【Reading】なかおろし

【English Name】intermediate wholesaler

Nakaoroshi (intermediate wholesaler) refers to a distribution-intermediary business that purchases goods from wholesale dealers at a wholesale market and sells them, divided into the necessary quantities, to retailers, restaurants, and the like that do not hold qualifications to participate directly in the market. For sushi restaurants, the intermediate wholesaler is an irreplaceable presence for continuously obtaining high-quality fish and shellfish.

The methods of buying and selling are broadly divided into two types. There is seri (auction) transaction, in which multiple intermediate wholesalers compete over price, and aitai (negotiated) transaction, in which the price is decided by individual negotiation with the wholesale dealer. Under the provisions of the Wholesale Market Act, both methods are designed as a system in which only businesses that have received a business license from the market opener are permitted to engage in them.

Looking at the scale of intermediate wholesalers entering the market, statistics from around 2005 showed about 5,000 businesses at central wholesale markets and about 2,100 at local wholesale markets. However, as the distribution model in which supermarkets and restaurant chains trade directly with production areas spread, accelerating the move to avoid going through the market, the total number of intermediate wholesalers has continued to shrink over the long term. There are also survey results indicating that about 20 percent withdrew from the market in the ten years from 1994 to 2004.

In the world of fresh fish, expertise versed in the power of discernment to judge freshness and in the work of dividing into appropriate quantities is essential, and the sorting and discernment functions borne by intermediate wholesalers still command high trust from the industry. Building a deep relationship of trust with a skilled intermediate wholesaler can be said to be an extremely important condition that supports the purchasing quality of sushi artisans at its foundation.