Kura Sushi's white fish was catfish — how pangasius became a Japanese staple

The white-fish topping flowing down the conveyor-belt sushi lane was, in fact, catfish raised in the Mekong Delta. The Vietnamese fisheries industry journal Vietfish Magazine reported on July 5, 2026 that Vietnamese pangasius (basa) has penetrated to a position second only to Alaska-pollock fillets in Japan's white-fish consumption. Uses keep widening across processed foods, foodservice chains, and retail, and Kura Sushi's move to a standard menu item is seen as the symbol. For Japanese food buyers and import trading companies, it is a phase where, if you build a sourcing strategy while keeping the old price tag of a cheap substitute fish, a gap with reality starts to appear.

"The white fish second to Alaska pollock": where the industry journal places it now

The starting point is Vietfish Magazine's July 5, 2026 article. The journal analyzed that in Japan's white-fish consumption Vietnamese pangasius has become second only to Alaska-pollock fillets, and pointed out that as a supplier country it is in the third position after the US and Russia. It conveys, as International Trade Centre (ITC) data, that export value to Japan in January-September 2025 reached US$34 million (about 5.3 billion yen; converted at about 155 yen per dollar, the same hereafter).

By item, while frozen fillets are the pillar, the growth of forms such as value-added products and fresh and sliced fish is large, a structure in which uses are widening from foodservice fry raw material to a leading role on the table and in foodservice. The journal cited the menu adoption by the major conveyor-belt sushi chain Kura Sushi as a symbol of Vietnamese seafood firming its footing in the selective Japanese market.

Imports up 40%, a Kura Sushi standard: the footsteps of a 15-year penetration

Statistics on the Japanese side also back this view. In May 2025 the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Japan's pangasius import volume rose about 40% year on year in 2024, exceeding 10,000 tonnes for the first time. At Kura Sushi, "live-killed pangasius" has been added to the standard menu since November 2024. An imported farmed catfish has lined up as a standard of a chain with over 550 outlets nationwide.

According to VASEP (Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers)-affiliated releases, export value to Japan expanded 12-fold from US$2.56 million in 2011 to 2019, and in 2025 exceeded US$40 million (about 6.2 billion yen). Behind this is the white-fish situation on the Japanese side. Alaska pollock and cod carry resource and supply constraints, with wholesale prices of 980-1,980 yen per kilo. Pangasius, by contrast, is said to be priced at about one-third of cod or salmon, and at supermarket shelves a 280-gram pack sits at around 398 yen.

Another thing not to overlook is compliance with safety standards. For antibiotic residues Japan applies a level of 10 ppb, ten times stricter than the EU standard (100 ppb), and only companies with a farming and processing setup that can clear this can sit at the table for exporting to Japan. It is not that "it sold because it was cheap" but that "it is cheap on top of passing a strict standard" that is the reality of the penetration.

Pangasius to Japan, seen in figures

"Crossed the wall of prejudice": how the Vietnamese side takes it

What stands out in the Vietnamese side's reaction is the appreciation, more than the amount, for getting into sushi. VASEP Deputy Secretary-General Le Hang cited that pangasius is priced at about one-third of cod or salmon, and showed the view that, with a rapid recovery of the Japanese economy hard to expect, "it will keep being chosen as a substitute."

A VASEP executive described the adoption at Kura Sushi as "a moment of cultural integration." The reading is that there is significance in being accepted not as a fry raw material but as a sushi topping, the center of Japanese food culture. Also, an executive of a seafood company in the production area of Can Tho City said, "That an imported farmed fish was adopted as a standard of a major chain shows it has crossed every wall of prejudice." VASEP-affiliated releases also introduced that Japanese consumers appreciate the smooth white flesh, the mild taste, and its compatibility with wasabi and soy sauce.

A different lane from tilapia: the division of roles between two Vietnamese white fish

Among Vietnamese white fish, alongside pangasius a tilapia push toward Japan has also begun, but the two are different in both species and way of fighting. Pangasius is a freshwater-farmed catfish of the Mekong Delta, a white fish you can count on by volume that has already built a fixed position in the mass-retail price range across fry, kabayaki-style, and sushi topping. Tilapia, on the other hand, is a challenger whose development as a sushi topping has only just begun, with a texture close to sea bream as its weapon. In Hung Yen Province, a tilapia plant integrated from farming to processing has started up, and a shrimp major too has made a tilapia entry targeting Japan's sushi-topping market.

Seen from the sourcing side, the division is pangasius as the mainstay white fish of track record and volume, and tilapia as a candidate for a differentiation topping. In addition, the Vietnamese government has a national animal-welfare roadmap targeting shrimp and pangasius underway, and pangasius is also leading on the standards-development side.

Implications for Japanese buyers and trading companies: take off the "substitute fish" price tag

First, a review of the positioning in sourcing strategy. The current standing of a consumption scale second to Alaska-pollock fillets means pangasius is no longer a refuge when cod is expensive but a permanent slot in the white-fish portfolio. Because a group of plants that have cleared the 10 ppb residue standard and have a track record with Japan already exists, the audit and startup costs when beginning a new deal are held lower than for species from undeveloped production areas.

Second, do not assume that the cheapness continues. A market where import volume rose 40% in a year is also a market where sellers can be bullish. If US or Chinese demand returns, the volume and price for Japan become a tug-of-war with other markets. Rather than single-year spot buying, a design that secures volume in advance through diversification across multiple plants and term contracts becomes the realistic move to protect the price-tag advantage.

Third, separating specifications. The average import price of value-added products ranges widely at US$5.73-11.3 per kilo (about 890-1,750 yen), and the unit-price band changes entirely depending on whether it is live-killed or sushi grade, or fillets for frying. What the Kura Sushi case showed is that sourcing of sushi-usable quality has become possible, and handling the mass-retail fry slot and the raw-eating slot with the same specification document swings to either over-quality or under-quality. It is worth separating specification documents by use and optimizing specifications for each proven exit, such as kabayaki-style, school catering, and ready-made meals.

Finally, getting ahead on standards. Certification development such as the animal-welfare roadmap and ASC is advancing on the production-area side, and it is becoming a species that is easy to align with sustainability-sourcing policies measured against European standards. When handled under a retailer's private brand, this point becomes insurance that reduces the risk of being dropped from the shelf a few years out.

Practical information: the entry point for sourcing consideration

As next actions, it is practical to start from three points: (1) take stock of the ratio and price trend of Alaska pollock and cod in your own white-fish sourcing, (2) pick out pangasius plants with a track record for Japan and take quotes for live-killed and sushi grade, and (3) verify the division with tilapia (mass-retail slot or differentiation slot) in your own sales floor and menu. The quality the sushi lane proved, and a volume that exceeded 10,000 tonnes. Pangasius has finished the stage of a substitute fish known only to those in the know.

Sources

• Vietfish Magazine: Vietnamese pangasius demand surges in Japan
• The Pan Group: The remarkable journey of Vietnamese pangasius in Japan
• Nikkei: pangasius, a catfish relative, takes hold at the dinner table as imports rise 40%