Alaska Keta Salmon Featured at Japan Denny’s

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute says an Alaska chum salmon dish will be on the menu for the foreseeable future at the Denny’s family restaurant chain in Japan.

Earlier this summer ASMI Japan backed a breakfast menu promotion at 380 Denny’s restaurants in Japan. The promotion featured a traditional Japanese-style breakfast menu that included Alaska chum salmon.

ASMI officials said Denny’s switched the origin of the keta salmon they use from Chile to Alaska, and that some 380 Denny’s restaurants in Japan were offering this menu item with the Alaska Seafood logo. ASMI said that Denny’s in Japan declined to make public the name of its salmon supplier.

As a result of the promotion, the staff at all these restaurants are now aware of and familiar with Alaska chum salmon, as a natural, sustainable seafood product, ASMI officials said.

The promotion prompted increased awareness and consumption of Alaska chum salmon among consumers across Japan, as well as increased awareness of the Alaska Seafood logo.

An average of 100,000 70-gram packs of Alaska chum salmon have been shipped to the participating Denny’s restaurants in Japan each month, with a value of $81,000 in U.S. dollars, ASMI said.

More details on this and other ASMI international marketing efforts will be coming up at ASMI’s All Hands on Deck meetings in Anchorage Oct. 21-23.

Look for more information at www.alaskaseafood.org.