What Chubu Suisan does

Chubu Suisan Co., Ltd. (中部水産株式会社) is a publicly listed Japanese seafood wholesale company founded in 1946 and headquartered within the Nagoya Central Wholesale Market in Atsuta-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. It traces its operational lineage to the Edo-period Atsuta Fish Market and is one of only a few listed fish-product wholesale companies operating inside Japan's central wholesale market system. The company's core activity is the daily auction (セリ) and wholesale distribution of fresh seafood, including mass-market fish (大衆魚), coastal fish (近海魚), premium tuna (太物まぐろ), processed seafood products, and live eel handled through a unique in-market holding facility (うなぎたて場) for which it holds sole-marker status.

Chubu Suisan operates a B2B intermediation model: it purchases seafood from upstream suppliers and resells through auction to retailers, restaurants, and food-service operators across the Chubu region centered on Aichi Prefecture. Revenue mechanics are commission- and margin-based on auction throughput rather than disclosed subscription or fixed pricing; specific pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company holds Marine Eco-Label Japan (MEL) Chain of Custody certification (obtained July 2019, second nationwide), enabling it to handle certified sustainable seafood. Its product portfolio has been streamlined following the 2021 abolition of its feed-mill division and a multi-stage organizational restructuring in 2019-2023 that consolidated cold-storage operations and reorganized sales into mass-market fish, coastal fish, and processed foods divisions. Adjacent activities include community-facing fish-consumption promotion (notably a 2026 children's picture book project) and IR/employer-branding initiatives including consecutive Health Management Excellence Corporation certifications (2025, 2026).

Customer-facing presence is limited to its corporate website, a YouTube channel, and the Amazon pre-order channel for its promotional picture book. The company operates from a single Nagoya location, runs an active IR disclosure cadence (quarterly transaction results, 83rd AGM held June 2026), and is subject to standard listed-company governance — a shareholder representative lawsuit notification was disclosed in December 2025. Financial scale (per disclosed five-year series) places annual revenue in the ¥235-290 billion range with single-digit percent EBITDA margins consistent with high-volume wholesale intermediation.

Name

Chubu Suisan

Legal name

中部水産株式会社

Website

https://nagoya-chusui.co.jp

Company type

Public

Founded year

1946

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Chubu Suisan is a publicly listed Japanese seafood wholesaler founded in 1946, operating daily auctions of fresh fish, coastal fish, tuna, and live eel from the Nagoya Central Wholesale Market to retailers, restaurants, and food-service buyers across the Chubu region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Seafood Wholesale Distribution

NAICS

Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers (424460)

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products (5140)

akta.pro primary industry

Seafood Wholesale (Fresh & Frozen) (AFAIADAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Live Seafood & Tank-Based Distribution Wholesale (AFAIADAI), Shellfish Wholesale (Crustaceans & Mollusks) (AFAIADAF)

Keywords

• Seafood wholesale
• Fish auction services
• Marine products distribution
• Wholesale market operations
• Fresh fish trading

Headquarters

HQ city

Nagoya

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Chubu Suisan operates as a licensed seafood wholesaler at the Nagoya Central Wholesale Market, conducting daily auctions (セリ) for fresh seafood including mass-market fish (大衆魚), coastal fish (近海魚), premium tuna (太物まぐろ), eels, and processed seafood products. The company supplies retailers, restaurants, and food service businesses across the Chubu region of Japan, with roots tracing back to the Edo-period Atsuta Fish Market.

Product overview

Chubu Suisan operates as a listed wholesale seafood company at Nagoya Central Wholesale Market, continuing the tradition of the Atsuta Fish Market from the Edo period. The company's core business centers on daily auctioning of fresh seafood products (生鮮水産物), including various fish species, eels, and marine products. They maintain specialized facilities such as the unique 'Tateba' eel holding system. The company also offers Marine Eco-Label (MEL) certified sustainable seafood products and operates community outreach programs including a fish consumption promotion project featuring a picture book.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fresh Seafood Wholesale (生鮮水産物)

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Kyokuyo Co., Ltd. Japanese seafood processor and trader with significant fishing and aquaculture operations. Comparable as a broader incumbent that competes with Chubu Suisan in supplying fresh and processed seafood to Japanese food service and retail.
• Maruha Nichiro Corporation: Japan's largest seafood company, spanning fishing, aquaculture, processing, and trading. Comparable as a Japanese seafood incumbent against which Chubu Suisan's narrow wholesale-market business must compete for supply and customers.
• Thai Union Group PCL: Global seafood processor and distributor (tuna, shrimp, pet food) supplying Japanese and Asian markets. Relevant as a broader incumbent setting competitive benchmarks for sustainability certification and processed seafood sourcing that affect Chubu Suisan's position.
• Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd. (Nissui): Diversified Japanese seafood major with fishing, aquaculture, processed foods, and marine product distribution. Overlaps with Chubu Suisan as a seafood supplier and wholesaler to Japanese food markets and processors.
• Nichirei Corporation: Diversified Japanese food and logistics company with a sizeable seafood, frozen, and processed foods business. Comparable as a Japanese incumbent distributing seafood through cold-chain networks that intersect with Chubu Suisan's customer base.

Direct peers

• Daito Gyorui Co., Ltd. Operates as a seafood wholesaler inside the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market (Toyosu), running daily auctions for fresh fish — the closest direct structural analog to Chubu Suisan's auction-based business inside a Japanese central wholesale market.

Others

• Cermaq Group AS: Global salmon aquaculture company supplying fresh and frozen salmon to Japanese wholesale and food-service channels. Comparable as a producer-side counterpart feeding into the same wholesale ecosystem Chubu Suisan intermediates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=Tzg5NWAWreQ

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chubu Suisan