Nov. 7, 18.00 p.m. C.S.T.
New Chilean salmon JV targets supply stability
Chilean salmon producers Australis, Blumar, Camanchaca and Yadran announced Tuesday they have formed a new alliance to "conquer" the Chinese market -- a move to secure stable supply to the region, Juan Esteban Navarrete at Blumar, told IntraFish at the last day of the show.
"Each individual company is not able to assure stable supply, but together we can bring this stability into the market," he said.
The idea is to "expand and go deeper into China," he said. The companies will share current clients and contracts and venture out to win new clients.
The companies, which combined ship around 3,000 metric tons of salmon to the Chinese market currently, are targeting around 10,000 metric tons of exports to the country in the first year, supported by the new brand, New World Currents.
For Blumar this will mean an increase from currently 500 metric tons in the last semester to a targeted 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons next year, Navarrete said.
A delegation of the four producers will travel from Dalian to Shanghai following the China show to get things going. "We believe in the project," Navarrete said.
For the next year, Blumar is also targeting an increase in its salmonids production from currently 30,000 metric tons to 37,000 metric tons.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 7, 17.12 p.m. C.S.T.
Talley's launches new IQF range
New Zealand-based Talley's Group installed a new twin-tunnel individually quick frozen (IQF) freezer at its Motueka site in 2012, and the investment is already paying off, Tony Hazlett, CEO at the company's Nelson division, told IntraFish.
Following the launch, the company has introduced a new range of IQF products, ranging from whole fish to bite-sized crumbed portions, aimed mainly at the EU and Australian market.
The company mainly supplies hoki, ling, alfonsino, hake, dory, red cod, flounder, squid, southern blue whiting, tarakihi, orange roughy, toothfish, tuna and warehou, as well as mussels, and is now branching out to different product forms, such as hake steaks.
"It is going very well," Hazlett said. In the Chinese market, however, the company experienced a downturn this year, mainly due to stricter Chinese government import regulations.
"We see this turning around again now," he said. The company currently supplies 1,500 to 2,000 metric tons of frozen seafood products into the Chinese market, making up about one third of its total business.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 7, 16.24 p.m. C.S.T.
Dalian port expansion
But will it actually need it? That is debatable, as rising processing and labor costs are hitting processors in the region, which are consequently cutting down its shipments, he said.
Nevertheless, he was quick to promote the port as a one-stop platform for importers, with rapid custom clearance and services such as bonded warehousing storage, international transhipment, processing and dispatching.
Currently, around two million metric tons are going into Dalian every year, he said.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 7, 16.15 p.m. C.S.T.
Eco-labels not a subject in China ... yet
While several companies were proudly showcasing eco-labels such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) at their booths, they are certainly not a driving force in the Chinese domestic market.
Retail packages in Europe and the United States are crawling with eco-labels, but in China they are still at “very initial” stages, Thomas Sun, general manager of Yantai, China-based processor Ted Foods, told IntraFish.
This is despite increasing focus on food safety, and the “desire to build up standards,” he said. Processors will have to be the driving force to reverse the trend.
However, companies only looking for quick money are still lagging behind in several areas. Sun predicts those who are resistant will “disappear” from the market in the long run, and are set to be edged out by established players in terms of efficiency, service, traceability, food safety systems and product innovations.
Yantai Ted Foods, which produces more than 10,000 metric tons of finished products, and counts Tesco and Aldi as its clients, is in a good position to handle any market requirements that will come its way, Sun said.
With an estimated growth of 15 percent of the domestic seafood market annually, the company is increasingly focusing on China.
But it is not ignoring the international market, said Sun. “In the next 10 years we’ll still be very strong for the global market.”
With a strong cash flow backing up its operations, Ted Foods plans to open more branches and sales offices overseas.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 7, 12.45 p.m. C.S.T.
Vertical integration pays off
With a multi-million dollar investment in the last two years, Chinese company Hainan Xiangtai Fishery has reached its goal to become a vertically integrated tilapia and Golden pompano producer -- from hatchery, feed, processing, logistics and sales.
