The diversification of aquatic product consumption drives new changes in the industry

"The development of Internet technology coupled with the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the change of consumption habits, the rise of sales channels such as e-commerce platforms, the development of the prepared vegetable industry, the increasingly decentralized circulation of aquatic products, and the wholesale market of aquatic products, which was once the main channel for consumption, is no longer prosperous, facing transformation and upgrading
.
" At the 2022 China Aquatic Products Conference "Aquatic Products Consumption Forum" held recently, Zheng Han, an economist at Guangzhou Huangsha Market Trading Company in Guangdong Province, said
.
Industry experts said that this reflects the accelerated transformation of the aquatic product consumption market that has had an impact
on traditional distribution channels.

In recent years, the consumption situation of aquatic products has continued to change, the domestic and foreign market patterns have quietly changed, exports in the international market have been restricted, and the domestic market has broad
prospects.
At the same time, the domestic consumption of aquatic products has shown a trend of pursuing convenience, differentiation and quality, which has promoted the reshaping
of the business format and business model of the aquatic products industry.
Only by fully adapting to changes in the demand side can the supply-side structural reform of aquatic products open up a new situation in the changing situation and find vitality in the crisis
.

Consumer demand in the domestic market has surged

The reporter learned at the 2022 China Seafood Conference that due to the complex and changeable international environment, high global inflation, and the ups and downs of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the export of many types of aquatic products has been cold, and the consumption of aquatic products in the international market may tend to be weak
in the future period.

"Last year, the company's tilapia exports were in short supply, and exports began to decline
in the third quarter of this year.
" Liu Rongjie, head of Hainan Xiangtai fishery, believes that tilapia is currently mainly relying on foreign markets, and the decline in sales and rising feed costs have caused some farmers to face losses, and it is expected that aquaculture production may decline
next year.

The international market is weak, but the domestic consumer market is revitalized
.
First of all, due to the large population base, China's aquatic product consumption volume is large, and the consumption of aquatic products in 2021 will be about
68 million tons.
Secondly, China's aquatic product consumption has great potential for growth
.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, China's aquatic product consumption has been growing in recent years, and in the household consumption scenario alone, the per capita annual aquatic product consumption has increased from 10.
4 kg in 2013 to 14.
2 kg
in 2021.

According to Xu Lejun, director of the Fishery Development Strategy Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, there are currently regional differences and urban-rural differences in aquatic product consumption in China, with the consumption of coastal provinces such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Liaoning higher than that of inland provinces, and the consumption of rural residents has not yet reached the lower limit
of the recommended intake of aquatic products in the "Chinese Residents Balanced Diet Pagoda (2022)".
Therefore, China's aquatic product consumption will continue to grow
.

The growth of the domestic consumer market has promoted changes in the pattern of aquatic product trade
.
It is understood that from 2013 to 2021, China's total aquatic products trade increased by 24.
47%, and the trade deficit expanded from 1.
64 million tons to 8.
68 million tons
.
China's aquatic products imports mainly include three types
: raw materials for incoming processing, fishmeal and edible aquatic products.
Among them, edible aquatic products, which have been exported more than imported, have seen a trade deficit in 2019-2020, reflecting the increasing
demand for imported aquatic products in the domestic market.

Consumption diversification creates new opportunities

With the acceleration of the pace of life, the "lazy economy" and "home economy" are prevalent, and people are increasingly pursuing convenient and fast consumption methods
.
While the domestic aquatic products market is growing, it also presents a consumption trend
of pursuing convenience, differentiation and quality.

Since 2020, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this consumption trend, with fewer catering and dine-in channels and more household consumption
.
The scale of aquatic product transactions in online retail, community fresh food and other channels has grown
rapidly.
Consumer products are also changing, and prepared seafood dishes are becoming more and more popular
.
At the same time, the consumption of aquatic products is more personalized and differentiated
.
Yang Guang, head of Alibaba's B2C fresh aquatic industry, said that on the Taobao platform, different age groups have different consumption preferences, young people pay attention to cod, salmon and other aquatic products, and middle-aged and elderly people pay more attention to affordable freshwater fish, canned fish and other categories
.
"We also found that there is a clear demand
from the mom population for children's cod, shrimp cakes and other products.
" Yang Guang said
.

