A “working” business plan for a small sushi bar in a shopping center

How to choose equipment for a sushi bar and is it promising to open such a business? On the one hand, the fashion for Japanese food is not going away. Sushi, rolls and wok dishes do not lose popularity among customers of all ages. On the other hand, in any city there are dozens of establishments offering Asian cuisine, there is no shortage of supply, so it will be difficult for a new cafe to attract customers. Our material presents a business plan for a sushi bar, which will help you understand how profitable it is to work in this industry.

Opening your own sushi bar: what every entrepreneur needs to know

The main goal of the project according to the current business plan is to open a sushi bar to provide the population with a list of catering services. Despite the fact that there are a large number of premium Japanese restaurants, in most cases such markets position themselves as fast food, based on Japanese cuisine. The optimal solution would be to open in the format of an island-type pavilion. Such an establishment can offer its customers takeaway food, delivery of orders, and in-house service.

What are the main advantages of a sushi bar:

• high level of demand;
• low cost of production of rolls and sushi;
• a moderate amount of initial investment in the business;
• the ability to scale the business: opening new branches, changing the format of catering establishments;
• specific products that are popular among the population.

As mentioned above, an entrepreneur may give preference to different formats of a public catering outlet. This could be a restaurant or cafe, a sushi market, or a delivery service. The optimal solution would be to focus on a catering outlet that can combine all of the above functions. This will allow you to cover several areas of work at once and increase profits.

Today one can observe an active orientation of the public catering market towards the fast food segment. What is the reason for the popularity of fast food, given the fact that a healthy lifestyle and quality of nutrition are being promoted? Even during difficult economic times, this segment demonstrates good dynamics. This is due, first of all, to low prices for the goods offered. When preparing a sushi bar project, it is recommended to consider the main market trends to improve business prospects. You will not need significant investments, and with a competent approach to management, you can quickly achieve a high level of income solely due to the accumulation of clients and the markup on the finished product.

Your target audience will be very wide, as mentioned above. The main segment of the target audience is young people from 16 to 35 years old, of different genders and income levels.

Japanese restaurant equipment

When producing cold snacks, you can do without electric stoves. Only in some cases (this will be discussed later) may they be needed.

Here is a list of necessary equipment for a sushi bar:

• Sushi cases. Fish products spoil very quickly, but storing them in freezers is undesirable. They are also subject to weathering. Therefore, sealed foreign-made refrigerated display cases - sushi cases - will be required.
• Refrigeration units. It is advisable to purchase foreign refrigeration equipment.
• Thermos flasks for storing cooked rice.
• Professional rice cookers.
• Knives, cutting boards, and dishes must be specifically designed for sushi. Ordinary knives quickly rust and become dull and can ruin the taste of the finished product. The boards quickly crumble, so that wooden “splinters” begin to get into the rolls and sushi.

The cost of all equipment will be ~180,000 rubles.

Market and competitor analysis

Today we can safely say that the culture of public catering in the Russian Federation is developing very actively. This conclusion can be drawn based on the significant increase in the number of public catering establishments. Even during times of economic crisis, citizens do not refuse to visit restaurants, cafes, canteens and bistros. According to experts, the domestic public catering market is not yet fully filled; it has growth prospects, since it acts as a very capacious segment. Unlike the public catering market in other countries, the Russian market has room to grow: both in terms of consumer demand and in terms of quantity.

In the modern catering market you can find a fairly large selection of national cuisine concepts. Japanese cuisine is among the top 5 cuisines that are popular in Russia along with Russian, Caucasian, and Italian.

Some of the major trends that a person who wants to start a food service business needs to know are:

• there is a high demand for fast food;
• The demand for home food delivery is growing every year;
• the number of premium-class restaurants is decreasing, the number of establishments designed for the average budget is growing;
• To attract customers, catering establishments are guided by a price reduction policy;
• increasing popularity of new establishment formats, in particular catering outlets in shopping centers.

From all of the above, we can conclude that fast food will be one of the most successful and promising areas. Today, this is the only segment that shows positive dynamics in the Russian public catering market. Every year you can see an increase of up to 10%.

The concept of opening a point selling Japanese food, taking into account the main market trends, looks like a fairly favorable investment project. First of all, Asian cuisine is very popular among consumers. Secondly, the format of the sushi bar allows us to declare that the project belongs to the fast food segment. Thirdly, additional attractive aspects for customers are expected in the form of a delivery service and the ability to choose food to take away. Fourthly, a catering outlet can be opened in a shopping center, which will become a factor for additional customer attraction.

However, it is important to understand that you may encounter problems. The advantages of a sushi bar have already been listed, here are its disadvantages:

• the possibility of facing expensive rent;
• high level of competition;
• difficulty with organizational issues of opening a catering outlet;
• a small number of qualified staff specializing in Japanese cuisine.

However, with a competent approach, all these problems can be solved. The main attractive factors of a Japanese restaurant are the high profitability of the business, which reaches 60%, which means a very fast return on the initial investment. With proper organization of management, as well as taking into account all the key trends in the direction, you can not only occupy a free niche, but also get a large client base and fast, high income.

Premises requirements

Let's look at a ready-made business plan for a sushi bar with calculations and start with choosing a location to open. The requirements for sushi bars are divided into 2 groups: legislative and marketing. Legislative or sanitary characteristics include those regulated by law, while marketing ones include those that help you earn more. Main sanitary requirements for cafes:

1. The bar area is divided into a kitchen, an area for receiving orders and a hall for visitors. Access to the kitchen is closed to outsiders.
2. The kitchen should not be in the basement.
3. The bar is organized so that the flow of raw products does not intersect with the flow of prepared food.
4. Meat and fish are processed in a separate zone, the “meat and fish workshop”. A bactericidal lamp is needed here.
5. The kitchen walls are covered with tiles or paint in light shades, up to a height of 180 cm and above.
6. There are waterproof floors in the kitchen; any other materials are allowed in the guest room.
7. The client lounge has natural and artificial lighting.
8. Artificial ventilation is required. If the restaurant has more than 100 seats, supply and exhaust ventilation would be a good solution.
9. There is a rest room and a service bathroom for staff.
10. There is a utility room where cleaning equipment, detergents and disinfectants are stored.

Without complying with these requirements, regulatory agencies will not give permission to work, and if they are violated, they will close the bar. Marketing recommendations for the selection of premises are not so mandatory, but they help to quickly achieve net profit:

• location in a busy part of the city, in a shopping center;
• area from 40 sq.m;
• the ability to install your own sign, advertising pillar or pillar.

The kitchen should be separate from the common room

Renting a large space in a crowded place will be quite expensive, but will allow you to grow your business faster. Exactly how much you will have to spend on rent depends on the region. It is more profitable to open sushi delivery in this context. You can rent a very small area for a production workshop in a remote part of the city and save 40-60% on rent. Customers don't care where you are located because you deliver food to their destination.