With a total production of 22,000 metric tons it is now ready to tackle both the domestic and exports markets, Rachel Zheng, international trade manager, at the company told IntraFish.
The United States, the European Union and Russia are the company's main export markets.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 7, 12.18. p.m. C.S.T.
German monopolization?
German supermarkets are "worried" about the recent developments in the German fish finger market, an industry watcher, who didn't want to be named, told IntraFish on the last day of the China show.
With Royal Greenland selling its fish finger factory in Wilhelmshaven to two Singapore-based investment companies earlier this year, both of which allegedly have links to Pacific Andes, fears are rising this could have an impact on the whole market, he said.
Pacific Andes also owns 19 percent of the Pickenpack Europe plants in Germany and France, as well as the The Seafood Traders (TST) plant in Riepe, after an acquisition deal signed earlier this year.
"Maybe opportunities will arise for overseas processors," the source said.
Pickenpack Germany has recently been in the news over a potential closure of its plant in Luneburg.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov 7, 7.10 a.m. C.S.T.
Goodbye, 'old Europe'
Europe is growing "poorer," and while in Germany people spend about 10 to 12 percent of their income for food, China is picking up the slack, Oskar Sigmundsson, managing director at Bremerhaven-based German Seafrozen Fish, told IntraFish.
For the company, which is part of the Parlevliet & Van der Plas Group, the country has been a key market for many years, simply due to higher prices it gets for its frozen whole-round cod, haddock, pollock, Greenlandic halibut and ocean perch.
"Here we fetch the highest prices; around $10 per kilogram of groundfish," Sigmundsson said. "To be honest with you, China is a real threat to Europe. Selling to China is real creation of value."
Being a foreign supplier is paying off, as many Chinese traders "mistrust" domestic production -- and frozen-at-sea and quality always sells, he said.
Greenlandic halibut is the company's bestseller in China, but ocean perch is also gaining ground.
The company is also seeing a growing market in Africa for its pelagic fish. "It's not about old Europe anymore," Sigmundsson said.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 7, 6.46 a.m. C.S.T.
'Where in the world is Steven Chen?'
Peter Redmayne's, China Fisheries & Seafood Expo organizer and president of Sea Fare Group, is asking the question many visitor at this week's China show have on their minds: Where is Yihe's Steven Chen?
"That’s what a lot of people in the fish business, both in the US and China, want to know," he wrote.
Chen’s California-based company, Yihe Corporation, was recently forced into receivership by food broker Resource One, which is owed $448,000 for product it sold to US retailers on behalf of Yihe, and helped it land big retail accounts such as Walmart, Wakefern, Aldi and Food Lion.
"But he owes people in China much, much more," Redmayne went on saying.
"I’ve known Chen for more than 10 years. He helped me develop the Simply Seafood line of twice-frozen seafood products from China. Our relationship had its up and downs over the years and we finally parted because it was hard to get product out of him. The reason, I learned on many trips to China, was that he owed plants in Qingdao a lot of money and, hence, none of them wanted to process for him anymore until he paid them.
"Chen’s solution was simple: get his own plant. Once he had his own plant he did what so many Chinese companies want to do -- go after high-volume customers. But the margins selling to big customers like Walmart are razor thin. And to get that business, you have to sell for less than their current suppliers, which means you may well end up selling below cost. If you’re selling large volumes at a loss, though, you can get upside down pretty quick, which is apparently what happened to Chen," Redmayne said.
"Now his Chinese creditors are chasing him, trying to get their hands on $45 million worth of his fish.
"Meanwhile, buyers at Walmart are scrambling to find other Chinese processors to fill their pipeline, especially pink salmon, the chain’s top selling finfish item. But it won’t be easy, since most well-run plants in cities like Qingdao and Dalian are running at full capacity. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for the Walmarts of the world, though. If your only buying criteria is the lowest price, you shouldn’t be surprised if you eventually drive your suppliers out of business. And then they have a headache they created themselves."
Click here to read Redmayne's blog.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 6, 6.15 p.m. C.S.T.
