There’re many reasons why sushi is so expensive which majorly revolves around the cost of the ingredients used in preparing sushi.
Sushi is a popular, addictive, and healthy diet rich in many food nutrients thus; protein, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins.
Sushi is traditionally a Japanese dish prepared with fermented rice, salted fish, and other ingredients such as vegetables, shrimp, fish, squid, cuttlefish, octopus, tuna, salmon, mackerel, flounder, swordfish, and sea bass, among others ingredients.
The reasons why sushi is so expensive, the health benefits of sushi, if it’s cheaper to make or buy sushi shall all be discussed in this article.
Why Is Sushi So Expensive
There’re two major reasons why sushi is so expensive thus; the cost of the ingredients used in producing sushi and the high cost of labor required to produce sushi.
Here’s extensive information on the major reasons why sushi is so expensive.
1. High Cost Of Ingredients
The high cost of ingredients required to produce a standard and tasty sushi is very expensive.
Rice and fish which are the key ingredients used in preparing sushi are sold in pounds and their prices per pound range between $10 to $16 and $15 to $22 respectively.
Additionally, the other ingredients used in producing sushi are mostly imported which when added to the cost price of sushi further contributes to why sushi is so expensive.
2. High Cost Of Labor
It takes a highly skilled chef to prepare tasty and healthy sushi.
Preparing sushi is a tedious and highly technical process that takes hours before you produce a nice sushi hence, it takes only chefs who are highly skilled and experienced in producing sushi to prepare healthy and tasty sushi.
Chefs that can produce this tasty sushi are scarce and the salaries of the few chefs who can produce tasty sushi are very high.
To prepare tasty sushi, the fish must be properly fileted, the shrimp must be well cooked, chilled, and deshelled, the avocado must be finely sliced, and sushi rice must be correctly boiled to provide the desired texture.
The above process of making sushi is very tedious, and time-consuming, and requires enough experience and skill hence, only highly skilled and experienced chefs should be employed.
When the expensive salaries of these chefs are added to the cost price of sushi, it contributes to the reasons why sushi is expensive.
3. High Tax Rates And Import Fees
As already stated in this article, almost all the ingredients used in preparing sushi are imported.
When the high import duties, tax, and transportation costs are used in conveying the imported ingredients to the place where they would be prepared.
These high import duties, taxes, and transportation costs are added to the selling price of sushi in restaurants thus adding to the already expensive price of sushi.
4. High Demand And Low Supply
According to the natural law of demand and supply, the higher the demand for a particular good and service without a corresponding supply, the higher the price, and vice versa.
Generally, sushi is an addictive and healthy food which makes its demand surpass the supply thus making the price of sushi so expensive.
5. Perishability
Fish, vegetables, and other seafood creatures are the major ingredients used in preparing sushi.
These ingredients especially the raw fish used in preparing sushi are best eaten when they’re still fresh if possible the same day it was prepared because they’re likely to cause food poisoning and spread germs if not eaten the same day it was prepared.
Since the majority of sushi ingredients are imported perhaps in large quantities, necessary measures need to be put in place to ensure they’re stored properly to retain their fresh nature as long as possible.
Therefore, restaurants must invest in costly equipment such as freezers, fridges, and thermal rice heaters, among types of equipment.
The cost of procuring these types of equipment is added to the selling price of sushi which further makes the price of sushi so expensive.
Is It Cheaper To Buy Sushi Or Make Sushi?
Comparatively, it is cheaper to make your own sushi at home than to buy from restaurants.
A roll of sushi in most restaurants costs about $25 but you can make a roll of sushi in your house for a little above $10 depending on the ingredients you want to use.
Is Sushi Expensive In Japan Too?
No. Sushi is quite cheap in Japan than in other countries like the United States.
Sushi is cheaper in Japan because sushi is a Japanese native and staple food where will also find varieties tasty of sushis at cheaper prices.
Why Is Sushi Rice So Expensive?
According to recent statistical projections, there’s going to be a shortage in the production of rice globally which would not be able to meet up with the high demand for rice.
The lopsided demand and supply of sushi rice globally is the reason why sushi rice is so expensive.
Why Is Sushi So Healthy?
Sushi is a healthy diet as it contains several food nutrients thus; carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins.
Submission
Sushi is a healthy, tasty, addictive, and popular diet made with rice, raw fish, and other seafood creatures like tuna, salmon, mackerel, flounder, swordfish, etc., and vegetables.
Sushi is healthy Japanese native and staple food that is rich in many mineral nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins.
This article discusses in detail all pertinent information about why sushi is so expensive, why sushi rice is so expensive, and reasons why sushi is so healthy, among other information about this healthy and tasty Japanese delicacy.