Before the 1980s, Japan hadn’t imported a single piece of fish.
At the same time, and on the other side of the world, the Norwegian Government was bleeding money through salmon fishing subsidies.
Norway needed to find a market for its salmon. And what better market than an almost-pescatarian country paying 5x as much for fish used for sushi vs. fish used for grilling?
There was one problem, however.
Japanese didn’t eat raw salmon. Everything about it was wrong. The colour, smell, the shape of the head. But perhaps the biggest issue was the widespread fear that salmon contained parasites that could make you sick.
Enter Bjorn Olsen.
Throughout the 1980s, Olsen led arguably one of the greatest campaigns to change consumer perceptions.
What started as a complete failure, where no government representative or major fish company would touch raw salmon, turned into a massive success following a shrewd partnership with Nishi Rei (think: the Kraft Foods of Japan).
Olsen orchestrated the sale of 5,000 tonnes of Norwegian salmon at rock-bottom prices to Nishi Rei, in return for their commitment to sell the salmon in their stores as fresh sushi. It worked a treat. Nishi Rei’s endorsement meant salmon sushi became widely adopted across Japan.
Soon after, the rest of the world followed suit. In the United States alone there are now over 4,000 sushi restaurants grossing over $2 billion annually, compared to a non-existent market 50 years ago. Now when I see a colleague lunching on salmon sushi, I smile and think of Norway.
And to top it all off, Bjorn Olsen also moonlights as a 7th Dan Aikido Black Belt and is the Chief Instructor of the Norwegian Aikido Federation. Could he be any more badass?
H/T Planet Money Podcast for their delightful story telling. You should check out their episode on this topic here.