Asian seafood safety improving, but a lot of work remains
The Asian seafood market has matured on several dimensions over recent years, Bjarki Gardarsson, managing director at Promens Asia, told IntraFish during a pit stop at the company’s booth on Wednesday.
With the trend from a low-cost reprocessing country and manufacturer to a producer for its growing domestic consumption, has come an increased interest in food safety on levels of quality, regulation, hygiene and risk management.
These factors “are moving up very fast in the priority list,” a trend especially seen in the past two years.
With it comes a more holistic approach towards processing, in order to increase efficiency in terms of manpower, labor regulations and salaries – a “vertically integrated management trend or politics,” as Gardarsson describes it.
For Promens, a manufacturer of a range of thermal containers and boxes for the fishing, aquaculture and processing industry, this is “fantastic news,” he said.
Nevertheless, some areas are lagging behind. “Our success in Asia so far is mostly in processing,” Gardarsson told IntraFish. However, the way from sea, sourcing or harvesting, to the processing facilities still sees some serious issues, he said.
“We see the success on land but from sea to land there are vast opportunities to improve.”
This not only extends to food safety and hygiene, but also to waste losses and lacking efficiency in handling product from the early stages.
“I would also like to see more emphasis on high-level education” of the ones who will run the seafood businesses of tomorrow. In addition, some companies have a “lack of interest in finding weaknesses” in their business.
“We have a lot to do – it is a challenge,” Gardarsson said. He is, however, convinced, a transformation will happen, but it remains to be seen when and how.
Iceland-headquartered Promens set up foot in Hong Kong 11 years ago, and operates a factory in China and one in India. By the end of the year, the company will open a third factory in Shanghai.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 6, 4.54 p.m. C.S.T.
India's shrimp boost
While at last year's show India's Marine Products Export Development Association (MPEDA) still saw a decreasing imports trend into China, things are are starting to look up for India's exporters.
"Trade has been growing, it's increasing," Shine Kumar, deputy director at the association, told IntraFish.
While exports were mainly focused on fish in recent years, vannamei shrimp have seen a boost over the last two years due to more demand from Chinese buyers.
Most of the product comes as fresh or frozen form into China, but MPEDA is trying to push VAP products, such as different shrimp curries, into the market.
Kumar also negated recent rumors of EMS outbreaks in India, saying "we're not infected at this point." Rigoros broodstock management is part of the disease-free development, he said.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 6, 4.36 p.m. C.S.T
Best in show
It is nice to know it is still perfectly acceptable in the international seafood industry to dress up women in costumes in the name of sales.
Here’s a selection of some of the most glamorous. We’ll let you judge who’s best… but here’s a clue – it’s the ones donning the classy yellow and blue non-flame retardant outfits with newspaper print on their backsides – we never said IntraFish was classy, we're just good at giving you the news.
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Nov. 6, 4.23 p.m. C.S.T
Coldwater shrimp shortage?
Coldwater Prawns of Norway will close down its Alesund factory for three months this winter, from December to including February.
The reason? Lower catches and not enough raw material, Knut Helge Vestre, managing director at the company, told IntraFish.
It’s a problem in the industry as a whole, he said. Quotas in Greenland and Canada are set to go down. In Norway’s waters the issue is cod. “There is too much cod in the water,” he said.
Proper preparation, however, will keep the company afloat, and it can keep up with its sales.
“The year has been OK, but of course we’d like to grow,” he said. “The sky is the limit.”
Part of the growth will come from new products, which are set to be launched by the end of this year or in early 2014, he said, but remained tightlipped on the nature of the launch.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 6, 4.00 p.m. C.S.T.
EMS: 30% losses not bad for everyone
While general shrimp feed companies are suffering from an EMS-related 30 percent drop in Chinese shrimp production, hatchery nutrition specialist Inve says it is benefiting from the increased focus on good quality fry.
"The Chinese are buying high value products now and price is no limit," said Pepino Candreva, global purchase special projects manager with Inve.