In addition, consumers' demand for high-quality aquatic products is growing, but the proportion of high-quality aquatic products is still low, and there are great market opportunities
.
As a result, the market for high-end imported aquatic products has developed
rapidly.
Yang Binbin, president of Youhe Group Research Institute, noted that white shrimp, salmon, cod, flounder, etc.
have become popular import categories, and it is expected that the import volume of high-end and high-quality aquatic products will continue to grow
in the next few years.

Anrui Tong, Chinese mainland and Hong Kong Regional Director of the Norwegian Seafood Bureau, said that in view of the high-quality development of China's economy and the strong vitality of China's consumer market, the Norwegian Seafood Bureau is optimistic about the development prospects
of China's aquatic products consumer market.
From January to October this year, Norway's exports of Chinese aquatic products reached a record high, with exports increasing by 46% and exports increasing by 6%.

The strong demand for high-end aquatic products in the Chinese market reflects the domestic consumers' pursuit of high-quality, healthy and nutritious consumption demands
.

Innovation and change in processing and circulation

In the face of more fierce competition in the domestic market, Anhui Fuhuang Sanzhen Food seized the opportunity of catfish processing as a market segment, achieved differentiated competitive advantages, successfully transformed into a business model based on domestic trade and supplemented by foreign trade, and integrated into the development pattern
of domestic and international dual circulation.
Ni Baoyou, general manager of the company, believes that changes in the consumer market are giving birth to changes
in the processing and circulation of aquatic products.

In the processing link, many aquatic products enterprises in China started with export processing, and are now turning to the domestic market
.
These enterprises have accumulated technical and management experience in the process of participating in foreign markets, and have strong processing capabilities, but the transformation to the domestic consumer market is not easy
.

For the domestic market, it is no longer a simple processing of incoming materials, but to carry out product development and design according to market demand and improve product quality
.
Ni Baoyou said that Fuhuang Sanzhen has continuously contracted its product line in recent years, serving grilled fish chain catering brands, exploring the industrialization, scale and standardized production of catfish products, focusing on the intensive processing of catfish, and gradually opening up the domestic catfish market
.

Wang Mingli, the relevant person in charge of Penglai Jinglu fishery, introduced that the company seized the trend of consumption upgrading in the domestic market, strengthened product research and development, launched deep-sea fish prepared dishes, seafood dumplings and other foods, served domestic consumers, and is changing the situation
that the sales of saury and other products mainly rely on the international market.

To adapt to the domestic market, it is also necessary to shift from processing thinking to market thinking and user thinking, close to consumers, and attach importance to brand building
.
In recent years, many domestic processing enterprises have seized the opportunity of the rise of the prepared vegetable industry, broken through from the B end to the C end, faced consumers directly, and created their own brands
.
It is understood that Fuhuang Sanzhen targeted young people and launched the "Youyu Demon" prefabricated dish brand, which was favored by consumers and set off a buying boom on e-commerce platforms.

"Consumer behavior changes, business operations must also continue to change, the era of extensive scale expansion has passed, we must pay more attention to the pursuit of efficiency, efficiency, and the optimization and integration
of various resources.
" Cui He, president of the China Aquatic Products Circulation and Processing Association, believes that the circulation and sales of aquatic products also need to adapt to consumption changes and technological development, and build a new pattern
of dual circulation of domestic and foreign consumption and circulation.

The aquatic products wholesale market, a traditional distribution channel, is quietly promoting transformation and upgrading, exploring value-added services under market changes, extending the industrial chain according to consumer demand, cooperating in breeding and product research and development, opening self-operated stores, and providing procurement and distribution business
.

At present, e-commerce platforms and instant retail platforms have accumulated massive aquatic product consumption data, used big data analysis to identify consumer preferences, and then met the differentiated needs
of consumers through intelligent recommendations.
In the face of new consumer trends, industry insiders also generally believe that digital operations are increasingly important for production and marketing docking, and through digital platforms, enterprise products and consumer markets can be connected more smoothly
.