The penetration of crayfish into the catering industry has increased

Recently, it was learned from the China Aquatic Products Circulation and Processing Association that the "China Crayfish Industry Development Report (2021)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), jointly compiled by the Association, the National Aquatic Technology Promotion Station and the China Fisheries Society, was recently released. The "Report" shows that in 2020, China's crayfish farming industry continues to maintain a good momentum of development, and the processing industry maintains steady development; at the same time, the penetration of crayfish into the catering industry is gradually strengthening.

　　Output growth averaged 27.50% per year

　　According to estimates, the total output value of China's crayfish industry in 2020 will be about 344.846 billion yuan, down 15.07% year-on-year (the statistics do not include Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan). Among them: the output value of crayfish aquaculture industry is about 74.838 billion yuan, an increase of 11.35% year-on-year; the output value of the secondary industry dominated by the processing industry is about 48.008 billion yuan, an increase of 9.11%; the output value of the tertiary industry mainly based on catering is about 222 billion yuan, down 25% year-on-year.

　　In 2020, the total area of crayfish farming in China reached 21.8463 million mu, and the total aquaculture output reached 2.3937 million tons, ranking 6th among freshwater aquaculture species in China (the top 5 are bulk freshwater fish species). According to the geographical division, in 2020, there are 23 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) with crayfish farming reports, of which Hubei, Anhui, Hunan, Jiangsu and Jiangxi are still the five traditional farming provinces that still occupy an absolute dominant position, with a total aquaculture output of 2.1869 million tons, accounting for 91.36% of the total national crayfish aquaculture output.

　　Shrimp tails are the most popular in the domestic market

　　In terms of processing, the report shows that compared with the production of crayfish farming, crayfish processing enterprises mainly start processing in the middle and late stages of the centralized listing of crayfish, and mainly collect and store small-sized crayfish, and the proportion of crayfish processing volume is very low. In 2020, there were 123 processing enterprises above the scale of crayfish in China (with an annual processing capacity of more than 100 tons), an increase of 10 year-on-year, with a total processing capacity of about 880,700 tons, an increase of 10.09% year-on-year, and an annual total processing output value of about 48.007 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 10% year-on-year. According to the geographical distribution, processing enterprises above designated size are still mainly concentrated in the five main traditional crayfish farming provinces of Hubei, Anhui, Hunan, Jiangsu and Jiangxi.

　　Crayfish processing is mainly based on primary processing, the proportion of deep processing is very low, primary processing products are mainly shrimp tail (only head, not shelled), shrimp (head, shell), whole limb shrimp (do not head, do not shell) three categories. Among the three product types, due to the low processing cost and convenient home processing, shrimp tail is the most popular in the domestic market; due to the expansion of application scenarios, such as the development and launch of crayfish rice bowls and other products by some well-known restaurant chains, the use of shrimp has been expanded to a certain extent, and the demand in some areas has increased.

　　Increased penetration into the catering industry

　　The "Report" survey found that in 2020, under the background of the epidemic affecting offline consumption, the penetration of crayfish into the catering industry is gradually strengthening, mainly reflected in two aspects: one is that a large number of seasoned crayfish products have entered fast food, Chinese food and supper stores, becoming a popular dish in the store; second, crayfish have been combined with other categories of products to derive various innovative products, such as shrimp burgers, shrimp pizza, crayfish hot pot, shrimp tail cover rice, etc. Product innovation has promoted the wide application of crayfish products and laid a broad market space for the long-term development of crayfish.

　　In recent years, all localities have attached importance to the brand building of crayfish, especially the construction of regional public brands with wider coverage and stronger driving effect. 2020 is the outbreak period of crayfish public brand building, with 9 new geographical indication certification trademarks (Xiangyang crayfish, Kaijiang crayfish, Huarong crayfish, Junshan crayfish, Majiadang crayfish, Yanjiang Zhonghe crayfish, Hanshan lobster, Gongqingcheng lobster, Xinghua crayfish) in the whole year), and the total number of regional public brands nationwide has reached 21.

　　It is estimated that the production of crayfish covered by the regional public brand of crayfish in 2020 accounts for about 36.04% of the total production of crayfish. In addition, Qianjiang Lobster and Xuyi Lobster continue to rank in the top two in the regional public brand value.

Source: China Consumer Daily