He also told IntraFish the high-end seafood sector in China was suffering from the recent government crack-down on official spending, with government officials no longer allowed to spend copious amounts of public funds on fine dining.
"Sales of fish like grouper are down 40 percent," he told us.
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 6, 2.30 p.m. C.S.T.
Chinese tilapia: FDA finding less to find fault with
Despite its image, Chinese tilapia is actually improving its food safety standing in the US market with a steady drop in refusals of shipments due to salmonella or veterinary drugs, despite the increased volumes entering the market.
Taiwan, on the other hand, has seen a big increase for both salmonella and veterinary drugs, said Ben England, attorney and 17-year veteran of the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
However, there has been a massive increase of FDA refusals of Chinese product due to 'decomposition and filth'.
"This is mostly decontamination, I believe, which is an adulteration risk, but not a food safety issue," said England.
"The FDA is being confronted with having to think different about tilapia coming from China," said England.
"It is not finding the kind of safety risks that consumers in the United States associate with imported seafood.
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 6, 2.24 p.m. C.S.T.
Ethnic groups will increase US seafood consumption
It's not all doom and gloom for Chinese tilapia in the United States. An increasing ethnic population and a bigger focus on health and reducing obesity will open up new avenues for the product in the future, said Xin Yuan from the United States' National Fisheries Institute (NFI).
"The white American population is reducing, and is projected to be down from 69 percent to 50 percent in the next decade. The emerging groups [Asians, Latin Americans] are more used to eating seafood," said Xin.
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 6, 2.08 p.m. C.S.T.
Low prices hit Chinese tilapia industry
Despite increased production volumes, the rising supplies of other whitefish on international markets has hit the earnings of Chinese tilapia farmers, Cui He, vice executive president and secretary general of the Chinese Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA) told a large Chinese audience at the 10th Tilapia Industry Development Forum running alongside the show this morning.
“It has led some farmers to give up on tilapia,” said Cui.
Cui’s solutions to better profits? Developing the domestic market and driving certification and traceability.
“Based on this we need to build famous brands,” said Cui. “Even high quality [Chinese] tilapia doesn’t sell at high prices because we need to have brands,” he said.
Chinese volumes are expected to reach 370,000 metric tons or a value of $1.3 billion (€960 million) for this year.
Click here to read the full story.
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 6, 1.25 p.m. C.S.T
Chile's Acuinova: Business as usual, despite parent's bankruptcy
It's all business as usual at Chilean salmon producer Acuinova -- despite the bankruptcies of owner PescaChile and parent group Spanish multinational Pescanova, and a looming sale, together with sister company Nova Austral.
"We're operating normally; we're harvesting our fish, we're shipping our products as usual and our relationships with our clients are as usual," Felipe Ogalde, assistant manager commercial division at Acuinova Chile, said, when IntraFish stopped by the company's booth.
"Of course, we're on sale and that's another issue." He confirmed that five companies have submitted bids for PescaChile's salmon operations in Chile, including Cooke Aquaculture and Mainstream.
"We're one of the assets PescaChile has to get rid of," Ogalde said, adding it remains to be seen what the future brings.
In general, sales are good, but "we face the same problems as the rest of the Chilean companies," he said. Cash-flow problems is one and low prices earlier in the year another.
"We're very optimistic prices will improve," he said.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 6, 12.44 p.m. C.S.T
Yihe China operation remains a mystery
When IntraFish stopped by Qingdao Hairong Foods’ booth – the company operating the Qingdao plant for financially struggling Yihe -- on Wednesday morning, any requests to talk to one of the attending execs were dismissed.
The friendly lady blocking off the executives at the booth said; “sorry I don’t think this is a good time,” – even though none of them were in a business meeting, and no other clients were to be seen.
Yihe was recently forced into receivership by food broker Resource One, which is owed $448,000 for product it sold to US retailers on behalf of Yihe. The company’s Seattle-area offices have been closed and the Qingdao Hairong Foods plant in China, which is owned by Steve Chen, who also owns Yihe, is operating or not operating, depending on who you believe.
When asked if she could answer the question if the plant is still producing for Yihe, she said, “I don’t know but I guess so.”