The most profitable option is to combine a traditional cafe with food delivery.

Equipment and furniture for a sushi bar

All equipment and furniture needed for a sushi bar are divided into a kitchen and a living room for guests. There are no strict requirements for the hall where clients will be, only recommendations. The place should be stylish, with comfortable furniture, TVs or music. If funds allow, it is worth involving a designer in the design of the bar. You don’t have to stick to the Japanese style, it’s already out of fashion.

The configuration of the kitchen and production area will have to be approached more scrupulously. The productivity, and therefore the income of the bar, depends on the availability of all the necessary equipment and its high-quality work. Some equipment and devices are often replaced by manual labor. Basic equipment for preparing sushi and other Japanese dishes:

• rice cooker with a volume of 5 liters, from 10 thousand rubles;
• rice washing machine, from 50 thousand rubles (most bars do without such a machine, washing the rice manually);
• machine for making sushi and rolls, from 6 thousand rubles;
• deep fryer for fried and baked rolls, from 1.5 thousand rubles;
• refrigerator or freezer, from 10 thousand rubles;
• electric or gas stove, from 10 thousand rubles;
• kitchen scales, from 500 rubles;
• knives, spatulas, cutting boards, from 1 thousand rubles;
• containers for storing cooked rice, prepared chopped ingredients, from 1 thousand rubles;
• kitchen furniture - tables, shelving, work surfaces, sinks, from 10 thousand rubles.

The total cost of equipment for your establishment can be put at 50 thousand rubles (if you work without a rice washing machine). This list of equipment will be sufficient for the first stages of work. Also plan the design of your service area:

• bar counter;
• cash register;
• glass display cases with finished products or samples;
• laptop (for receiving delivery orders);
• telephone (employee mobile phones are usually used).

Thus, it is possible to open your own sushi bar even with a starting capital of 150-200 thousand rubles. The high demand for such food, combined with the delivery service, helps recoup the investment for 2-3 months of work.

The hall needs to be made comfortable and attractive for customers

Menu and services

The bar owner independently decides what to include on the menu. There are no strict rules regarding the assortment. The establishments offer approximately the same positions:

• 10-15 types of rolls;
• up to 8 types of sushi;
• wok noodles 3-4 types with 3-4 fillings;
• 2-3 salads;
• 2-3 desserts.

Often Japanese cuisine is often combined with Italian, or more precisely, with pizza. This is a popular and profitable option, but then the cost of equipment will be slightly higher - you need a pizza oven and several auxiliary tools.

The bar's profit will be greater if it combines the work of a cafe with a delivery service. Ordering food to your home and office is becoming a popular service in cities with large and medium-sized populations. The food delivery market in most regions cannot be called free. It may be difficult for a start-up establishment to attract its first customers, but this task can be solved by advertising, social networks, promotions and discounts.

Features of the segment: offer and services

Just a few years ago you could only order sushi in a respectable restaurant; today it is a fairly common food that can be found at the fast food level. The reason lies in the serious spread of this type of business. The high level of competition does not scare entrepreneurs. Selling Asian food is a very profitable business. Achieving success in this direction is quite simple, the main thing is to decide on the concept of a public catering outlet, as well as competently draw up a business plan for opening a sushi bar with calculations.

The first thing you should decide on is the format of the establishment. We have already listed the most common formats above: premium restaurant, sushi bar, delivery, market in the format of a shopping island. The latter format has many advantages. First of all, there is a high concentration of potential customers in shopping centers. These can be both visitors to the shopping center and its employees. Opening a point in such a public place will allow you to significantly save on marketing. In addition, there is no need to create a large staff. You can refuse waiters, hostesses, as well as other positions that are required in a standard cafe.

The assortment of the sushi bar should be varied. It should include not only rolls and sushi, but also:

• soups;
• food in boxes - noodles or rice;
• hot and baked rolls;
• sandwich rolls, which will be an alternative to regular sandwiches, sandwiches and burgers;
• beverages;
• Dessert.

The average check per person will be from 250 to 500 rubles. A good solution would be to diversify the menu by offering a business lunch. By providing your customers with a discount of 10 to 25%, you will cover possible costs with the number of orders.

Over time, you will be able to competently formulate an assortment based on the preferences of the audience. It is better to remove items from the menu that are not popular and focus on those options that are relevant among customers. In addition to directly selling rolls and sushi, to improve your market position, attract customers and increase income, you can add a delivery service for finished products.

Reviews from our clients

Feedback on the business plan for opening a bar
As a result of fruitful cooperation with Plan-Pro, a loan in the amount of 10.3 million rubles was agreed upon. A business plan, which contained detailed calculations and their rationale, as well as detailed analysis, helped us implement the project of opening a sports bar.

Kravtsov Igor Ivanovich, Rostov region

Feedback on a sports bar business plan

What was especially pleasing about the business plan that we bought on the website plan-pro.ru was that there was no “water”. Everything is short, clear and to the point. The calculations are detailed, but at the same time capacious and simple. You can make changes: we have slightly adjusted the investment plan and the cost of food. The business plan helped us analyze a new direction and improve our development strategy for the future.

Tamara and Dmitry Mikhailets, Moscow region.

Feedback on a business plan for opening a hookah bar

We received private investments in the amount of 57 million rubles . The business plan, wonderfully developed by the consulting company plan-pro.ru, played a huge role. The business plan was completed in just 8 days; all our wishes and requirements were taken into account.

Sumyatin O.V., individual entrepreneur, Novosibirsk region

Feedback on a sushi bar business plan

To obtain a loan for business development, we needed a high-quality investment project that would confirm the success of our future company. After a short search, we bought a ready-made business plan for a sushi bar from the Plan Pro company. I was attracted by the relatively low cost, structured and functional financial model, with the ability to manually adjust indicators . After reviewing the project, we were given a loan in the amount of 12 million rubles.

Igotin P., Tula region

Marketing plan

As already stated, your main advantage is the breadth of your audience of regular consumers:

• active young people who order takeaway food;
• employees of nearby organizations who order food for delivery. This can be either a business lunch or a standard sushi bar offer;
• shopping center employees who will come for lunch;
• shopping center visitors who want to grab a bite to eat on the spot;
• various types of customers who prefer sushi delivery.

The optimal solution would be to open a sushi bar or a point selling rolls and sushi in a large city with a population of more than a million people. In small towns, it is recommended to open such a business only if the level of competition is low.

Taking into account all the above, it is necessary to prepare a high-quality marketing strategy in advance. It will include the following steps:

• branding of a catering outlet, that is, development of a corporate identity and logo of the organization, naming of the establishment;
• positioning the company on the market, that is, directly organizing an advertising campaign that will allow it to make itself known in the city.

