Irish seafood companies show great interest in the Chinese market
According to Bord Bia, the Chinese market has been important for the Irish seafood industry predominantly for the sale of pelagic species.
In the last few years, significant effort has been invested by Irish processors and Bord Bia to identify and develop opportunities for premium shellfish in this growing market for seafood, notably for shellfish such as live and processed brown crab, langoustines, scallops and razor clams.
“The strong and sustained growth in exports in recent years demonstrates the continued success of Ireland’s leading shellfish processors in penetrating this valuable market. Exports of shellfish to China, for example, increased in value by over 32% between 2015 and 2016, while exports to Hong Kong increased by 13% during the same period. Bord Bia has ambitious plans to further grow the share of Irish seafood into China and has a number of programmes in place to assist Irish seafood processors in identifying, profiling and targeting new customers that are willing to pay a premium for quality seafood from Ireland,” Tara McCarthy, Chief Executive of Bord Bia said.
Through its trade development programme, Bord Bia has been very successful in encouraging high-end retail and foodservice Chinese customers to visit Ireland to meet with Irish seafood processors on a one-to-one basis. These itineraries have been very effective in generating new business for the sector, providing Irish companies with an excellent opportunity to showcase their processing facilities and allowing the customers to see first hand the world-class environment in which Irish seafood is produced. These visits can provide a guarantee to Chinese customers on traceability, sustainability and food safety, all key issues of growing concern to the Chinese middle-class consumer.
During the last 3 years, Bord Bia has welcomed more than 35 Asian customers to Ireland on customised itineraries. Many of these visits have delivered new business for Irish seafood processors, and in April 2018 as part of its Marketplace International event, Bord Bia will host an additional 20 Chinese seafood buyers in Ireland.
The Chinese seafood market reached 20 billion euros in value in 2013, making China the world's leading seafood trading country, according to Bord Bia.
The increase in imported seafood is due to growing incomes and increased urbanization. China now accounts for one-quarter of the world’s seafood consumption, and the United Nation’s FAO projects China will need an extra 16 million metric tonnes of seafood by 2020 to meet growing demand.
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