (a preparation of dried, fermented and smoked skipjack tuna) is facing huge price increases – as much as 40%. Katsuobushi is a most commonly utilized food seasoning in the average Japanese household and in the food service sector. Katsuobushi is the main ingredient of dashi (a broth) and sauces in the Japanese cuisine. After sashimi it is the second most important tuna product which absorbs 23% of all tuna consumed by the Japanese market.
The prices of Katsuobushi went up due to the global shortage of raw whole round skipjack in 2007. The lack of tuna raw material landings by the domestic Japanese tuna fleet in Makurazaki in
The world skipjack tuna price also has shown almost a 50% increase over the last 6 months.
The main Japanese producers of katsuobushi so far have faced a lot of difficulties during 2007. The situation was so hard that manufacturers cut down their factory operations by one week a month.
Main Japanese producers of katsuobushi are Yamaki, Marumoto and Ninben.
