Washoku Popularity Drives Demand

The katsuobushi produced in Wadakyū’s European factory is sold in 20 countries across Europe, a customer base Wada continued to develop after moving his operation to Spain. His biggest country market is Britain, while Paris is the city with the highest sales. Demand for katsuobushi in Europe is being driven by the rising popularity of Japanese cuisine. Wadakyū’s katsuobushi can even be found in the gourmet foodstuffs section of Vigo’s El Corte Ingles upmarket department store, where it retails for €7.5 (around ¥1,000) for 40 grams.

Rafa Centeno, owner-chef of the Vigo restaurant Maruja Limon, says that he began using Wada’s katsuobushi three years ago at his establishment, which boasts three stars from Michelin. “I prefer his katsuobushi to others’ because of the flavor it imparts. I use it in soups, of course, and it also goes really well with fish or legume-based dishes.”

Wadakyū’s katsuobushi on the shelf at El Corte Ingles.

Ordinary Spanish households sprinkle katsuobushi on salad or olives or use it as a pizza topping, and in France some restaurants offer katsuobushi butter.

European Competition Heats Up

In 2016, two years after Wada began operating in Spain, a group of 10 companies, including katsuobushi manufacturers from Makurazaki, opened a plant in France. Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese companies also began exporting katsuobushi to the EU, so competition is heating up. Even so, Wadakyū sales in the EU were €950,000 (around ¥130 million) in 2017, up 20% over the previous year.

Wada envisions expanding the business to other areas in the future. For example, he is considering producing powdered dashi from skipjack tuna, turning fish scraps generated during production into fertilizer, or processing other fish landed at Vigo port. As the third-generation head of Wadakyū, he hopes to keep the business going for many more decades, building on the bold step he took of starting katsuobushi production in Europe, something no one in the industry had ever thought of doing before.

The Wadakyū factory is often featured in news reports.
(Originally published in Japanese on August 20, 2018. Banner photo: Wada Sachiyuki and employees in front of Wadakyū’s katsuobushi factory in O Porriño, Spain. Text and photos by Sawabe Katsuhito.)