Interview of Supporter Stores TATA SUSHI

TATA SUSHI, opened in 2016, is a Japanese restaurant located in the Itaim Bibi district of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where high-end office buildings stand in a row. It is a medium-sized restaurant that can accommodate 90 people, but it has 70 employees. “Sixty-five of them work in the kitchen, hall, bar, and as cleaning staff, and five are administrative staff,” explains owner Luizinho Hirata, a third-generation Japanese-Brazilian. Hirata is a professional, working as the owner and sushi chef, and also as the Director of the Associação Brasileira de Bares e Restaurantes (Abrasel) and Organizada pela Associação Brasileira de Gastronomia Japonesa (ABGJ), always keeping himself busy for the future of the industry. The concept of TATA SUSHI is to offer contemporary Japanese food at an affordable price for many Brazilians to enjoy. “The restaurant's clientele changes considerably depending on the time of day. At lunch time businessmen come from nearby offices, and at night, there are many couples on a date,” says Hirata. Besides TATA SUSHI, he also operates Kame Kami, a Japanese restaurant inside an exclusive members-only sports club in Sao Paulo.

Most of the customers are between the ages of 30 and 50, and the restaurant's signature sushi and sashimi sets are the most frequently ordered items. Hirata's wish is to provide customers with the freshest ingredients at a reasonable price. As for sake, Hirata gathers all the information he can find and recommends the sake that best suits each customers' taste. “In recent years, Brazilians travel to Japan for business and other purposes, and their knowledge of sake has increased, so we would like importers to import more sake brands,” says Hirata. He also visits Japanese sake breweries and purchases sake to convey the brewers' thoughts to the Brazilian market. As for the cuisine, Hirata emphasizes, "Our goal is to steadily provide Japanese cuisine adapted to the tastes of Brazilians.” The interior of the restaurant has a refined design and quiet atmosphere, and the owner’s hope is that many busy businessmen come here for lunch to feel relaxed even if it is only during mealtime. The restaurant is one of the relaxing spots in the city, and the owner seems to be committed to providing the best in quality, environment, and hospitality from the customer's perspective.

The Japanese ingredients and beverages used the most at his restaurant are sake, soy sauce, vinegar (for vinegared rice), dried bonito flakes and kelp (for soup stock), and sesame oil. Although they are all imports and priced high, Hirata insists that he will continue to maintain his commitment, saying, “The advantage of Japanese ingredients is that they are produced in accordance with tradition, which makes them safe to use and increases customer trust.” The Japanese ingredient we would like to see imported more in the future is seaweed from various regions of Japan. He hopes to add more appeal to the hand-rolled sushi that Brazilians love to eat. In addition, he is interested in Japanese eel and salmon roe, whose imports from Japan stopped, and strongly hopes that they will be imported again. While he strongly wants various Japanese foods and ingredients, he faces many difficulties in procuring them. “The problem is that there is no guarantee of continuous and stable imports,” Hirata noted.

The restaurant's main promotion methods are Instagram and the word-of-mouth communication. On Instagram, the restaurant has accepted Leo Young, an influencer with a million followers who won in the TV show “MasterChef” as a partner of TATA SUSHI, and this has been effective in the PR of the restaurant. Hirata’s analysis is that word-of-mouth communication increases credibility and also leads to an increase in repeat customers. Speaking about the restaurant's name, Hirata explains, “I love turtles. Turtles are known as a symbol of longevity and good luck. In Portuguese, it is called tartaruga, from which I named the Tata restaurant.” Another restaurant is named “KAME KAMI,” which makes sense. Hirata, who also actively participates in tie-up projects with JETRO Sao Paulo, says with an expectation for the promotion of Japanese food ingredients, "Over the past year, we held sake and awamori tasting events and wagyu beef tasting events at our restaurants. If Japanese foodstuffs become consumed in Brazilian households through these efforts, that would stimulate importers and bring in more Japanese food to Brazil.”