While we have received many evaluations that fish frozen with TOMIN is delicious, pre-processing is just as important as freezing technology. TOMIN is a tool that preserves something at its peak of deliciousness. As expected, Shinto Fish Farm also places great emphasis on this aspect. According to Mr. Tokumasu, they use the “Tsumoto Method Ultimate Bloodletting Technique” to maximize the umami of the fish.

In the freezing demonstration, the skinless fillets were vacuum-packed with care. Before packing, they thoroughly remove moisture and pack the fish. This moisture remains on the surface of the fish during thawing, causing drip loss and odor. They also adjust the vacuum degree during vacuum packing to prevent the fish from being crushed while using absorbent sheets underneath.

Since the product is vacuum-packed, it’s an ideal condition for heat transfer. The less air in the packaging, the faster the freezing process. The fillets are arranged on a shelf in a freezing basket without overlapping. Once arranged, the basket is submerged into the freezing liquid to initiate rapid freezing. For this particular product, Shinto Fisheries freezes the fish for about 20 minutes and then stores them at -50°C.

The fish are aged before being frozen. One of TOMIN’s advantages is that it allows you to stop the process at the most delicious point before freezing. This means aged fish can be stored at their peak flavor and enjoyed all year round. Mr. Tokumasu shared that December is the busiest season for flatfish sales. However, due to the limitations of manual processing, they often had to turn down orders. By freezing the fish ahead of time before the winter season, they can now plan production and meet the demand during peak periods, which led to the introduction of TOMIN.

In addition to planned production, there are unique benefits for fish farming. In aquaculture, fish need to be fed daily. By processing flounder at shipping size and freezing them with TOMIN, they can save feed costs.

Mr. Tokumasu says, “We receive feedback from clients saying that it doesn’t taste like it’s been frozen”.

We actually interviewed some of Shinto Fish Farm’s clients:

【Sales Manager at Entetsu Department Store】

After sampling the product, the manager said, “It completely overturned my previous image of frozen fish or sashimi.” The fish was so fresh and tender that they could hardly believe it had been frozen.

As of the interview in 2022, the store offers these products for seasonal gifts such as mid-year and year-end gifts. (see image: Entetsu Department Store Sales Manager)

The product shown this time is flounder for B to C. It is a new product with a focus on packaging (appearance). They want customers to enjoy it in various dining scenes by releasing different flavors, not just as sashimi but also as prosciutto-style.

Deliciousness is, of course, important, but the ease of thawing is also crucial. This product can be thawed in about 10 minutes with running water (thawing in a bowl or tray filled with water), making it suitable for “instant food” demand. They have also commercialized ingredients for marinated bowls, so you can easily enjoy it at home if you cook rice. The passion for product development and the self-reliance involved are impressive. Freezing these highly competitive products using TOMIN represents a textbook business model for utilizing this technology.

Some of their frozen products are also available at TŌMIN FROZEN, a frozen-food only specialty store operated by Technican Corporation. In addition to Shinto Fish Farm‘s products, we also carry a wide variety of other products, so please visit our online store if you would like to see the packaging and content quantities. If you are interested in our products, please feel free to purchase them.

Click here for online store https://www.tominfrozen.shop/

To learn more about Shinto Fish Farm’s case study, please watch the case study video on our Youtube channel