The plant is also processing fish for Chinese company Shandong Ocean International, which is active in bulk trading such as iron ore, rubber, chemical products, but aims to set up foot in the seafood industry.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 6, 12.15 p.m. C.S.T
Marine Harvest: from commodity to brand in China
Chinese consumers "love salmon," but restricted access to market, distributional challenges to retailers, and lacking cold storage facilities remain issues to be tackled, Marine Harvest execs said, sitting down with IntraFish on the first day of the show.
The solution would have to be the introduction of a brand and proper channel management, said Charlie Wu, the company's managing director Asia Pacific.
While the group is already working with international retailers in the country, "the scale is small, trade is poor and distribution is poor. There is still a ways to go," he told IntraFish.
Click here to read the full story.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 5, 11.01 p.m. C.S.T
Visitor numbers up a third
At the end of the first day, visitor numbers at this year's China Fisheries & Seafood Show are up 33 percent on last year.
And the floor certainly feels busy, with the IntraFish stand getting plenty of traffic -- something we're sure is partially down to our tastefully-dressed show ambassadors (haven't seen the outfits? Stop by tomorrow and we'll run you one up).
"There's lots of very happy exhibitors," show organizer Peter Redmayne told IntraFish.
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 5, 5.12 p.m. C.S.T
Investing in VAP
Breaded portions for quick-service restaurants (QSR), fish portions and fillets for foodservice are Trident's biggest hits in the value-added segment in China.
"VAP sales are growing -- it's a big market," Doug Van Devanter, executive vice president at Trident's South East Asia Business Office, told IntraFish.
The company started processing and purchasing in China in 1995, and added its value-added operations for the domestic market in China and Japan in 2010 with processing facilities in both China and Thailand.
"We would need to support that sales growth with further investments," Van Devanter said. When asked for further details, he declined to comment, and said with a smile; "you know how media-shy we [Trident] are."
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 5. 4.28 p.m. C.S.T
Danish trout producer sees boom from salmon prices
Skyrocketing salmon prices in Chile and Norway bestowed Danish trout producer Aquapris with more business this year.
"Some processors have swapped to trout due to the high salmon prices and as a Danish producer we've had an advantage," Anne-Mette Arp, the company's sales manager, told IntraFish.
Aquapris is attending the China Seafood and Fisheries Expo in Dalian for the second time this year and is now hoping to expand its business in Asia, after bagging its first contract with a processor in 2012.
"We would like to introduce trout caviar. It's not a popular Chinese food but it's popular in Japanese cuisine, which is quite big here and we see a lot of opportunities," Arp said.
"We haven't found the right partner yet but we're positive," she said.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 5, 4.14 p.m. C.S.T.
Where are all the feed companies?
A conversation with a Japanese seafood exec looking for fish feed suppliers for his yellowtail operations brought it to IntraFish's attention there's a definite lack of feed companies at the show, despite the addition of a dedicated aquaculture hall.
While Belgian hatchery feed specialist Inve and Chinese aquafeed giant Evergreen both have large stands on the top floor, there is no sign of Skretting, Biomar, Grobest or any other international feed producers for that matter....
Where are you all?
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 5, 3.57 p.m. C.S.T
Thai shrimp recovery taking longer than expected?
Thai shrimp producers are still suffering from EMS, and a recovery from the crisis could take longer than expected.
“We thought things would have turned around by now but we’re not seeing it yet,” Jim Gulkin, managing director at Siam Canadian, said during an IntraFish visit at the company’s booth.
Indonesia is taking up some of the “slack” but “there’s a big hole in Thailand, and as a results sales have dropped significantly in the country.
“It’s a very big change in the industry,” Gulkin said, adding many processors are running at 50 percent of their capacity.
Prices are continuously high, and Gulkin doesn’t believe 2014 will see a massive drop, as predicted by some industry watchers. “I believe prices will remain high through the first half of next year.
“Sales have slowed down considerably,” he said.
The upcoming holiday season, however, will be an indicator what direction prices are going, especially in the United States, with Thanksgiving just around the corner.