The name of the establishment must be bright and memorable. This will help differentiate your business from other offerings on the market. Create an eye-catching sign that will interest consumers. It is better to use bright colors for it, as well as Japanese themes.

There are a huge number of advertising tools that will help you quickly promote your business and gain your own client base. We list the main ones:

• advertising videos in the media;
• Internet promotion using your own website and page on social networks;
• external advertising using signs, billboards, banners;
• distribution of printed materials;
• participation in various fairs and food exhibitions;
• development of loyalty programs, promotions, discount systems.

The most effective way to open a sushi bar is to advertise on the Internet. In addition to promoting sites, you can use various promotions. On social networks, sushi bars often hold “lucky repost” promotions or “review competitions” - the winners receive a free set of rolls from your company. All these tools help attract additional audiences. A good solution would be a happy hour promotion - during this time you can order sushi at a discount.

Don’t forget that the best marketing tool at all times has been and remains high-quality service and product. If the consumer likes the prepared rolls, as well as the service of the staff, he will return to your establishment again and again, and also recommend it to his friends.

Financial plan

The financial plan for a sushi bar involves taking into account all the income and expenses of the establishment. Planning is carried out for 3 years, since it is believed that after this time the business will expand and new retail outlets will appear.

Calculation of initial and monthly expenses

To enter the sushi market, you have to calculate the amount of initial investment or how much money you need to start a business. To do this, you need to summarize the following items:

Of the total amount, variable costs include the cost of raw materials that are used in the process of preparing dishes, and payment for generated capacities (gas, water, electricity, etc.). Fixed costs include utility bills, rent, employee salaries, advertising campaign costs, taxes and depreciation. The size of the latter value is calculated using a linear method based on the useful life of fixed assets of 5 years. Fixed costs also include taxes, which are not presented in the table below, since they do not have a fixed value and depend on profit.

Sushi bar production business plan

In order to open your own Japanese restaurant, you will need to put in a lot of effort. In particular, the following steps will be required:

Choosing a location and interior concept

Any public food outlet will be popular or unpopular depending on its location. In order to open a sushi bar in the right place, focus on two factors. First, it must be a place with high human traffic. Secondly, it is not recommended to give preference to locations where there will be competitors nearby. The ideal option would be a location in a large supermarket or shopping center. There is a very high customer traffic here; in addition, it is possible to cover a wide variety of human categories.

Luckily, you won't need too much space. From 10 to 15 square meters will be enough, on which an island equipped with the necessary equipment will be placed. Decorate this island in a shopping center in bright colors, and be sure to ensure that there is a seating area with tables and chairs near it.

Remember that choosing the right location for the sushi bar is not enough. The retail space will need to be prepared for efficient operation. Due to limited space, effective placement of commercial and production equipment is necessary. In addition, the premises must be brought into compliance with the standards required by the SES and fire inspectorate.

Business plan: a few words about products

Even the best sushi chef cannot prepare delicious rolls without quality ingredients. We won’t now list everything that sushi is made from, we’ll just note that the rice, vinegar and sugar must be Japanese. This is not a whim, it is an integral part of Japanese cuisine; the fish may also be Norwegian. Products made from domestic raw materials will appeal only to those who have not tried overseas ingredients, and there are few of them (such people also rarely buy sushi, so you can’t count on increasing business profitability due to this category of citizens).

Organizational and legal issues for opening a fish restaurant

In order to start working, you will need to register a retail outlet with government authorities and obtain all permits. To conduct commercial activities in the field of public catering, you will need to register an LLC form of ownership with a simplified taxation system “income minus expenses 15%”.

According to the OKVED classifier, you will need to choose:

56.10.1 Activities of restaurants and cafes.

You should immediately be prepared for the fact that the process of obtaining all the necessary documentation can take up a lot of your time and money. The catering industry is characterized by a high level of bureaucracy. Here it is necessary to obtain a sufficient number of permits. Here is an approximate list of documents:

• a certificate from the tax office confirming that the cash registers have been registered;
• conclusion of the SES;
• conclusion of the State Fire Supervision Authority;
• conclusion of Rospotrebnadzor;
• approval of the list of sold assortment in the SEN. Remember that the list will need to be approved after each change in the assortment.

Once you have received all the permits from various government authorities, you will also need to obtain permission to open a food outlet from the local city authorities.

Personnel costs

Waiters serving customers at a sushi bar should, at least in appearance, somewhat resemble the Japanese. It is better to hire sociable and friendly young people of pleasant appearance. You need to take care of the original uniform for the staff.

Total salary payment per month will be from ~230,000 rubles.

Financial calculations for opening a point of sale of Japanese food

Before you begin implementing a business plan for opening a sushi bar with calculations, be sure to calculate the approximate amount of initial investment. To do this, you need to calculate all expense items. This includes equipment, the purchase of raw materials, working capital, and much more. We list the main positions below. Remember that the article shows average costs, which may differ from yours: the level of costs will depend on the format of the establishment, scale, region, and other factors.

• rent 15,000 rubles;
• purchase of equipment RUB 300,000;
• organizing a business, registering with government agencies, obtaining permits RUB 20,000;
• advertising campaign costs RUB 70,000;
• purchase of raw materials 100,000 rub.

In total, at the initial stage you will need 505,000 rubles. Remember that you will need a working capital fund in case of unexpected expenses. It will be about 100-200 thousand rubles.

You will also need to take into account variable costs. They include the costs of raw materials, rent, advertising, and wages. On average, this is 200-250 thousand rubles. The payback period for the initial investment will be approximately 5-7 months. The average level of profitability at the initial stage was 29%. Profitability levels are expected to increase in the future.

How much does it cost to open

You need to start drawing up a business plan by counting the items for which you will have to pay:

If the business is run correctly, the monthly income will be 650,000 rubles, which will help recoup costs in 9 months.

Monthly expenses for the purchase of products, salaries, advertising, taxes, and utility bills will amount to 500,000 rubles.

Risk analysis

Opening any business is associated with possible risks, as well as threat factors. They can be internal and external. External factors include the characteristics of the sales market, as well as threats associated with economic crises. Internal problems include the peculiarities of managing an organization. We will list the main risks for a sushi bar, and we will also try to figure out how to deal with them.

