‘Kaiten’ sushi chain to serve fish burgers to cut food waste in Japan

According to The Asahi Shimbun, in an effort to reduce food waste, hamburgers made from unused fish parts will appear on the menu of a conveyor belt sushi restaurant chain starting on March 1.
Kura Corp., operator of the budget-friendly Muten Kura Sushi restaurants, said the “Kura Burger” will cost 270 yen (US$ 2.40), including tax, and the sales target is 1 million a month.
Customers will have two choices, fish-based or meat-based burgers. The fish burger will be topped with sweet teriyaki sauce, while the meat burger will be served with ketchup-based sauce. The “shari” (white rice) buns will be made from rice flour and vinegar.
According to the company, only 40 percent of a fish is good to serve as a sushi item. After the bones and dry parts are removed, 20 percent of the fish goes to waste even though it is still edible.
The chain will grind these parts and process them into circular patties at the company’s plant.
Kura has rolled out low-cost sushi restaurants around Japan and also in the United States and Taiwan. It has added menu items other than sushi, such as ramen noodles and curry rice.
By adding burgers to the menu, Kura will become the No. 4 hamburger chain in Japan in terms of store numbers.
To gain publicity ahead of the official release, the company on Feb. 25 opened a pop-up store for just 7 days serving only Kura Burgers in a busy shopping district of Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201902260041.html

If you want to read this article in Japanese, please see the following link:
https://www.j-abc.com/jp-blog/9029191
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