Ahead of the midsummer Day of the Ox on the 26th, the eel sales season is in full swing. Following last year's abundant catch of glass eels, farmed eel prices have fallen. Two major supermarket chains have cut prices on their flagship products, while a department store has begun selling the world's first fully farmed eel. Aeon Retail is offering a large 156-gram grilled eel fillet from Kagoshima Prefecture at a base price of 2,180 yen before tax, 500 yen cheaper than last year, and from the 24th will also introduce a new roughly double-sized 300-gram version. Ito-Yokado will sell eel rice bowls using eel from Shizuoka Prefecture from the 25th at a base price of 1,980 yen before tax, 400 yen lower than last year. On the 22nd, the Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store began selling a limited run of 73 fully farmed grilled eels, each about 165 grams, for 5,500 yen including tax, using eel from Yamada Suisan, which started the world's first trial sales in May.
Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd.Aeon and Ito-Yokado (Seven & I) cut eel prices, but impact on Seven & I is mixed: lower prices may boost volume but squeeze margins.
Yamada Suisan's fully farmed eel is highlighted as world's first, showcasing technological breakthrough.