1. Bad choice of location. It has already been said above that the choice of location is very important. However, even if you open a retail outlet in a shopping and entertainment center, you may also encounter problems. This occurs as a result of an overestimation of the level of human traffic, or a poor assessment of competitors. Therefore, approach the issue of choosing a location very carefully in advance. Consider all factors that may affect attendance.
2. Unscrupulous suppliers. Due to bad wholesale companies, you may experience low-quality products or increased raw material costs. All this entails costs and negatively affects consumer demand. This risk can be reduced. You don’t work with one supplier, you cooperate with different companies. Include conditions in the contract in advance that provide for the financial responsibility of the wholesale company in case of problems.
3. Increased level of competition, influence of competitors. Due to the fact that you are entering a highly competitive market, you must understand that this factor will have a very serious impact. In order to reduce it, form your own client base, constantly study the market and its features, and offer clients a loyalty program. These could be discounts or promotions. Seeing that you have competitive advantages, clients choose you.
4. Increase in rental costs. This problem is very often faced by novice entrepreneurs who are inattentive when preparing documentation. In order not to encounter this problem, they conclude a long-term contract in which all the conditions will be specified.
5. Lack of demand among customers. To avoid this problem, and as a consequence the problem of lack of profit, work on marketing the organization.
6. Poor quality service. Low qualifications of personnel, which results in poor performance of employees, always entail a decrease in demand and sales. This risk can be mitigated at the personnel selection stage.
7. Equipment breakdown. In order to avoid this problem, carry out regular maintenance of the units. And if you have a working capital fund, then in the event of a breakdown, you can quickly liquidate them.

Business in the catering industry is usually a complex project due to the high level of competition, as well as the high level of bureaucracy in the field. Your initial tasks are to build competitive advantages and business reputation. Take care of a pricing policy that will attract customers, as well as a marketing strategy that will allow you to reach as many potential consumers as possible.

What could go wrong: possible risks

In order to assess the risk of opening a project, it is worth analyzing external and internal factors. The first group includes threatening circumstances related to the country’s economy, the second group includes the efficiency of business management. The table below shows the main representatives of both groups:

Based on practice, the most significant problems in the catering industry include the reaction of competitors, spoilage of products and a decrease in the reputation of the establishment. In the first case, it is important to pay attention to working on the competitive advantages of the bar, in particular, pricing policy, marketing strategy and the formation of a “plastic” system of contact with visitors. The second problem can be solved by properly planning sales and volume of purchases, while maintaining control over product costs. To protect the bar from a decline in reputation, you should take a serious approach to the issue of choosing staff, train employees, get acquainted with customer opinions regarding the quality of service, and introduce a bonus system for staff.

Open a sushi bar yourself or get help

Today there are a large number of franchises on the market from popular chains of production and sale of Japanese food. The benefit of such an offer lies in the obvious support from the head office, a well-promoted brand and the absence of the need to engage in marketing, forming a network of equipment from the company. However, when choosing to work under a franchise, you will be greatly limited in your freedom of action. In addition, investments may turn out to be much larger than when opening an establishment on your own - an additional expense item is the purchase of the franchise itself and monthly royalty payments.

A franchise is a good option for an entrepreneur who has no experience in the catering industry or in business in general. This is the approach that will help you figure out the direction with support from experienced specialists from a third-party, popular company.

A good option if you want to reduce the investment burden would be to purchase a ready-made business. However, in this case you need to be very careful. Study the problems of the establishment and think: can you cope with them? For example, some establishments are sold due to low profit levels. With a competent approach to management, elaboration of marketing, assortment, and personnel changes, this problem can be solved. But if the company has a negative business reputation, you will have a much more difficult time. Forming public opinion is always easier than correcting it; remember this when starting your own business.

Possible difficulties when opening a sushi bar

As a restaurateur starting from scratch, you risk facing the following difficulties:

1. A weak advertising campaign that does not attract the desired number of customers.
2. Ignorance of the market and competition.
3. Difficulties in setting up smooth bar operation.
4. Frequent changes of personnel, difficulties in attracting qualified specialists.
5. Low quality of purchased products.
6. Incorrect menu design.
7. Difficulties with correct preparation of tax reporting documents.

Production plan

The production plan can be short-term or long-term; at the stage of opening an establishment, it is enough to plan activities for 1 year. What should a production plan include? The entrepreneur must plan the number and types of dishes that will be produced daily, weekly and monthly. Such a plan can be drawn up based on a report from a marketer who will calculate the approximate flow of customers.

Based on the data obtained on the quantity of products, it is necessary to provide the required amount of equipment and personnel. How many rice cookers to buy, how many knives and boards should be in the kitchen, how many waiters should work in the hall and cooks in the kitchen - these are the main questions that the production plan should answer.

Once specific numbers for dishes, equipment and personnel appear on paper, it is necessary to calculate the raw materials that will be required to implement the plan. The presence of such a calculation will protect the future sushi bar from hitches in the kitchen, the absence of some dishes from the menu, and will help organize a high-quality continuous work process.

Introduction

A lot of time will pass between the birth of a business idea and the receipt of the first profit. From a legislative point of view, an establishment serving Japanese cuisine is no different from any other restaurant, therefore, as far as registering an enterprise is concerned, there is no difference. An individual approach will need to be applied when creating the concept of the establishment.

The high popularity of Japanese cuisine ensures the profitability of sushi bars in both small and large cities. Visitors to such establishments are people under the age of 30, often couples, and groups of several people.

The main costs are for the purchase of equipment and promotional events. Opening a sushi bar can pay for itself after just 1 year. However, you should be wary of unnecessary expenses and ill-considered actions, which is why an entrepreneur should make calculations and draw up a business plan.

Description of services and products

The standard assortment of a sushi bar should include raw fish dishes: sushi and sashimi, and their variety is already the “highlight” of each establishment. The owner of a sushi bar undoubtedly faces the question: limit himself to cold cuisine or expand the menu with hot dishes? By offering only cold cuisine, you can save a lot on kitchen equipment; on the other hand, hot dishes of Japanese cuisine are very popular.

In addition to sushi, the Japanese restaurant offers salads, soups, noodles, baked rolls, tempura dishes and rice with various additives. It is also worth considering sets, that is, sets of rolls for large companies. If the establishment will offer only soft drinks, then the menu must include several types of tea.

If the owner of the sushi bar is not a professional chef, then it is better to entrust the creation of the menu to a specialist. The success of the future sushi bar will depend on the level of knowledge, education and experience of the chef. For an economy class establishment, it is enough to find a Russian chef with experience in a Japanese restaurant, but for elite establishments you need to look for a highly qualified specialist.

Since establishments serving Japanese cuisine have gained enormous popularity, finding suitable staff with sufficient experience is not difficult. However, as a publicity stunt and to popularize a new sushi bar, you can hire a real Japanese chef. To find such personnel, you can contact specialized HR agencies.

Establishments serving Japanese cuisine are now actively developing a market niche for home delivery of dishes. Many companies do not even have their own restaurant, but are limited only by the costs of kitchen staff, transportation costs and couriers. Whether or not to deliver sushi to your home is up to the owner to decide at the initial stage of creating a business.

