In the past two years, the export trend of mainland eels to domestic sales is obvious, the number of domestic eel-related catering merchants has increased at a rate of more than 14% for two consecutive years, and the variety of eel dishes has reached more than 60,000 species, nearly 10 million Chinese eat eels at least once a month. China has always been a big exporter of eels, more than 60% of the catfish sold in Japan come from China, and at the end of last year, it was revealed that a Japanese company disguised Chinese eels as Japanese for more than 5 years. At present, the consumption of eels on the mainland accounts for 60%-70% of the total production, and the total consumption gradually catches up with Japan. Nowadays, a complete eel production and marketing chain has been formed in China, and through the efficient operation of the catering supply chain system, domestic eels only need 72 hours from factory to table at the earliest, meeting the growing consumer demand.
Eel sales are growing rapidly
The consumption of eels in domestic and foreign markets has been growing in recent years, especially after the epidemic, and the sales volume in China has grown rapidly, increasing by more than 50% year-on-year. According to the data, there are currently more than 2,000 restaurants in Shanghai alone that make eels.
Eels are usually referred to as fish of the order Eels, eels. At present, the main consumption in the market are Japanese eel, European eel, American eel and flower eel 4 species, all rely on the capture of natural fry for breeding, is a "semi-farmed product".
In recent years, the annual global eel production has stabilized at about 200,000 tons. Since fry rely on natural fishing, eel production has been greatly constrained by the decline of wild resources and the strengthening of water environmental protection in various countries. The mainland eel breeding industry is mainly concentrated in Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provinces, from eel breeding, adult eel breeding, feed production, roasted eel and eel by-products processing, export has formed a one-stop export-oriented industry.
Eels are loved by people at home and abroad because of their high-quality protein and rich lipids. Meituan released data saying that more than 10 million Chinese eat eel at least once a month, and consumers in Beijing and Shanghai have become high-frequency consumer groups of eels, and Chinese practices such as eel fried rice, eel hot pot, eel barbecue, and eel dumplings have been renovated.
More than 500,000 "eel depth enthusiasts" eat eels at least 3 times a month, an increase of more than 75% compared with 2020. Eel dishes showed explosive growth in China, with more than 60,000 eel-related dish varieties in 2021, an increase of 66% over 2019. The number of eel-related catering merchants increased by more than 14% for two consecutive years. Through takeaway, eels into the dining table of tens of millions of families, in 2021, the Meituan platform eel takeaway orders increased by more than 37% year-on-year in 2020, and the total number of eel dish orders below 50 yuan increased by 30% compared with 2020.
Zhang Baolin, executive president of the Fujian Eel Industry Association, once said: "Domestic eel consumption has reached 60%-70% of total production, exceeding that of foreign countries. According to this trend, eels may be oriented from the original export to not selling enough in China and not enough to eat. ”
"Chinese-style eel" breaks the "noble" value
The sudden outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2020 has changed almost all aquatic products import and export trade patterns, and eel products are no exception, and eels that were originally exported to Japan in bulk are "swimming back" to the domestic market. Hu Jianfei, head of Dongyuan Food, an eel processing enterprise in Putian City, Fujian Province, said that due to the impact of the epidemic, the annual sales volume of eels exported to Japan by the company has dropped from 3,000 tons to 700 tons. "Now, our eels are mainly turning to domestic sales."
In the first half of 2020, eel prices fell by more than 50%, and in the second half of the year, export orders gradually recovered, and eel prices began to rise, even more expensive than the same period in 2019 at 3,000 yuan per ton. After the epidemic, many eel companies began to think and began to change the sales pattern of relying solely on the export market, and increased the development of the domestic market through e-commerce, live streaming with goods, and entering supermarkets. At present, the processed products of eels are mainly grilled eels. Some data show that the number of domestic sales of roasted eels has increased to 15,000 tons.
In recent years, with the development of the domestic aquaculture industry and the improvement of the catering supply chain system, especially since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the export trend of mainland eels has shifted to domestic sales, and eels have changed from "expensive ingredients that people are reluctant to eat" to high-frequency and hot-selected dishes on consumers' tables.
Cui He, president of the China Aquatic Products Circulation and Processing Association, introduced: "Japan was once a high-consumption country for Chinese eels. The epidemic has made domestic eels 'export to domestic sales'. From the place of origin to the factory, and then to the consumer table, the circulation and consumption link of eel in China is also becoming more and more mature, developing towards scale and industrialization. ”
When eel consumption is localized, the way eels are cooked in China is closer to "Chinese food". In order to cater to the eating habits of the Chinese people, the Chinese food of eel is the consensus of almost all Japanese food stores. According to the taste of the Chinese people, the eel hot pot, eel barbecue, eel marinated meat rice, eel pot rice emerge in an endless stream. In addition, the epidemic has also spawned new changes in the dining habits of chinese people. For food safety reasons, consumers' choice of raw and cold foods has declined, and the popularity of cooked eel products has increased.