“If consumption is not too bad there’ll be a lack of shrimp in January/February but a lack of interest could push prices down,” he said.
The political situation in the United States, with the recent government shutdown, is not helping, he said, leaving consumers concerned and insecure, and perhaps “more conservative” in their shopping behavior.
Shrimp make up about $260 to $270 million of the company's total annual sales value of $290 million.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 5, 3.25 p.m. C.S.T
Trout farming grows its footprint in China
Troutlodge’s Andrew Barfoot stopped by the IntraFish stand this afternoon, as part of a whirlwind week in China.
The Chinese market has doubled over the last four years for the salmonid egg producer whose distributor, Beijing Biotech, has a booth at the show.
“China’s not a big volume buyer, but it buys a lot of our value-added products,” said Barfoot, translating to a $350,000 annual market for the Seattle-based company.
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 5, 2.58 p.m. C.S.T
The big yawn
It's refreshing to see the increasing number of Chinese companies who are willing to share information and be open about their operations at the show, but IntraFish still has the odd door slammed in its face.
And the excuses get less and less convincing.
This morning one seafood exec told us "I cannot talk to you. I'm very tired."
American companies are not that different, with one exec telling IntraFish "there's nothing new so I won't comment. And I will not be quoted on that."
-- Rachel Mutter, Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 5, 2.44 p.m. C.S.T
Alaska seafood growing in China
Exports from Alaska into China for domestic consumption are growing, Alexa Tonkovich, international program director at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) told IntraFish.
“It’s always been a big importer for Alaskan seafood for reprocessing but more and more remains in the domestic market,” she said.
Snow crab, King crab, black cod and Pacific cod are the most imported species, she said.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 5, 2.21 p.m. C.S.T
Big growth for value-added in China
The Chinese market has grown 30 percent over the last five years for Beijing-based flavor and coating technologist Newly Weds Foods, R&D Manager Kevin Wu told IntraFish.
But there's big pressure on costs, he said, referring to both higher labor and raw material costs -- "both for us and our customers," said Wu.
But things for Newly Weds' seafood clients are at least better than for their poultry customers, who are still suffering the after-affects of the avian flu crisis.
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 5, 2.08 p.m. C.S.T
Three more factories for tilapia giant
China’s biggest tilapia producer is clearly not about to let its increasing labor costs slow its growth and will open three new factories next year, increasing its output of frozen tilapia products from 1,700 containers this year by almost 50 percent to reach 2,500, Emma Qin, trade manager at Baiyang Aquatic told IntraFish.
The new factories – two of which the company built from scratch and one it bought – will take Baiyang’s total to seven facilities.
Most of the extra production will come from its expanding cage farming in southern China and will be processed for the United States, Europe, Mexico and a growing domestic market.
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 5, 1.44 p.m. C.S.T
From zero to profit?
Chinese are getting richer and European-style food is growing in popularity, Britt Moller, partner at Danish company Vega Salmon, told IntraFish.
It's only natural that smoked salmon should be part of the change, she said. The company, which reported a loss of €1.2 million in 2012, is hoping to seal its first contracts with Chinese clients at the show, to gain foot in the country in both foodservice and retail.
"We will start with wholesale and foodservice but hopefully retail will follow," she said.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 5, 1.38 p.m. C.S.T
The victims of EMS
"Shrimp business is expensive and it will shrink," Jiro Takeuchi, director of Uhrenholt’s seafood division, told IntraFish. "Many companies will disappear," as a result of the EMS crisis, higher prices and difficulties to get raw material.
Uhrenholt itself doesn't suffer "as much," Takeuchi said, as the company was preparing early on for the shortage.
Uwe Thellmann, senior vice president at the company, said strong supplier relationships help.
"We're in a good position to get product," he said. The group also mainly works with "big industrial customers," where price plays a smaller role.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 5, 1.25 p.m. C.S.T
Russia, China 'big business' for shrimp
Denmark-headquartered shrimp supplier Uhrenholt is chasing "big business" in Russia, where it's seen the biggest growth for both coldwater and warmwater shrimp, Uwe Thellmann, senior vice president at the company, told IntraFish.
