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Culimer’s Unique Grading & Sourcing System
Culimer is passionate about providing only the highest quality seafood ingredients to our clients. To ensure quality, food safety, and sustainability, we use unique grading and sourcing techniques for all of our fish species.
Culimer’s Unique Grading System
The global fish industry, including the sushi niche, can be confusing and overwhelming for many. The industry is ripe with dishonesty as well as obscurity when it comes to ingredient quality and traceability. Even still, sushi operators, retailers, grocers, and beyond must provide the world-class culinary experiences their consumers expect.
At Culimer, we aim to demystify and educate to improve the global fish industry. One way we work toward this goal is by grading all of the fish species we source on behalf of our worldwide customers.
Our grading system was developed based on our special standards and guidelines for selecting all of our seafood, including bluefin tuna, bigeye tuna, albacore tuna, mangrove shrimp, and salmon.
Our Premium Grades
Culimer has developed special grades for each of our products, based on several factors, including country of origin, method of catch, handling, color, level of marbling, and fat content. Our special grades include the following:
- Culimer Premium
- Culimer Choice
- Culimer Select
“The Japanese obsession for detail and quality is in our roots.”
Culimer’s Sourcing Process: A Hands-On Approach
Our grading system is coupled with our hands-on approach to sourcing to ensure product quality. When sourcing a new product, our in-house experts travel to the site to meet our suppliers, investigate the site, and see production processes in real time. This visit helps to ensure a product meets our strict requirements.
Our team also oversees and grades the production of each product we offer to our customers. Annually, our in-house expert, Yoshiki Haibara, travels to Seattle for Sockeye season. He oversees the production line to ensure it meets our standards. Our expert grades each salmon and only selects the top 40% for our sushi Sockeye, which is specifically produced for culinary programs across the globe.
Meet Our In-House Expert, Yoshiki Haibara
Our in-house Maguro Mekiki and sushi expert, Yoshiki Haibara helps us source the highest quality products from around the world. Yoshiki has over two decades of industry experience in sushi-specific seafood sourcing, from fishmongering and grading to tuna processing.
Yoshiki began his training at Tsukiji Market in Tokyo. He eventually moved to the US where he is known as the foremost superfrozen tuna expert outside of Japan. He is also a certified sushi chef and a passionate product development guru for unique sushi ingredients that meet the American consumer’s expectations.
Culimer: Strict Quality Standards for World-Class Culinary Experiences
At Culimer, we’re dedicated to providing only the highest quality ingredients to our customers. Our strict grading and sourcing processes enable us to do just that. To learn more about our quality standards or to discuss your culinary program’s needs, send us a message.