Sushi Ninja Ken and Sophie Kurota will be opening a sushi Ninja Express in Centre City next year after crowdfunding $250,000. New Plymouth will get a sushi conveyor belt restaurant after $250,000 of investment was raised in a little more than two weeks.Sushi Ninja owners Sophie and Ken Kurota launched an online crowd funding initiative on November 30 to raise between $150,000 and $250,000 to open a second store inside the Centre City Shopping Centre.The initiative was due to run until January 16, but two large investments of $90,000 meant it reached its goal on Monday afternoon. Crowds lined the street for St Pierre's Sushi, which opened earlier this month in New Plymouth. Sophie said they were relieved the fundraising had finished so quickly.READ MORE: * Couple turn to crowdfunding to open sushi conveyor belt restaurant * Hundreds queue around a busy New Plymouth street for a free sushi lunch * Pizza, pulled pork, pressure cookers - food trends that made 2016 memorable * St Pierres Sushi to set up shop in New Plymouth * Cafe chat: New restaurant lets you meet the meat you are about to eat "We wanted to have a relaxing Christmas

The investment had started off smoothly, with $11,000 raised within the first hour but had slowed down as the weeks went on.Sophie said it was "very nerve-racking especially when there are periods when there's not a lot coming in, and sort of up and down".It was associates from Auckland, who run similar shops to the one the Kurotas want to open, who invested the large sums that got them across the line.Sophie said they were both amazed at the response from their customers, with many of them pitching in with small amounts. "That feeling alone is worth anything really, that they believe in us and we will be a success," Sophie said.The couple had originally set five tiers for investment ranging from "ninja", starting at $500, up to 'emperor", which was set at $25,000 and above. Each dollar was matched with a non-voting share in the company.After talking to the Auckland investors, they also added a "Golden Buddha" tier which was set at $90,000+ and had voting shares.The various tiers also came with different bonuses including meal vouchers, private sushi workshops and free drinks for life.

According to the investment memorandum, they expected to distribute 80 per cent of the profits to shareholders each year, with the other 20 per cent reinvested back into the company. Sophie said investors would be able to re-sell their shares if they found a willing buyer, but they had explained at the various investor's information nights that they expected them to be in it for the long run.The new shop, called Sushi Ninja Express, will be be situated on the second floor of Centre City above the food court and construction is planned for early next with an opening date sometime in late February or early March.It would feature a conveyer belt around the open plan kitchen so diners would be able to see the sushi being made, with plate prices starting from $2.80.Sushi conveyer belts were popular in Japan and around the world but the restaurant would be the first of its kind in New Plymouth.Sophie said there had been some people who missed out on investing in the business because of the large pledges, but she said they were looking to franchise the business in the future and there would likely be other opportunities available.

Conveyor belt sushi whets growing consumer appetite for fun “experiences.” Good service is vital to a restaurant’s success, but at Wasabi Sushi you won’t find traditional waiters or waitresses. Instead, you’ll serve yourself spicy tuna or California rolls by grabbing a plate from a conveyor belt that delivers food throughout the dining area. “Our sushi concept is substantially different,” says Bo Davis, president of Wasabi Sushi, headquartered in Washington D.C. “In addition to the conveyor belt system, we’re located in common areas of large regional malls, and we ‘float’ in the hallways of center courts.”sushi grade fish aberdeen While Wasabi Sushi is unique in the United States, conveyor- belt sushi isn’t new. sushi delivery las condes padre hurtado

The idea originated in Japan in the 1950s as a fast food idea. Davis says thousands of these places existed, selling low-quality sushi at a high volume. In the ’90s, European restaurateurs borrowed the concept, with a more upscale atmosphere and higher pricing. Davis was living in London in 2005 when he saw the concept for the first time. Having sold his software company in 2002 for $9.6 million, Davis says he was looking for something new. samurai sushi menu lafayette laHe hired an executive chef and brought the idea to the United States.jiro dreams of sushi 720p Davis launched the first Wasabi Sushi conveyor belt restaurant in a traditional retail space in Washington, D.C., near the White House in 2006. sushi maker tupperware italia

Over the next three years, he opened a few non-conveyor belt sushi locations. Then he tried his first mall location —Tyson’s Corner Center in McLean, Virginia, in 2009. “It was insane,” Davis recalls. “People really liked it. We spent the next year regrouping and decided to focus only on opening mall locations. We closed all other stores.” Wasabi Sushi can be found in several large regional or super regional malls. sushi bamboo mat substituteCurrently, the restaurant has one location in Virginia, two in Massachusetts, one in Florida and one in Texas. A sixth location is opening this fall in California, and more are planned for 2014. Davis attributes the success to the energy the restaurants offer. “It’s like retail theater —you can see directly across the entire line of action,” he says. “There are no walls around our kitchen; customers watch the food being prepared.”

Food is put onto colorful plates and set on a lit conveyor belt that snakes through the restaurant. Each location is designed differently to fit into the mall atmosphere, and customers are seated byDiners are given menus that describe each of the 80 menu items, which include sushi as well as hot food such as salmon, chicken and soup, and dessert. Menu items have a label, so you know what you’re getting. Novel experiences continue to drive shoppers to malls despite the prevalence of online shopping. In addition to shopping, seeking out fashion trends, eating at a restaurant and entertainment were among the most important reasons for going “You just grab what looks good,” says Davis. Pricing is based on plate colors and ranges from $2.50 to $5. Davis says the average ticket is $14. Beer, wine and sake are also available. While the customer directly picks the sushi off the belt, the restaurant is full-service, so a waiter attends to each customer by taking supplementary drink, hot food, and custom sushi orders, and, of course, tallies the bill.