Food Maker Savors Japan’s Sushi Ruling

The Japanese government Monday gave final approval for the import of foreign-made sushi to Japan, prompting an Escondido maker of frozen pizzas to begin converting his food factory for mass-production of quick-frozen sushi.

“The approvals (from Japan) are rolling faster than we expected, so we hope to start up by Nov. 1,” said Jim Scudder, president of Gourmet Quality Foods--best known, at least until now, for making frozen pizzas for grocery stores.

Sushi Boy, an Osaka, Japan-based chain of 44 restaurants, hopes to introduce American-made, mass-produced sushi to its customers at half the normal price for fresh, chef-prepared sushi, because fish and rice are dramatically cheaper in the United States.

Last week, a batch of 960 sample pieces of sushi, made by a Los Angeles sushi maker, was sent to Japan to determine if it could pass that country’s customs agency.

Japan strictly prohibits the import of rice, and the question was whether sushi--a piece of fish atop a ball of vinegar-flavored boiled rice--was legally importable as a processed food rather than just so much rice.

On Monday, Japan’s Food Agency ruled that overseas sushi would be allowed inside the country, opening the door for Sushi Boy to serve larger sushi portions at discount, fast-food prices, thanks to its new sushi source in Southern California.

Although the Japanese Food Agency is responsible for enforcing the rice ban, the Japanese Finance Ministry effectively settled the issue Friday by deciding to classify sushi as a processed fish product. Tariffs on foreign sushi will range from 10% to 20%, depending on the kind of topping, such as salmon roe, tuna, shellfish, shrimp or cuttlefish.

Officials said at least 20% of the total weight of imported sushi must be fish.

Scudder said last week that after the demand for his Escondido sushi is established, he could produce 2 million pieces of sushi monthly for shipment to Japan. Sushi Boy executives also are negotiating with other California sushi makers for production, a company spokeswoman said.

On Monday, Scudder met with various officials, whom he described as “go-betweens” for the sushi sales, to discuss production details.

“The next three weeks will be nothing but headache city for me,” Scudder said. “Now we are not talking about samples--of oneseys and twoseys--but of thousands. Making bulk sushi takes coordination. We want to do it right, and set it up correctly the first time.

“We have got a ton of work to do,” he said. “How many units should we put in a case--72 or 96 or 144? We have got to design the packaging to go around it. Will these stack 6- or 8-feet high? How will the boxes on the bottom hold up? Will the product flow through the facility, conveyor-wise? And we have got to coordinate the fish in, rice in, product out.”

Sushi Boy officials say they hope to begin importing American sushi in wholesale numbers by the end of this week, and will now consider seeking permission to import rice-and-beef bowls as well.

An Associated Press report from Tokyo contributed to this story.