Which equipment to choose

To fully operate the sushi bar you will need to purchase:

• a professional rice cooker and a thermos in which the cooked rice will be stored;
• a display case where ready-made sushi and rolls will be stored - a sushi case;
• microwave oven and dishes;
• electric stove and additional small equipment;
• fryer and table for preparing the product;
• for storing seafood - refrigeration equipment;
• to store the necessary ingredients (sauces, dry products) you will need a rack;
• a nightstand is required to store tableware;
• two sinks: 1 – deep for washing dishes; 2 – for washing the hands of staff;
• showcase;
• furniture for visitors to the establishment.

Step-by-step opening instructions

Step-by-step planning for opening a Japanese cuisine cafe includes:

1. Preparation of documents.
2. Rent of premises and choice of interior design;
3. Purchase of equipment and inventory;
4. Interviewing and hiring staff.

Documentation

First of all, you need to register as an individual entrepreneur.

For this you will need:

• passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation;
• application for registration of individual entrepreneurs;
• payment of state duty in the amount of 800 rubles.

Next, you need to register with a tax organization by choosing a taxation method. For businesses in the catering industry, UTII is used, for food delivery - the simplified tax system (15%).

After this, inspections are carried out by the fire service and the SES, which will issue documents permitting the establishment to operate.

Room and design

The main point when choosing a room is a convenient location. Analysis of the territory where you plan to open a sushi bar will allow you to make a conclusion in advance about the trafficability. To avoid competition from large Japanese cuisine chains, it is recommended to open points in residential areas and where the number of sushi bars is minimal.

GOST 30389-95 / GOST R 50762-95 stipulates that a sushi bar must have convenient driveways and pedestrian access to the entrance. There should be an information sign on the building. The area adjacent to the enterprise must have artificial lighting in the evening. Areas with garbage disposals must be at least 20 m away from the windows and doors of the sushi bar.

The best places would be:

• places near metro stations;
• close to large business centers;
• close to higher education institutions;
• close to parks, attractions and cinemas;
• in shopping centers.

The inside of the sushi bar should be equipped with:

• water supply systems;
• sewerage;
• ventilation;
• heating;
• electric lighting;
• telephone network.

For interior design, it is recommended to hire a professional designer who will create a Japanese atmosphere in the sushi bar and complement it with the necessary details. This will make your establishment memorable.

Services provided by design agencies:

• creation of a design project;
• development of a unique style;
• package of drawings;
• redevelopment of the premises;
• selection of finishing materials;
• selection of furniture and decor;
• assistance in purchasing everything you need.

Don't forget to bring something of your own into the interior. Visitors always remember for a long time restaurants where the owner’s love for his establishment is felt.

Design ideas:

• interesting souvenirs brought by the owner from other countries;
• photographs of employees in wooden frames on the wall;
• unusual lamps;
• aquariums.

The sushi bar can be decorated in different styles.

Sushi bar in art deco style

Sushi bar in minimalist style

Sushi bar in loft style

Sushi bar in modern style

Sushi bar in Scandinavian style

Sushi bar in national Japanese style

Equipment and inventory

In a Japanese cuisine cafe you will need:

In the video of the Sushnaya Group of Companies channel, the authors share what equipment is in their kitchen.

Staff

To open one sushi bar you need:

• 2 administrators;
• hostess;
• 4 waiters;
• 1 cook;
• 2 assistant cooks;
• 2 courier drivers;
• cleaning woman.

Estimated employee salaries:

It is important that the staff is polite and friendly.

Requirements for a sushi bar administrator:

• At least one year of experience in a similar position;
• communication skills;
• HR management skills;
• ability to maintain order in the room;
• ability to resolve conflict situations with visitors;
• Experience working with a cash register.

Requirements for hostess:

• experience;
• friendliness;
• communication skills;
• neat appearance;
• teamwork;
• grammatically correct speech.

Requirements for a waiter:

• communication skills;
• work experience of at least one year;
• knowledge of Japanese cuisine;
• ability to carry on a conversation with a guest.

Chef Requirements:

• three years of work experience;
• recommendations from previous places of work;
• knowledge of Japanese cuisine.

Requirements for a courier driver:

• possession of a driver's license category B;
• punctuality;
• responsibility.

All sushi bar employees will need a medical certificate.

Thorough interviewing of job candidates and cooperation with large recruitment agencies will help you hire highly qualified chefs and waiters.

Calendar plan

Compliance with the deadlines of the calendar plan will allow you to open your business in the shortest possible time. The longest stage will be the preparation of documents and repair work.

How to attract customers to a sushi bar?

In Russia, the sushi and roll business is well known, and therefore the entrepreneur will not have to waste resources on educating potential visitors about the benefits of Japanese cuisine. Consequently, the task of the advertising strategy is to attract the attention of the audience to a specific establishment. How to do it:

1. For a cafe you need to choose a sonorous and memorable name that corresponds to the specialization and concept of the establishment;
2. It is advisable to decorate the facade and entrance group in an oriental style, using thematic decorative elements and ornaments;
3. A large illuminated sign should be installed above the entrance. The name of a sushi bar can be written in a font that resembles hieroglyphs;
4. If the interior of the establishment is original, then the windows can be left open. Otherwise, it is better to decorate them with patterns and ornaments;
5. The sign must correspond to the sign and the general style of the establishment. You can write on it with chalk about current promotions and discounts;
6. Flyers with a discount must be distributed to the bearer in neighboring offices and placed in the mailboxes of all surrounding houses within a radius of 1–2 km;
7. It is more effective to use advertising in elevators if there is a delivery service. Even if it is not there, the announcements will constantly remind residents about the establishment;
8. A mark with the location of the sushi bar should be placed on maps of Google and Yandex search services. It is also advisable to write about the establishment in the 2GIS directory;
9. On the cafe’s website, in addition to the menu with photos of dishes and prices, you need to post information about promotions. To order sushi at home, an online form is provided;
10. It is necessary to create sushi bar groups on social networks. Here you can hold repost competitions and provide bonuses to the winners;
11. Finally, it is advisable to post information about the establishment on all city websites and forums, in local thematic communities.

How much can you earn from selling sushi bar products?

It is expected that more than 60% of the bar's revenue will come from the sale of sushi and rolls, 10% from the sale of drinks and 30% from other dishes.

The average bill of our establishment will be 300 rubles, so the organization’s services will be available to many visitors with an average and lower average income.

The shopping center's traffic averages 7,500 people per day. Of these, about 10% or 750 people visit the food court site and order lunch. In total, there are 6 catering outlets on the food court site, including a sushi bar. Let's assume that only 10% (minimum) of the total number of visitors, which is 75 people, will order at our bar. With an average bill of 300 rubles per person. The daily revenue of the sushi bar will be 22,500 rubles, per month – 675,000 rubles.

As can be seen from the graph, the main operating season is autumn-winter, a decline in sales is observed in the spring-summer period, when monthly revenue drops by an average of 30% in spring and 40% in summer. Thus, revenue for the calendar year of operation will be 6,682,500 rubles.

