Japan’s Uoriki aims to double overseas sales by 2026 with further push into US and Southeast Asia

Tokyo, Japan-based seafood retail and foodservice company Uoriki recently posted large spikes in year-over-year revenue and profits for fiscal year 2023, announcing that this growth will allow it to turn its focus abroad where there are more opportunities for expansion.

As of the end of FY2023, the company operated 14 restaurants, 78 stores that sell fresh seafood – largely in greater Tokyo – and seafood supplier operations that serve both the domestic foodservice and U.S. grocery sectors. The latter collaboration is mainly through a partnership with Rochester, New York, U.S.A.-based supermarket chain Wegmans.

“Before the Covid-19 pandemic, we had other business partners, but now it is only Wegmans,” Uoriki Corporate Planner Natsuki Oshiyama told SeafoodSource. “At the moment, we are focusing on the [U.S.] East Coast, and although we have plans for the West Coast, we are not yet in the execution stage.” 

Besides the U.S., Uoriki has established a collaboration with CP Food Global Solutions (CPFGS), a subsidiary of Charoen Pokphand Foods. The cooperation includes a memorandum of understanding to import more premium fish products from Japan to Thailand, and the opening of seven retail outlets in Thailand in Makro and Lotus stores selling fresh fish and sushi. Uoriki is aiming to have 25 stores in Thailand by the end of 2024, expanding from the Bangkok area to Chonburi province and Chiang Mai.

The plans for U.S. West Coast expansion and its Thai partnerships are part of Uoriki’s larger strategic shift toward …