Ezo Seafoods-Hokkaido Seafoods Specialists

Hard to believe, but the 2011 season is winding down now and we have only a few more trading days before closing the Oyster Bar on March 13th. It has been an utterly exhausting, but exciting and rewarding season. We enjoyed lots of reunions with customers from last season, introduced many new customers to Hokkaido's fine seafood, and pushed our own limits to keep Ezo itself fresh and interesting.

Now excuse the corporate style of analysis, but let me share with you some insights into the season from the marketing perspectives of "customers" and "products".

In terms of customers, the demographic profile followed the trends for Niseko in general, with many Singaporean families in during December, a strong showing from the Aussies during January and a good mix of Hong Kong and Australia during February. The “exotic” international segment, as I call it, also grew noticeably, with Russians, Germans, Scandinavians, and Hawaiians popping in to Ezo throughout the season. Significantly, Ezo welcomed its first mainland Chinese customers during February – only three groups in all, but I sense that is about to grow.

Unsurprisingly, eating and drinking tastes vary depending on the country. Our Singaporean and Hong Kongese customers sought out the high-grade sashimi such as Bluefin Tuna, Sea Urchin and Cod Roe. They washed it all down with healthy Green tea. Our Aussie patrongs love their oysters, King Red Crab and cooked seafood pared with Sapporo beer and Clare Valley Rieslings. For French customers its all about the oysters – tables would order 2 dozen at least, often eating 3 or 4 dozen, (shucked “the French way”) – and drinking New World whites. The Russians ate crab, oysters and drank Single Malt scotch. The Chinese customers ate their way through lots of sashimi and drank local Niseko Sake.

As for the Seafood, we continued to source from select fishermen but mainly from the Sapporo Wholesale Markets or, when the market is closed, from nearby Iwanai coastal fish suppliers. I drove to and from Sapporo 3 times a week, clocking up around 600kms a week. This is time consuming but it allows me to monitor and select from the full range of fresh seafood available on the day, reduce the dependence on others to select our product and finally get the best prices. This gives us at Ezo Seafoods a lot of confidence in the product we serve. It also pushes us to learn more and offer new varieties. Some examples of the seafood that made impromptu appearances on the menu would be small “Kisu” whiting (fried and served with a light vinegar sauce); baby Kinki fish (marinated with sweet ginger soy sauce); “Tsubu” sea snails (sashimi); Sea Trout (steamed with a lemon butter sauce), and “Botan Ebi” shrimp (sashimi). Everyday, it seemed, there was something new on the menu to the delight of our Japanese staff and seafood savvy patrons.

Reflecting our focus on local seafood, we also introduced a “Hokkaido Seafood Medley” which is a combination of 5 local seafood. We also had fun with the “Oyster Geography Plate” which was a collection of up to 4 different types of oysters from around Hokkaido (Shiriuchi, Konbu, Akkeshi Maruemon & Akkeshi Kakiemon). We are the only Oyster Bar offering such an assortment, as far as we are aware. While Shiriuchi oysters made an appearance on the plate, the Akkeshi oysters remained the most popular.

I’d like to take the chance to thank our customers, many of who came back again and again and recommended us to their friends. Thanks for sharing your own seafood tales and teaching us more about seafood. Thanks for trusting us to "bring it on" for you. More than a few of our customers came back on their final nights, and indeed one night, our front section was full of “last nighters”. Thank you for your trust and continued patronage.

We also thank the Niseko management companies, condominiums and lodges, especially Ski Japan, Suiboku, Gondola Chalets, the Vale Niseko, Hokkaido Tracks, Hilton, Niseko Boutiques, Niseko Green Leaf, Kimamaya, Northfield Lodge (Izimikyo) and the Red Ski House who recommended Ezo Seafoods to their guests and assisted with reservations.

Finally, Ezo was very fortunate to be staffed with some very capable staff including Japanese girls Junko and Mai-chan in the Oyster Bar. We also had some help from pleasant English lass Jay (Jemimah) on busy nights, who, despite language differences, gelled very well with her Japanese co-workers. Kimi-chan did a great job in the kitchen wielding the sashimi knife and we hope to see her back next season. Lastly, thanks to Keiko, whose love of cooking and shared vision for Ezo Seafood is at the heart of everything we do.