*The cost of a roll is about 5 rubles, and the selling price is 20 rubles/piece. The markup is about 400%. The markup on drinks and other products for resale will be no more than 100%.

Possible risks

Any business venture contains pitfalls that must be kept in mind. We list the main planning risks and possible ways to minimize them:

• the arrival of a serious competitor from a large corporation on the market - it is necessary to regularly work out the concept of the bar with key personnel, monitor the improvement in the attitude of visitors;

• inexperienced employees - let the consulting firm search for employees and conduct skill development courses on an ongoing basis;

• disruption of the supply of ingredients - have several reliable suppliers around you.

Which tax system to choose for a sushi bar

The organizational and legal form of the organization will be individual entrepreneurship (IP). There is no sale of strong alcohol, so it is not necessary to register a legal entity. The taxation system will be a single tax on imputed income. The area of ​​the visitor service hall allows the use of this special. mode. The tax amount will be calculated using the formula: 15% * (1000 (basic yield) * sq.m.)*k1*k2. The k2 coefficient for public catering facilities with a customer service hall in the Ulyanovsk region is 0.55; k1 – the deflator coefficient in 2020 is 1.569. The planned area of ​​the visitor service hall is 55 m2. As a result of the calculations made, the tax amount will be 7119 rubles per month.

The premises for the sushi bar are planned to be rented in a large shopping center on a special food court area. The planned operating hours of the bar are from 10:00 to 20:00.

How to register a business

In addition to the fact that you need to come up with an original name for the future sushi bar, you will also need to choose in what form to open the enterprise: or LLC. According to experts, if the annual turnover does not exceed 120 million rubles, then it is profitable to be an individual entrepreneur using a simplified taxation system. One of the advantages of running an individual entrepreneur is also simplified reporting.

Important. When registering an individual entrepreneur, it is automatically placed on the general taxation system, so it is necessary to write an application for the transition to the simplified tax system, according to which the individual entrepreneur must pay 6% of the income received and separately contributions to the pension fund and the compulsory health insurance fund. What other taxes does an individual entrepreneur pay, read here -.

You can register as an individual entrepreneur at the local tax office or at one of the Multifunctional Centers, if there are any in your region. You can also contact any law firm that helps you register a company; such a service will cost from 1,500 to 6,000 rubles.

The registration procedure is very easy and even a beginner can handle it. After selecting the name of the enterprise, OKVED codes, and tax system, you need to print a receipt for paying the state duty. Such a receipt can be found on the Federal Tax Service website, and the amount will be 800 rubles.

So, if the receipt is in hand, then you need to take the originals and copies of your passport and TIN, and go to the MFC or local tax office. On site, you will need to fill out an application for registration of an individual as an individual entrepreneur and an application for switching to the simplified tax system.

Information. Individual entrepreneurs do not have the right to sell alcoholic beverages; only LLCs have this opportunity.

The tax registration will be carried out in 3 working days, and at the MFC – in 7 working days. As a result, the entrepreneur will receive a certificate of state registration of individual entrepreneurs, a certificate of registration with the tax authorities and a registration sheet in the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs. The inspection carries out registration with the Pension Fund and the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund independently.

Which OKVED code to choose for a sushi bar?

OKVED is a list of various types of activities; when registering an enterprise, its future owner must indicate one or more codes so that the tax service has a clear idea of ​​what the enterprise does.

If the sushi bar will deliver orders or intends to serve weddings or banquets, then the application must indicate code 55.52 “Supply of catering products.” If there is supposed to be a bar with cocktails and snacks, then the classifier has the following code: 55.4 “Bar activities.”

The production and sale of culinary products in a sushi bar meets code 55.30 “Activities of restaurants and cafes.” The last code will be the main one for the sushi bar’s activities, so it must be indicated in the first line in the application form.

What permits and licenses are needed for a sushi bar?

Obtaining a state certificate Registration is only the first step that makes a business legal. To open a catering establishment, in particular a sushi bar, you will need several more documents:

• retail license (issued for 1 year);
• license to sell alcoholic beverages (sale with consumption at the place of purchase, issued for 5 years);
• patent for carrying out trading activities (issued by the local government);
• conclusion of the SES.

If the sushi bar building is leased, the landlord must provide a fire safety certificate. The entrepreneur himself should receive such a conclusion only if the sushi bar building was built independently.

Organizational plan

Organizational actions before opening an establishment should include hiring staff, preparing premises, purchasing equipment and raw materials. Don’t forget about additional points, such as garbage removal and regular disinfection of premises.

Download sushi bar business plan

A necessary condition for creating a Japanese sushi bar is stylization of the premises. In addition to the choice of materials and colors, the interior should be complemented with accessories that are associated with Japan. Selecting the necessary furniture, lighting fixtures - the interior design process is quite complicated, therefore, if your budget allows, it is worth hiring a professional designer.

If the company will deliver meals to your home, then you need to find a supplier of packaging materials - cases, boxes, bags. You also need to take care of transport and personnel who will carry out delivery.

It is better to draw up an organizational plan indicating the exact timing of completion of each stage. For example, searching for a supplier of raw materials - 1 week, purchasing stoves for the kitchen - 10 days. A Gantt chart, a tool used by managers in the field of project management, will help you control the process. Such a chart is a set of rectangles of various lengths that are located on a graph with a timeline. If you carefully plan each stage, then determining the exact opening date of the sushi bar will not be difficult, and in the preparation process you can prevent possible hiccups.

The ubiquitous sushi

In the mid-90s, Japanese cuisine, the symbols of which are, of course, sushi rolls, literally took over expensive Russian restaurants. With the advent of chain Japanese restaurants, sushi has become available to almost all segments of society. The third, one might say revolutionary, blow to the prestige of Japanese cuisine was dealt just a year and a half ago by manufacturers of ready-made salads, who began producing rolls on an industrial scale, selling sushi sets in regular stores next to sausages and dumplings. And this market, unlike the restaurant market, is still far from saturation.

On the crest of a wave

About two years ago, recalls the general director of the Moscow Svetlana Kim

, she and her husband went to a Japanese restaurant and were very surprised:
To get inside, we had to stand in a very long line.
The last time I stood in line for that long at a restaurant was in the late 80s, during the Soviet Union. That’s when we decided to pay attention to Japanese cuisine: if sushi is so popular, why not start producing it? Three years ago, Japanese cuisine was still “at the crest of a wave,” and themed restaurants opened in the capital almost weekly. But there was no sushi with rolls in retail at all: it was believed that the exotic was simply unthinkable in the democratic segment of trade.

There was another problem - shelf life: as you know, it is difficult to preserve fresh fish. Only when these problems were solved did a new product appear. Manufacturers of ready-made salads started producing it. This is understandable: they have equipped workshops at hand, but the salad market has long been saturated and does not promise rapid growth.