It currently employs 350 people in the region and has recently invested in 80 trucks to supply frozen shrimp to its various destinations.
Another "strategic country" is China, where it has seen a shift from supplier to buyer.
"In the past we saw it mainly as a market to buy but about four years ago we saw the change," Thellmann said. The shell-on business is good, he said, but "what we've learned is that we can expand and invest in sales and distribution in various areas."
Europe remains, however, the company's biggest region, where it has offices in the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Greece, besides Denmark.
Total group turnover for the company is currently at €120 million per year.
-- Elisabeth Fischer
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Nov. 5, 12.17 p.m. C.S.T.
Sausages on sticks
There's nothing the Chinese like more than a sausage on a stick. Considering this is a seafood show, IntraFish is amazed by the number of people wandering the halls with this most sophisticated of culinary creations.
We reckon there's a business opportunity there for surimi producers.
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 5, 11.12 a.m. C.S.T.
Dalian Zhangzidao investing in South Korea
Seafood giant Dalian Zhangzidao group is looking to partner with Clearwater Seafoods and others to replicate its Zhangzi Island model of sustainable "sea-ranching" in a $100 million South Korean expansion, Yuming Feng, executive president of global seafood business told IntraFish.
The company's model is unusual in China in its apparent sustainability credentials, and Feng likened it to basic farming where seeds are put down -- in this case of various high-value shellfish -- then left to grow without feed or other intervention, until ready to harvest.
Areas around the island are left fallow on rotation and residents of the small landmass are subsidized by the company to stop them farming livestock or partaking in any other activities which may pollute the surrounding waters.
"Our product is a little bit more expensive on the market, and that is because it is higher quality and sustainable," said Feng.
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 5, 10.47 a.m. C.S.T.
More machines!
Increasing labor costs might be turning into a bit of a tired story, but for Chinese processors it continues to be front page news, hitting their bottom line dramatically and forcing them down the path to mechanization.
Dalian Hualian Food is one such processor who is suffering both sky-rocketing labor costs and increased prices for raw material, explained sales manager Kevin Sun.
The company buys wild-caught seafood -- Alaska pollock, Pacific cod, chum salmon and yellowfin sole to name a few -- from US and Russian vessels and re-processes for sale to the United States.
"Our earnings are less and less," said Sun.
And the solution from Sun's viewpoint is more machines at its two Dalian factories to process its 22,000 ton annual production with lower overheads.
The likes of Marel and Baader must be licking their lips in the Chinese market right now.
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 5, 10.25 a.m. C.S.T.
EMS a problem for everyone -- even those who don't have it
Despite the assumption that the early mortality syndrome (EMS) crisis in Asia and Mexico might be making life easier for Ecuadorian shrimp producer Songa, sales exec Eva Hsu-Konstantakis told IntraFish it was quite the opposite.
"It is making things more difficult," she said. "The market is unbalanced." With huge demand from customers in the light of the supply shortage, Songa's 200 containers a year are not able to fulfill requests and it is not a situation it is happy about.
Songa's biggest customer is the United States, but Asia is "catching up fast," said Hsu-Konstantakis, and the company is looking to employ someone in Dalian as a distributor of its product on the Chinese market.
-- Rachel Mutter
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Nov. 5, 10.00 a.m. C.S.T.
Get frying
Want to draw a crowd at the China show (or any other seafood show for that matter)? Fry some fish. Any fish. IntraFish was drawn to the massive crowd gathered at the Vinh Hoan stand assuming the company must have a crowd of eager buys waiting to do some deals.
But on closer inspection, the crowd was apparently purely interested in the free food on offer, leaving execs stood watching random visitors elbow each other out the way to get to the fish balls and breaded pangasius goujons.
Vinh Hoan was the first producer to be certified to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council's pangasius standard last year and is making the most of the affirmation, with some very nice packaging on display bearing the Dutch 'Queen's' brand and that all important green logo.
-- Rachel Mutter
