SUSHI GETS AN AMERICAN INTERPRETATION AT FOODTOWN

ROSEANNE HARPER

POINT PLEASANT, N.J. -- Foodtown stores here are reeling in big sales with the Americanization of their own sushi.

After the launch of a custom program that features hybrid items like The Great American Chicken Roll, same-store sales have swelled above projections, to 5% to 10% over last year, said officials at Norkus Enterprises here. The company owns and operates six Foodtown stores in central New Jersey.

The Great American Sushi Co., as Norkus calls its branded operation, succeeds one run by a sushi company on a lease basis. The new concept features Norkus' own associates who have been trained to help clear up customer misperceptions about the ethnic food item, said Robert Jackey, Norkus' senior vice president.

Indeed, the company is aiming to keep building sushi sales by banishing "sushiphobia" among its customers.

"A lot of people associate sushi with raw fish, and say they don't like that, but we're letting them know that sushi actually consists of seasoned rice with a garnish and that garnish can be anything, not necessarily fish at all," Jackey said.

With the help of Team Two Thousand, a St. Petersburg, Fla., consulting firm that works with supermarkets and specializes in fresh-food departments, Norkus developed some unique versions of sushi in an attempt to hook new customers. For example, in addition to traditional sushi rolls, which are usually wrapped in dried seaweed, Norkus Foodtown stores are also offering some wrapped in an ultra-thin egg crepe. The Great American Chicken Roll, for example -- a top-seller, along with the California roll -- is a mixture of seasoned rice and chicken salad wrapped in one of those crepes.

"Nobody's afraid of chicken salad or rice or crepes. People who are afraid of raw fish or seaweed can enjoy this one. There's even a creamy dill sauce that goes with it, for dipping, instead of soy sauce," Jackey said.

Norkus decided to develop its own sushi program, with the aid of Team Two Thousand, so it would have more control of it, Jackey said. The company had a lease agreement with Advanced Fresh Concepts, Compton, Calif., for several years, to operate a sushi bar in one store. That one was succeeded earlier this year by Norkus' The Great American Sushi Co. Then, last month, it added a bar in a second store and now sushi made at those two units is delivered to the company's four smaller stores each morning.

Team Two Thousand trained a core group of Norkus' Foodtown associates who were then charged with training other associates. Jackey said he doesn't subscribe to the belief -- as some others do -- that having an Asian sushi chef inspires customers' confidence in the product.

"That may be true for people who are sushi connoisseurs, but for most of our customers, it's more important that they can communicate well with our associates who are making the sushi. In the past, with our previous program, there was sometimes a language barrier and that could be a barrier to sales," Jackey said.

"Our major sushi trainer is Irish. She's worked in our produce department for years, and the reason we chose her to do this is because she's the type of person who learns quickly and can teach others. I think having our own people as sushi chefs and the development of the crepe wrap are the two most significant factors in the success of the program."

Also, running the sushi program itself enables Norkus Foodtown to control how much product is put out each day, to tinker with menu variety and enables it to experiment with newly developed products and marketing strategies, Jackey said.

Operated as part of the deli, the sushi department is situated adjacent to a display of prepared, chilled entrees and side dishes.

At the two stores that have personnel dedicated to making and serving sushi, the staff can be seen creating sushi rolls just behind an 8-foot, low-profile, three-tiered self-service case.

Retail prices for packages of six or nine sushi pieces range from $3.99 to $4.50, but the company often offers a special with 50 cents off on a particular variety. Sushi is also featured frequently in the company's ad circular, and demos and sampling are crucial marketing tools, too, Jackey said.

Supermarket competition in Norkus' marketing areas includes units of Pathmark Stores, Carteret, N.J., and Acme Markets, Malvern, Pa., both of which offer sushi.

"But none of them are making it themselves," Jackey said.