In recent years, bullfrog has become popular in the consumer side and has become a popular new specialty item among consumers, which has the potential to catch up with crayfish and become the next top trend in catering. In 2021, there will be more than 2,000 stores of 8 chain catering brands such as Frog Laida, Frog Xiaoxia, Brother Laoguan, and Yongfrog, forming a distribution network from south to north and from coast to inland, laying the development pattern of nationwide consumption of bullfrogs.
As one of the few marine food enterprises in China with the whole industrial chain, Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Guolian Aquatic Products) gives full play to its global supply chain and R&D advantages and actively integrates into the trillion-dollar market prepared vegetable industry. From January to September 2022, the sales of Guolian aquatic prepared vegetables maintained a rapid growth momentum, and in the next five years, it will focus on creating aquatic specialty prepared vegetable products such as bullfrogs, prawns, crayfish and fish, and seize a new highland of global prepared vegetable brands.
So, how does Guolian Aquatic Products give full play to its advantages in the industrial chain of bullfrog breeding, processing to catering, and combine the changing needs of the market to provide consumers with safe and delicious bullfrog products? In the future, what major moves will Guolian Fisheries make in terms of prefabricated dishes to lead the sustainable and healthy development of the mainland aquatic food industry? The reporter interviewed Zhang Minqi, general manager of Guolian (Yiyang) Food Co., Ltd.
Zhang Minqi, general manager of Guolian (Yiyang) Food Co., Ltd.
01
Five advantages of creating a bullfrog big item
Reporter: Please briefly introduce the overall operation of Guolian Aquatic Products and the development of the bullfrog plate.
Zhang Minqi: Guolian Fisheries' sales in 2021 will be 4.5 billion yuan, currently mainly cultivating the domestic market and focusing on promoting the prefabricated vegetable business, the domestic market business accounts for more than 60% of the group's business, the sales of prefabricated vegetables in 2021 will be 840 million yuan, and the sales of prefabricated vegetables from January to September 2022 will maintain a rapid growth momentum. In terms of channel construction, omni-channel coverage, including distribution channels, catering channels and supermarket channels, new retail channels continue to make efforts, and at the same time, it focuses on the construction of Guolian aquatic products C-end prefabricated vegetable brand - Xiaoba Long.
As early as 2018, Guolian Aquatic Products paid attention to the bullfrog pre-made dish category, when the company conducted in-depth research on this category, and it may become another Internet celebrity item after crayfish. Since it could not pass the company's risk assessment at that time, the company has been trying to promote upstream farms and promote the construction of a supply chain upstream of bullfrog qualifications.
In 2021, through the efforts of the company's industrial revitalization department and quality control department, the company can ensure that the upstream breeding products of bullfrogs are qualified. In 2022, the company began to supply products for domestic large-scale catering, and achieved good results after the products were launched. Combining market demand and upstream supply chain advantages, Guolian Fisheries takes bullfrogs as a large item to create.
Reporter: Among the frog prepared vegetable products, bullfrog is the most popular, and the overall market size of bullfrog catering has reached 60-80 billion yuan. What are the company's strengths in the bullfrog sector?
Zhang Minqi: The advantages of Guolian Aquatic Products in the bullfrog sector have several major aspects: First, quality control advantages, the company puts food safety as a top priority, takes the lead in implementing an electronic supervision model in the aquatic industry, ensures the safety and traceability of the aquatic product supply chain throughout the process, and Guolian Aquatic Products can supply qualified bullfrog products through upstream supply chain control; Second, processing and manufacturing advantages, most of the live frogs currently used in the market, catering kitchen processing is very complicated, and bullfrog prices fluctuate greatly, and a large number of frozen processing cannot be made when the price is low. Guolian Aquatic Products has good freezing and processing technology, using liquid nitrogen freezing to maximize the restoration of taste, which can save costs for catering; Third, product research and development advantages, Guolian Fisheries has two R&D centers in Zhanjiang and Shanghai, and the company develops snacks and prepared vegetable products for bullfrog products. According to different consumption scenarios and needs, develop a rich range of bullfrog prefabricated vegetable products; Fourth, channel advantages, the company can carry out omni-channel marketing promotion.
02
Ensure the food safety of bullfrogs from the source of breeding
Reporter: What are the main consumer groups for Guolian Aquatic Bullfrog products?
Zhang Minqi: The company's bullfrog products are aimed at consumer groups such as the B side and the C side. For the B side, the company provides catering enterprises with pulp-free conditioning products, reducing the difficulty and cost of operation after catering, improving the efficiency of meals, and doing a good job in food safety; For the C-end, making pre-made vegetable products allows consumers to eat delicious frog products at home.
Reporter: Guolian Fisheries established the Ministry of Industrial Revitalization after the upstream sector was spun off. What is the current development of the company's industrial revitalization department?
Zhang Minqi: The company has established the Industrial Revitalization Department, which is mainly to empower farmers in terms of technology and guide the direction of breeding. The Ministry of Industry Revitalization has worked with the company's upstream feed, breeding and procurement sectors to actively cooperate with government departments and upstream farmers to carry out breeding projects; Guide upstream farmers to breed healthily, standardize medication, improve process control, and breed qualified bullfrogs; At the same time, share market information with farmers and breed bullfrogs of corresponding specifications.
03
Five years to create aquatic specialty prepared dishes
Reporter: Prepared aquatic vegetables have become a major incremental market in the field of aquatic food. In the future, what major moves will Guolian Aquatic Products make in terms of pre-made dishes?
Zhang Minqi: Prepared dishes are the key business in the company's five-year plan. Prefabricated dishes are a systematic project, including system construction from market research, product research and development, manufacturing standardization, quality and safety, supply chain management, channel construction, marketing and other aspects. In the future, Guolian Fisheries will continue to focus on the construction of "product strength, channel power and brand power", increase investment in product research and development, manufacturing standardization, and pay close attention to quality and safety construction, marketing promotion and brand.
Reporter: With the future development of mainland aquaculture in the direction of green, safe and efficient, what role do you think aquatic food enterprises and their products will play? What are the future development plans of the company?
Zhang Minqi: Benefiting from urbanization and consumers' continuous upgrading of healthy diets, China will be the largest aquatic consumption market in the next decade, and the growth rate will continue to be higher than the global average. The leading enterprises of aquatic food will obtain more markets and resources in the development of the industry through comprehensive advantages, and will lead the sustainable and healthy development of the aquatic food industry.
Guolian Fisheries has formulated a five-year development plan, and in the future, it will focus on aquatic products such as shrimp, crayfish, bullfrogs and fish, to create pre-made vegetable products with rich aquatic characteristics, and seize the new highland of global pre-made vegetable brands.