Recently, some media reported that the Ecuadorian "wild sea fishing" white shrimp previously sold in the "Oriental Selection" live broadcast room was actually farmed, and the news caused heated discussions among netizens. A few days ago, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily contacted the company that provided white shrimp for the "Oriental Selection" at the time of the incident, and the company's online store showed that the Ecuadorian white shrimp it sold were non-farmed "sea supplement prawns". However, the company's customer service admitted that white shrimp are captive in the sea rather than wild fishing, and said that "they have never been sold to wild as a selling point." The Beiqing News reporter noticed that there are still many online businesses claiming to sell wild Ecuadorian white shrimp, but in the pictures released by some merchants, the original packaging of white shrimp is marked on the word "farming" in a foreign language.
The Commercial Counsellor of the Ecuadorian Embassy in China said: "The white shrimp we export to China are farmed, and there are many Chinese enterprises that import white shrimp from Ecuador. ”
Stirring a heated discussion
Imported "wild" white shrimp are actually farmed
On March 15, the news that Ecuador's "wild sea fishing" white shrimp sold in the "Oriental Selection" live broadcast room was actually farmed caused heated discussions among netizens. Some netizens posted that at present, Ecuadorian white shrimp are farmed, and there is no wild sea fishing. Some consumers have filed a lawsuit in court over the matter.
The Beiqing News reporter noted that some media previously reported that on June 14, 2022, Mr. Wang placed an order for the same frozen shrimp in the "Oriental Selection" live broadcast room, and the product name was Ecuadorian Santa White Shrimp. When selling this shrimp, the Oriental Selection anchor introduced that the shrimp is 100% wild, the fishing area is Ecuador, and the product detail page is marked "fresh sea caught Pacific prawns", and the box of the shrimp is also marked "100% wild" when it arrives. However, Mr. Wang checked the relevant information after receiving the goods and found that the shrimp was farmed shrimp.
According to information released by Tianyancha, Mr. Wang's case against "Oriental Selection" and the dispute over the sales contract of the Santa white shrimp enterprise in Ecuador began in the first instance on February 21 this year.
The customer service staff of Oriental Selection told the Beiqing News reporter on March 15 that the supplier of Ecuadorian white shrimp that Mr. Wang ordered in Oriental Selection in June last year was Qingdao Langhai Economic and Trade Co., Ltd., and the packaging box of the company's products was printed with the word "wild". The customer service staff said that after learning the relevant situation, Oriental Selection blocked the brand in July last year and terminated the cooperation. At present, the Ecuadorian white shrimp sold in the live broadcast room of Oriental Selection is self-operated white shrimp. The customer service said that the Ecuadorian white shrimp sold now is directly supplied from the place of origin, and it is farmed in Ecuador, not wild.
Product removal
The sales company said it did not use "wild" as a selling point
According to an online store operated by Qingdao Langhai Economic and Trade Co., Ltd., the price of Ecuadorian white shrimp is 159 yuan per box. According to its sales page, the Ecuadorian white shrimp is a non-farmed "sea supplement prawn", which is "natural sea, fresh catch, live frozen and fresh". Some consumers left messages in the comment area saying that white shrimp are cost-effective and delicious, with good quality and low price; It is also said that shrimp are smaller in size and do not taste as good as before. On the afternoon of March 15, a reporter from Beiqing News found that the product was displayed as "removed".
The Beiqing News reporter consulted the store's customer service as a consumer, and the other party said that the Ecuadorian white shrimp sold by the store was imported and was kept in captivity rather than wild fishing. The customer service said that since the establishment of the brand, it has never made sales promotions with "100%" or "wild" as selling points, nor has it submitted product information containing the above two selling points to any selling anchor.
Merchant definition
"Artificial seedlings for seawater growth" is considered wild
On some online stores, many merchants still claim to sell "wild" Ecuadorian white shrimp, with prices ranging from 39 yuan to 390 yuan. According to the sales page of a merchant that claims to sell wild Ecuadorian imported white shrimp, its Ecuadorian white shrimp is quickly frozen after being caught on board, and the shrimp meat is almost the same as fresh in taste and taste. The price of 500 grams of white shrimp is 39.8 yuan. When the Beiqing News reporter questioned whether the Ecuadorian white shrimp was really wild, the customer service staff of the business said that the white shrimp could not be farmed at present, so it was wild.
But another merchant gave the opposite claim, with one claiming to sell fresh sea-caught wild Ecuadorian prawns saying on its sales interface that the shrimp were pure marine prawns. However, when the Beiqing News reporter asked as a consumer whether the product was wild white shrimp, the customer service responded that the shrimp was artificial seedlings and marine farming. The customer service also said: "Now the (merchants) who say (shrimp are) wild are scammers and can block it." However, when the reporter questioned the merchant that the merchant also added the word "wild" to its product introduction, the customer service replied: "No way, (all merchants) write it this way." ”
In addition, some merchants gave other explanations for the definition of "wild", and one merchant who claimed to sell wild sea prawns in Ecuador admitted that the shrimp he sold was actually farmed shrimp, "this shrimp is artificially bred, natural seawater grows naturally, and it is considered wild."
Another merchant claiming to sell "wild" Ecuadorian white shrimp said on its sales interface that its Ecuadorian white shrimp was originally imported from frozen ships, and 2 kilograms of white shrimp were sold for 218 yuan. However, the original packaging of the goods posted by the merchant showed that Ecuadorian producers had marked the "farming" column with a confirmation mark.
Officially
Ecuadorian Embassy in Beijing: White shrimp exported are farmed
On March 15, Andres Armas, commercial counselor at the Ecuadorian Embassy in China, told the Beijing Youth News: "What I know is that the white shrimp we export to China are farmed. He said that many Chinese companies import white shrimp from Ecuador.
According to an article previously released by the official WeChat public account of the Beijing Commercial Office of the Ecuadorian Embassy in China, Ecuadorian white shrimp has a unique taste and excellent quality, and is recognized as the best white shrimp in the world, mainly due to the breeding method, the use of probiotics and the environment of shrimp farming.
According to the article, Ecuador has a unique aquaculture system in the world, with low density of breeding space and excellent shrimp quality. Local shrimp farms can regulate changes in the water in the shrimp ponds because of the proximity to the processing plant, thus guaranteeing a completely fresh supply of raw materials.
Ecuador's exports to China increased by 57.5% to $5.706 billion during 2022, according to an article released in February by the Beijing Commercial Office of the Ecuadorian Embassy in Beijing. Contractual collaboration between the public and private sectors led to a 71.6% increase in shrimp exports, reaching US$3.928 billion by the end of 2022.
Text/Reporter Qu Chang Intern Zhang Zheng Yang Tongyu
Coordinator/Jiang Shuo
Source: Beijing Youth Daily