We want to show the world of Asian cuisine for Ukrainians, create a wow-impression and make them fall in love with Asian cooking

Liliia Dzhura is our client and marketing director of Morskoi Dom. Liliia told us about the development of the culture of Japanese and Pan-Asian cuisines in Ukraine and how brands teach Ukrainians to cook in a new way. 

Ukrainians cook a lot at home. This is a national pattern of behavior. Now home cooking is growing even more due to restrictions on visiting HoReCa (ed. An abbreviation for places of sale with direct consumption of goods and services: Hotel, Restaurant, Catering / Cafe). Moreover, many continue to work from home in whole or in part, which means they cook even more. Asian food is a trend at HoReCa. At the same timeif the ,buyer cannot buy it in HoReCa, he can cook at home. 

Why do consumers like Asian food?

• Explosion of taste! Diversity. A bright balance of sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy and the fifth unique umami taste that no one can describe, but it causes a wow effect for everyone.
• Contrast compared to traditional Ukrainian cuisine. This is cooking in a new way. Not the way previous generations cooked.
• Fast and convenient! Minimum cooking time.
• This is healthy food! The ingredients for preparing Asian dishes are mainly vegetables, rice, meat, poultry, seafood, nori. Products undergo minimal heat treatment and retain a storehouse of useful properties. Healthy dressings are used in cooking and final use - Asian sauces. 

Retail Asian cuisine in Ukraine is represented mainly by Asian sauces, mainly soy. At the same time, other types of sauces have recently attracted interest: teriyaki, unagi, oyster. Consumers are realizing that these sauces are healthy alternatives to mayonnaise and ketchup. 

WE BUILD A FASHIONABLE TREND-SETTER BRAND

When we relaunched the Katana brand in 2020, we made a clear decision for ourselves: our product must be completely natural. This meets the needs of Ukrainians and gives us a strong competitive advantage. Katana soy sauces are made from naturally fermented pasta without flavor enhancers. In the assortment of KATANA there are many products that we bring from Asian countries: Japan, China, Vietnam - from there, where the skill in the manufacture of these products took centuries. The company is very careful in its selection of ingredients suppliers. It's important to us that their manufacturing standards match the quality standards we set for the Katana.

We follow the trends of Japanese and Pan-Asian cuisine in the world and "start" trends in Ukraine. Our brand chef Ilya Chervenko became a partner for most ofestablishments HoReCa in Ukraine, taught them how to work with Asian cuisine products. Success at HoReCa inspired us to work with end consumers. Now our brand offers to teach consumers how to cook Asian food at home. KATANA is a brand partner that inspires Ukrainians to cook Asian cuisine at home. We do not give instructions, but share life hacks. Our form of communication with the consumer is Infotainment - a combination of information and entertainment. Sushi, wok noodles, ramen, miso soup, Asian salads and much more can all be easily prepared with our products. We have a complete assortment that provides a complete solution. KATANA products are natural, adapted to the preferences of Ukrainians. And the dishes from them - you will simply lick your fingers! 

DIGITAL IS OUR KEY CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION

On the brand site, we tell you how to choose soy sauce, fish, how to cook sushi, wok noodles, what you need to make your miso soup with tofu cheese the most delicious. And our brand chef shares the recipes. 

Anyone who tastes Katana products is delighted: “This is WOW, how delicious! Cooking my favorite sushi / wok, noodles / ramen is generally easy. The dishes look very appetizing! " 

First, people “eat” food with their eyes. Therefore, we worked on a new face for the brand: we changed the logo, packaging, and label. We made them bright, modern, dynamic and stylish. For what? For the customer to say “Wow!” While his hand reaches out to the KATANA products on the shelf. 

“MORSKOI DOM” IS THE AMBASSADOR OF THE SUSHI INSTITUTE OF JAPAN

In 2013, the “Sea House” together with the Sushi Institute Japan held the Sushi Cup Ukraine in Kiev for the first time, the winners of which participated in the Sushi Cup Japan.  

The company has two production sites where a number of products are manufactured under the company's own brands. There are branches in Kharkov, Lvov, Dnipro, Zaporozhye, Odessa. 

 For more than 20 years, Morskoi Dom has been a leading importer-distributor of products for Japanese and Pan-Asian cuisine in Ukraine. The company develops its business in two segments: HoReCa and modern retail. The main sales channel for the company is HoReCa, for which the company offers a complex solution, which is a significant competitive advantage: the 

• supply of ingredients
• menu-engineering (own experienced and well-known brand chef Ilya Chervenko) 
• selection of products and consultations in the formation and reduction of the cost of dishes
• personnel training
• support projects
• selection of equipment

The assortment includes about 2,000 items, among which there are basic (raw) ingredients and products, innovative and unique, there are world famous brands. Products are delivered from many countries of the world: Japan, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Mexico, Korea, USA, Australia. The company is the exclusive distributor of such world famous brands as Yamasa (Japanese soy sauce that even comes to the Japanese imperial table), Lee Kum Kee (a range of Chinese sauces, a brand that is the founder and world leader in oyster sauces), Spring Home & Happy Belly (frozen dough and products from it), Kinjirushi (wasabi from Japan), Kara (coconut milk, cream from Indonesia, the world leader in these categories), Mizkan (Japanese rice vinegar). The company also owns its own brands and develops them to sell products to thechannels HoReCa and Retail. JS is the flagship proprietary brand at HoReCa, Katana is the leading proprietary brand in retail. 

When choosing suppliers, products and ingredients, the company pays special attention to the safety of manufactured products, is constantly monitored  compliance of products with international quality standards. Representatives of the Morskoi Dom company visit the factories and factories of suppliers to select the supplied products. 

Morskoi Dom closely follows global culinary trends, novelties and offers the market new innovative products and ingredients to be introduced into the restaurant menus. 

Morskoi Dom makes a great contribution to the development of the culture of Japanese and Pan-Asian cuisine in Ukraine through its brand chef Ilya Chervenko. Ilya is a recognized expert in Japanese and Pan-Asian cuisine. He graduated from the Sushi Skills Institute and completed an internship at leading restaurants in Europe and Asia, as well as at the legendary Le Cordon Bleu London school, and participated in the Sushi Cup Japan international sushi mastering competition in 2013 and 2019. Ilya is also the author of a huge number of Pan-Asian recipes that have been introduced in restaurants of various price segments in Ukraine. 

We have registered the trademark to protect against unauthorized use and to prevent counterfeiting. We see a great future for the brand, we believe in its popularity and work in a civilized legislative field.