Maxim Akulovich

, General Director of St. Petersburg:
When we entered the business, it became clear that we were late to the “salad pie” section, the competition was extreme.
Then we decided to make sushi for retail - then you could only try sushi in restaurants. No one had done this before us. True, the stores were initially reluctant to cooperate; Atlanta only managed to come to an agreement with the Metro Cash & Carry chain. The reason was unattractive packaging. One day Maxim Akulovich found himself in Manchester, where he went to cheer for his native Zenit. At the stadium, hawkers offered Japanese food in the form of ready-made sushi sets in neat plastic containers, divided into sections, with beautifully arranged rolls, pickled ginger petals, wasabi cubes, soy sauce, and chopsticks. Just like in a real Japanese restaurant, only inexpensive and fast.

All that remained was to reproduce the idea on native soil. It was sushi sets that revolutionized the sushi market in Russia a year and a half ago.

has been known on the Moscow market for a long time: Moscow has been eating its ready-made salads for many years.

Svetlana Kim: Previously, we had one good chef working in our salad shop, but he went to a Japanese restaurant, where he managed to rise to the rank of assistant chef. And here is our new idea... I immediately invited him to return, heading the Japanese cuisine workshop

.

According to restaurateurs, it is the “sushi master” (master of preparing sushi and rolls) who largely determines the quality of the finished product and the success of the entire project.

Path to the masses

Maxim Akulovich is confident that even now the capital’s sushi set market is at best one-third full. Just walk through Moscow supermarkets - not all of them have sushi in their assortment. Especially in budget chains (such as Pyaterochka and Kopeika), whose clients, as their managers assure, “don’t care for sushi.” But, according to manufacturers, the situation may change in the near future with rising incomes.

Maxim Akulovich: The fashion for Japanese restaurant cuisine is on the decline; the middle class has long been full of sushi. But for visitors to affordable grocery stores, it’s still just the beginning. And there will be growth until there is sushi on the shelves of every store; there is still a couple of years for this. In the regions - even more

.

Svetlana Kim: To become a mass product, sushi sets must have a more or less affordable price

.

For now, you can count the number of sushi producers on one hand: “Ariram”, “Atlanta”, “Optima-torg”, “Kanpai”, “Chingan”...

Svetlana Kim: When we started, we were lucky - we found ourselves in a real sushi boom, and besides, there was no one on the market. The market has now stabilized somewhat

.

It managed to become the largest domestic manufacturer of sushi for retail in just a year of operation. Now, according to expert estimates, it sells more than 2.5 million products monthly—about a third of the rolls and sushi sold in the country’s retail chains. "Atlanta" achieves success largely due to its affordable price - from 180 rubles. for a sushi set. According to some data, 15% of the capital's market belongs to.

The market for ready-made sushi sets is very young and small, so no one ordered any marketing research for it. But you can estimate its volumes.

Svetlana Kim: The average wholesale price of a kilogram of sushi is about a thousand rubles. We produce about 36 tons of sushi per year, our turnover (for sushi) is about 3 million rubles. per month (the average bill for a sushi set in a store is 300 rubles). If we own up to 15% of the Moscow sushi market, it turns out that Muscovites annually buy 240-250 tons of product at retail (excluding restaurants), which in money is approximately 250 million rubles

.

According to Maxim Akulovich, every year the two capitals, Moscow and St. Petersburg, eat almost $60 million worth of sushi.

According to Svetlana Kim, up to half of sushi sales in Moscow retail come from Auchan stores, the rest comes from “other chain stores.”

Now the most important thing, according to manufacturers, is product promotion: buyers must understand that sushi is not something “restaurant and expensive” at all, but a completely affordable product.

As Akulovich says, “on land we need to move forward very quickly, because there are a lot of people who want to start here - it’s a very tempting business, the technology is simple, the market is far from saturated.”

Only 60 people are involved in product promotion in Atlanta, which is why the company managed to promote itself in just a couple of months, sales at first grew by 300% monthly. Now in St. Petersburg, where the company has almost completely captured the market, sales are increasing monthly by 7%, the annual increase reaches almost 100%! On the eve of the New Year holidays, Atlanta managed to sell 3 million sushi rolls.

Problem fish

The main problem faced by manufacturers of sushi and rolls for retail is shelf life. According to Svetlana Kim, because of this, it took them a whole year to complete the paperwork, although Ariram has had equipped food production facilities for a long time.

Svetlana Kim: Suddenly, problems arose with the Institute of Parasitology, which, understandably, became tense when it came to fish. Of course, we were immediately forbidden to fill our sushi with raw fish. It’s one thing when a fish is caught in Japan and eaten there right away, but another when it is transported thousands of kilometers away... But on the road, for example, the refrigerator can turn off, and the journey itself takes about a week. As a result, there is a minimum period left for implementation

.

It is for this reason that producers, one might say, invented “Russian sushi.” However, even European sushi is very different from traditional Japanese sushi.

Robert Lee

, chef of Japanese cuisine:
Traditional Japanese cuisine consists of small, simple rolls.
And for example, one of our most popular rolls, “California,” was not invented in Japan, where they hardly consume mayonnaise. Our cuisine is adapted to European tastes .

Mr. Akulovich called his products “gourmi sushi”, posting a declaration on the company’s website explaining how it differs from the original: gourmi sushi is made in accordance with traditional Japanese recipes, but instead of raw fish and seafood, specially salted products are used for cooking sushi, thereby guaranteeing longer preservation.

Maxim Akulovich: In fact, there is almost no real sushi in restaurants, since at such a distance from the sea it is almost impossible to preserve the freshness of the fish or it will be very expensive. We simply tried to develop a special product for the Russian market based on Japanese dishes

.

According to the chefs, when restaurateurs claim that they use exclusively chilled fish to make sushi, they are being disingenuous, and it is difficult to catch them. According to Robert Lee, if frozen fish is properly thawed, it is very difficult to distinguish its taste from chilled fish.

achieved an increase in shelf life by filling the sushi set tray with a special food gas, which increases the shelf life to five days. Without gas, according to Svetlana Kim, the shelf life of fish does not exceed 24-36 hours. And for retail, shelf life is one of the most important indicators: when storing a product for up to a day, returns may be too large (currently returns are within the planned 5%). True, a carbonation machine is not available to all manufacturers: the price of a German machine is {euro}120 thousand, a manual machine — {euro}20-30 thousand.

Freshly made sushi, of course, has a different taste than one that has lain in the refrigerator for a day at +4-6°C (rice hardens at low temperatures). But there is one secret to making store-bought sushi tasty and fresh: Svetlana Kim advises lightly heating the sushi in the microwave.

Japanese typing

There is an opinion among ignorant people that sushi is a super profitable product. Ingredients plus a lump of rice - that's all the tricks, that's all the costs.

