Umeboshi are salted pickled Japanese plums that can usually be found atop a bed of white rice, or tucked away in the middle of an onigiri rice ball. Despite their mouth puckering-ly sour taste, they’re a staple that have been eaten throughout Japan for centuries and they’re known to have health benefits too.
Umeboshi are said to be beneficial in reducing the risk of diabetes, as well as helping to reduce blood pressure. They are also said to be good for people watching their weight, as they contain a chemical that helps to restrict the bloating of fat cells.
They’re particularly popular among the older generation, but research has found that umeboshi have fallen in popularity these days with younger people. Even more troubling for the umeboshi industry, however, is this recent tweet from Baijuen.
Baijuen, an umeboshi wholesale company founded back in 1911, posted to their Twitter account and suggested that it’s not just young people that aren’t eating as much umeboshi these days.
“Everyone, are you aware of the current situation in the umeboshi industry? The annual consumption of umeboshi last year was approximately 663 grams per household. Saying ‘663 grams’ might be a little hard for you to visualise, so in simple terms, umeboshi warehouses are packed with umeboshi with nowhere to go. If this situation continues, many umeboshi businesses will go out of business, including ours.”
663 grams is roughly the same weight as a standard basketball, meaning the average Japanese household ate roughly a basketball’s worth of umeboshi over the year. Granted, umeboshi are significantly smaller than basketballs (and considerably harder to dribble), so it still might be a little tricky to visualise, so here’s an actual, visual representation of 700 grams of umeboshi, slightly more than the average household eats per year.
According to a survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, umeboshi spending peaked around 20 years ago, when the average household was buying 1,053 grams of umeboshi a year. In 2009, that plummeted to 658 grams.
While the cause for umeboshi’s steady decrease in popularity isn’t clear, Baijuen are considering a number of potential reasons. Aside from the fact that umeboshi don’t seem to appeal to the younger generation, many older people have been put off buying umeboshi due to the recent price increase, which came as a result of a poor harvest back in 2020. People are also eating less white rice than before, which is the traditional accompaniment to umeboshi.
Japanese netizens shared their thoughts as to why people aren’t buying umeboshi these days, too.
“I love umeboshi, but they’re too expensive for me so I don’t buy them.”
“I’ve stopped eating umeboshi since I started living alone.”
“All you see in supermarkets these days is umeboshi drenched in honey… I’m not a fan.”
“They should bring back the old fashioned salty umeboshi. These days they’re all too sweet.”
“The umeboshi my late grandma made are the best. I can’t eat any other kind of umeboshi.”
“I’ll happily eat umeboshi if it’s in a bento, but I never purposely go out of my way to buy any when I’m food shopping.”
It’s not all doom and gloom though, as Baijuen’s tweet went viral, with currently over 10 million views and almost 30 thousand retweets. A representative from Baijuen said in an interview with J-Cast News that after the tweet went viral they received a month’s worth of orders in just a day, so there’s hope for Baijuen and the umeboshi industry yet.
Source: J-Cast News via Jin
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- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2023/01/21/japanese-salted-plum-industry-in-dire-straits-according-to-umeboshi-companys-tweet/
14 Comments
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kohakuebisu
This is clever marketing by the company. The reality is that people's tastes are moving away from Japanese things, but if you point it out to them, they will become defensive and buy them, some of it out of pride or guilt. Sometimes Japanese people need to be reminded that they are Japanese.
wallace
People can easily make their own. We eat umeboshi most days.
japancat
Always crack the seed inside and eat the kernal....It contains a safe limit of 'Amagdalin' ( Laetrile ) and vitamin B17 which is good for cancer prevention. Google it !
ian
Love umeboshi
Nadrew
Sounds like a great item for export! Japan could do really well with this. Umeshu, Black Umeshu, and umeboshi. I heard onegiri are starting to become popular in some places.
1glenn
Japan is a country with one of the highest incidences of stomach cancer in the world. Too much salted food may be contributing to that problem.
The other country with an astronomical incidence of stomach cancer is Norway, which also, historically, has relied on salted food.
AsTime GoesOn
Maybe the umeboshi industry should consider marketing its products to western countries as a healthy meal addition. Sake producers have discovered that nihonshu is widely popular in western markets and are capitalizing on it since domestic sales keeps shrinking.
Yuuju
Why making a plum salty?? Why not making a plum jam, aplum icecream, or as in my country smoked plum- this is such a delicacy you cant stop eating it! Also a smoked plum tastes great in some dishes. Salted plum - NO.
1glenn
Most liquor and Mexican themed stores over here sell "saladitos," aka salted plums. Very popular and among younger folk. All that salt might not be too healthy. As for myself, I would rather have plum wine.
englisc aspyrgend
I prefer Slivovitz, prunes or just eat the plum, why take a perfectly nice sweet fruit and turn it in to a “mouth puckering” abomination?
RonJB
So the warehouses are packed with unshiftable stock, but they put the prices up due to one poor harvest. Maybe they should think of reducing the prices again, rather than complaining that no-one wants to buy them.
Nippori Nick
Umebosh--I like almost all Japanese foods, but first time I tried umeboshui, I thought it was terrible. Many years later, I have not changed my opinion.
Last thing I need in life is more salty foods.
Charlie Sommers
I like to start my days with a cup of strong green tea into which I have mashed a couple of umeboshi...delicious!