Sakura-do Eel Bistro tries to incorporate Chinese food elements in addition to preserving the original Japanese food tradition. The restaurant brand Kuhon Izakaya renovates the domestic eel restaurant pattern - eel is mixed with avocado and pineapple, wrapped in wheat skin, and made into an innovative "Cantonese dish", which is quite popular with diners. Food and beverage brand Xiao Sushi also said it will explore Chinese cooking techniques such as eel dumplings. Haidilao tried to make eel hot pot, Huang Jihuang developed eel stew pot, and Yonghe Dawang launched eel brine double rice.
In addition to the taste bias towards Chinese food, which makes Chinese consumers more acceptable, the improvement of the national economy and the decline in the price of eels have also promoted the increase in eel sales.
The person in charge of a roasted eel factory said: "The economic conditions of our people have also improved, everyone can afford to eat, and now the price has also been lowered." "In the past, it cost about 400 yuan per kilogram of roasted eels exported to Japan, but now, the roasted eels sent to China are only about 200 yuan per kilogram.
From flying to Japan to eating kashiki eel to eating affordable "Chinese eel" in China, the "noble" value of eels is being broken. The rapid development of transportation and mobile Internet, coupled with the upgrading of the supply chain of China's catering industry, has made eels from "luxury" to common availability, and Chinese young people are promoting the "rise of national eels".
"At present, the volume of dine-in and takeaway orders for eels is in a state of continuous growth, so we also tap and build upstream high-quality supply resources according to the procurement needs of catering customers." According to the relevant person in charge of the fast donkey purchase of Meituan's all-category catering supply chain platform, after aggregating the eel procurement needs of catering merchants, the platform organizes upstream on-demand production and processing, improves the efficiency of upstream and downstream industries, and helps catering merchants match more standard and reliable eel products. Accelerate the efficiency of category circulation and reduce the procurement costs of catering merchants, so that consumers can eat eel dishes with lower prices. Today, through the efficient operation of the catering supply chain system, domestic eels only need 72 hours from factory to table at the earliest to meet the growing consumer demand.
There is still a long way to go in the construction of domestic brands
In the 1970s, China began to be exposed to eel farming, but due to the short time and lack of experience, the production level has been low. In order to obtain advanced breeding technology, Fujian Province established a Sino-foreign joint venture eel farm in 1979, so 1979 is often praised by the industry as the "Year of Chinese Eel". Subsequently, eel farming spread throughout several provinces in southern China, and the international market share increased significantly.
Some insiders said that fry is the primary key point of the development of the eel industry. Eels are migratory fish whose spawning grounds are fixed. After 7-10 years of growing in freshwater, eels return to spawning grounds in the sea, and hatchlings take half a year to drift before gradually approaching the continental shelf. The eels caught by fishermen along the coast are "glass eels" that have grown to a transparent whole body. Eel fry for culture rely entirely on the capture of wild seedlings, while the supply of natural eel fry worldwide is limited. Artificial nursery of eels is still at the laboratory stage, which has led to the scarcity of eel fry.
Some insiders said that in addition to the aquaculture industry, it is still necessary to increase efforts in the promotion of processed product categories and the cultivation of the domestic market. Grilled eel products are greatly affected by the international market, and there is an urgent need to develop other series of eel products. Moreover, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the level of intelligence of most eel processing plants in the mainland, and the further improvement of product quality and the increase of product added value are new issues to be faced by the industry. Although the development of the domestic eel consumer market has been strengthened, there is still a long way to go in the construction of domestic brands, and the publicity is not enough.
Affected by the epidemic and foreign trade, the development of the eel industry is still facing many challenges. Cui He said that with the rapid development of mobile Internet, transportation, and the continuous upgrading of the supply chain of the catering industry, the development of the mainland eel industry will press the "acceleration button".
With the diversification of business models in the domestic market and the diversification of business varieties, including the development of refrigerated logistics, e-commerce, large supermarkets, chain stores, customized products, etc., and with the construction of cold chain logistics systems and the gradual maturity of technologies such as freshness preservation and waterless live fish transportation, eel products have a large space for growth in the field of fresh e-commerce in the future. (Edited by Li Chuang)
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