Svetlana Kim: If you calculate everything correctly, with overhead costs and taxes, the profitability will not be so high.

All companies offer dozens of types of sushi and rolls, although, according to Svetlana Kim, half of sales come from four types of products - first of all, the traditionally popular salmon in Russia, shrimp, smoked eel and, of course, the California roll. And not all of them are equally profitable. Even worse, there are sushi that are unprofitable.

Svetlana Kim: However, it is, of course, impossible to refuse unprofitable but very popular products - it allows you to sell a different assortment, more profitable. Here we can draw a direct analogy with salads: let’s take the same Korean-style carrots, without which in the assortment not a single chain will even communicate with the manufacturer, and yet it gives a meager profit

.

Svetlana Kim gives as an example the layout for the California roll: at a wholesale price of 1 thousand rubles. per kilogram of ready-made “California”, the cost of the roll by ingredients (rice, avocado, crab meat, cucumber, mayonnaise, flying fish caviar) in December last year was 441 rubles. To this we must also add the salary of the cooks - on average 150 rubles. per kilogram of the finished product (for comparison: the wage cost for producing a kilogram of a less labor-intensive roll with smoked eel is only 64 rubles) plus plastic packaging - another 10 rubles. (per kilogram is 240 rubles), for a corrugated box - 1.43 rubles, soy sauce - 45 rubles. per kilogram, and even for little things... As a result, according to Svetlana Kim, the final cost of the California roll is 1058 rubles, i.e. it brings a 5% loss.

The profit is made due to other rolls that have a lower cost: for example, a roll with eel gives 33% profitability (simply because eel is cheaper than flying fish caviar, which costs more than 900 rubles per kilogram). Sushi with salmon already provides 59% of the profit, a roll with tuna, like a roll with lakedra, provides 15%, and sushi with sweet shrimp - 11%.

Actually, this explains why sushi sets often include rolls that are not very popular among consumers: this is done not only to ensure assortment, but also to increase profitability (otherwise all manufacturers would produce sushi and rolls of only the four most popular types).

At the St. Petersburg "Atlanta", whose main sales market is Moscow, a large share of its costs is made up of logistics. According to Mr. Akulovich, they deliver sushi to the capital only by plane (precisely because of the shelf life - 72 hours - motor transport is not suitable here), and the cost of a kilogram of product increases by another 30 rubles.

As Maxim Kazmin

, director (supplies ingredients for sushi), “the restaurant markup on sushi ingredients, depending on the level of the establishment, is 250-500%; in retail, of course, this is difficult to allow: competition, and the consumer is somewhat different.”

The daily output of one sushi master costs 600-900 rubles, and since this is manual work, many such masters are required (for example, ten masters work, each performs his own operation, but all are interchangeable).

Sushi robot

Experts say that there are few good sushi chefs in Moscow.

Robert Lee: The Japanese, as you know, have a real cult of sushi, and their approach to employees is very strict. So a new “sushi man” came to work, so at first he just cooks rice for a couple of months, whole days, until with his eyes closed he knows what and how to do, how to cook the sauce. Then he turns the same number of rolls and sushi. The last stage is the most difficult - cutting the fish correctly. We, of course, cannot afford this, but we can teach a person “from scratch” in three months, but the entire training cycle will take a year

.

Svetlana Kim: A famous sushi chef from Japan came to our production and said: “This is the first time I’ve seen rice seasoned this way.” We had one worker, so he managed to fry pancakes in twenty frying pans at once, making 600-800 kg of pancakes per shift. With a pancake weighing 50 g, can you imagine how many pieces that is? It was difficult to even keep track of his work. From land, the picture is approximately the same: the productivity of the workshop largely depends on the speed of the foreman

.

On average, if there is no rush, the sushi chef makes a couple of rolls per minute, and per work shift - up to 40 kilograms of the finished product for each cook.

But at such a speed, quality must also be maintained. It would seem that there is nothing complicated here: take a lump of rice, put a piece of fish on it (this is for sushi)... The technology for producing rolls is a little more complicated: green nori seaweed is placed on a special bamboo mat (makisu), rice is placed on it, ingredients are placed on top, that’s all it is rolled up tightly, and at the end of the operation the resulting roll is cut into several rolls. The product is ready. But, as all experts say without exception, this skill needs to be learned for at least a month.

So far, only the St. Petersburg “Atlanta” has managed to mechanize the sushi production process, having bought two sushi robots (each costs $30-40 thousand), which are capable of making up to 2 million lumps of rice monthly. Each robot replaces ten employees and, as Maxim Akulovich assures, has long paid for itself. True, many market participants are skeptical about robot sushi: after all, sushi must be prepared manually. Robert Lee assures that he has seen similar installations in operation in some Moscow stores, but the quality of their products leaves much to be desired.

Robert Lee: In fact, all the ingredients for sushi can be bought for a long time - from crab meat (1200 rubles per kg) to flying fish caviar (more than 900 rubles), which, by the way, is all artificially colored; in nature it is an ugly light yellow colors. There are many suppliers in Moscow. But it’s more profitable to buy some ingredients in the form of semi-finished products and finish them yourself. For example, we cook shrimp ourselves. This allows us to reduce the cost of the finished product by a third. But for those who are starting out, of course, you can buy everything ready-made, and then simply assemble sushi and rolls in the workshop - this can be compared to a screwdriver assembly of cars

.

The quality of sushi is largely determined by the rice and sauce. The best rice for sushi is Nishiki, Japonica, and Batan, which have good stickiness.

Robert Lee: Usually they put 17-20 g of rice, 10-13 g of fish, but it all depends on the type of sushi or roll. Here, some unscrupulous manufacturers can save money, because it is enough to change this ratio even a little, and the profitability changes

.

Svetlana Kim: You can’t always be sure of the quality of purchased ready-made ingredients. We encountered this when we had to return the same sauce for dressing, it just had a terrible smell of acetone

.

There are a lot of subtleties in making sushi - you need to know how to properly and beautifully cut the fish (so that there is a pattern of white veins), how to prepare a sauce for seasoning rice.

Robert Lee: Everything must be done quickly, you cannot hold the fish in your hand for a long time - the quality deteriorates. If in restaurants the rice is compressed into a lump, but still remains crumbly, then we have to do it much harder, otherwise everything will simply crumble during transportation to the store.

Even interstate conflicts can affect this small Russian market. When Russia had tensions with Norway (which accused our fishermen of poaching), salmon disappeared from sale, and almost all producers had to use frozen fish.

According to Maxim Kazmin, now this market can grow at the expense of the regions. But in the regions, even the richest, sushi sets are either not presented in retail, or they are produced in the capital and St. Petersburg. Given the short shelf life of sushi, local production can be much more interesting. However, this is still a prospect; the province is lagging behind.

DMITRY TIKHOMIROV