3v /^aney Davis 



The label on the box says "imitation crab meat." But 

 inside, the product looks like crab meat, has the tex- 

 ture of crab meat, and it tastes, well, almost like crab 

 meat. 



Instead, it's a pseudoshellfish made from surimi (sur 

 e' me), a minced fish product developed by the Japa- 

 nese. The fish is processed into a paste that serves as 

 the base for restructured seafood products, or analogs. 

 Just add a little of the real thing for flavor and, voila — 

 crab legs, scallops and lobster tails. 



So far, it seems Americans don't mind a little Japa- 

 nese ingenuity making it to the dinner table. In fact, 

 consumer taste buds are giving the products positive 

 reviews, and folks are gobbling down the imitations 

 like the real thing. 



Admittedly, no substitute can entirely match the 

 flavor of fresh seafood. But, the real thing isn't always 

 available and, sometimes, the expense of Alaska king 

 crab, scallops and lobster can be prohibitive. 



In 1984, the Japanese-based Kibun Co. Ltd., the 

 world's largest processor of surimi-based products, 

 opened a plant in Raleigh. The company markets its 

 products under the label "DelicaSeas." 



Masayuki Fukuda, executive vice president of 

 Kibun Corporation of North Carolina, doesn't de- 

 scribe his company's target market as a segment of the 

 population. Instead, Fukuda grins and says the com- 

 pany wants its products to reach "every American." 



Ambitious perhaps, but from all appearances, 

 Fukuda may be on his way to achieving that goal. In 

 the last four years, surimi-based products have been 

 riding high on a wave of success. American sales for 

 surimi-based products have risen from 3.3 million 

 pounds in 1980 to 70 milhon pounds in 1984. And, 

 experts project an analysis of 1985 numbers will indi- 

 cate sales reached as high as 150 million pounds. 



The process of making surimi began in 15th century 

 Japan. The fish are skinned, eviscerated, deboned and 



(1982) 



16 million pounds 



(1983) 



33 million pounds 



American sales of surimi-based products increased almost ten-fold in four years 



