Entering March, it is the season to eat crayfish again. But recently, there have been frequent doubts such as "crayfish falling out of favor", "sales falling off a cliff", and "crayfish restaurants in many places going out of business".
According to the daily crayfish quotation released by the China Shrimp Valley 360 Direct Sales Center, today (April 8), the price of the smallest Xiaoqing is 12 yuan / catty, and the largest "cannon head" is 80 yuan / catty, compared with the same period last year, the price is indeed a lot lower, is the crayfish really not selling?
The price of crayfish is lower than that of the same period in previous years, which is the result of the market becoming stable and rational
At half past four in the morning, the China Crayfish Trading Center in Qianjiang, Hubei Province, has begun to be lively. Trucks full of crayfish drove here, unloaded, sorted according to specifications and sizes, and then packed into trucks and transported to more than 600 cities across the country.
Every day, the crayfish price reference of the trading center comes from the crayfish industry public information platform in the center. Guo Song, director of the comprehensive office of the trading center, said that this information platform serves the whole country, especially the crayfish market pricing in Hubei Province has very important reference significance. Through this platform, one can clearly see the price changes of crayfish over a period of time.
Guo Song said frankly that the price of crayfish in recent times has indeed decreased compared with the same period in previous years. For example, the price in March of previous years was about 31 yuan per catty for 2-4 taels of "Xiaoqing", and about 100 yuan per catty for "gun heads" of more than 45 grams. This year, the price in March fell to about 17 yuan and 95 yuan per catty respectively, and the medium and small size crayfish dropped by nearly 50%. In the past month, the price of crayfish has basically been lower than the same period last year.
However, it can be seen from the public information platform that the crayfish transaction price data for many years are warm winters in the first two years, and the crayfish production and price base are relatively high. For the price of crayfish this year, he also expressed confidence: "In the later period, with the rise in temperature and the recovery of the consumer market, the trading volume and transaction price of finished shrimp will inevitably be relatively stable." ”
The price of crayfish has dropped significantly, why is the price of restaurants still firm?
Although the price of crayfish in the market is low, a visit to some well-known crayfish restaurants in Wuhan will show that the price is still strong.
Compared with previous years, the price of crayfish in these stores has not decreased, often 158 yuan, 188 yuan, and some higher specifications are even sold for 368 yuan. Many netizens said that a dozen yuan can buy a pound of crayfish, why did the price increase by more than 10 times on the table?
In the face of crayfish that cost three or four hundred jumps in a meal, many citizens said that they could not afford to eat them.
Yin Hao, executive chairman of the Hubei Shrimp and Rice Industry Association, said that in fact, crayfish itself only accounts for a small part of the cost of restaurants, and the real cost of restaurants is still in rent and labor.
In the past two years, the beautiful steamed shrimp in Wuhan Wansong Garden, with its entire 9-story shop, was amazing, and this year, Feifei Shrimp Village has renovated an entire building as a store in Jianghan Building, a prosperous area of Wuhan, which has been on the hot search, and its annual rent cost can be seen.
What has changed is the shape of the store, and in fact, it is also a new way of playing that the store has explored in order to attract consumers. In the past two years, eating crayfish is no longer a single eating attribute. Camping, modern, prom...... The store design of each store has played new tricks, which has also made eating crayfish more interesting, and the social and entertainment functions have become increasingly prominent. There are also various marketing forms such as crayfish self-service, cloud shrimp eating, and online live broadcast, which also make the form of crayfish tertiary industry more diverse. These new ways to play not only attract more customers, but also a large cost investment.
In addition, Yin Hao also pointed out that from the current supply and demand relationship of crayfish chefs, it is still very stable, "Most chefs' monthly salaries are about 10,000-12,000 yuan, and some restaurant chefs are in short supply." ”
Yin Hao calculated the account for the Yangtze River Cloud reporter, according to the "gun head" of 368, today, the purchase price of the restaurant is about 80 yuan, a 3 catties of quantity, the cost of crayfish alone has been removed 240 yuan, and the rest has to be calculated as rent, labor, seasonings, etc., in fact, the profit is not as high as the majority of the public imagined. Moreover, the acquisition of crayfish by catering companies are long-term contracts, when the price of crayfish is high, merchants also need to bear this part of the cost, Yin Hao said: "Now the restaurant is opening longer and longer every year, in addition to the peak season when the price of crayfish is low, in the off-season, the price of crayfish is high, and the profit of the merchant is reduced, so it is necessary to keep the price." ”
Restaurants are too expensive to eat, are crayfish going to fall out of favor?
According to statistics, there are more than 40,000 professional crayfish stores in the mainland, and as one of the most popular delicacies, crayfish has been occupying the position of "big brother" of Chinese catering products in the past ten years.
According to the survey data released by "21 Finance", taking the Chengdu market as an example, the popularity of the crayfish market in 2023 will drop by 1/3 compared with the previous year, and young people are also reducing the popularity of crayfish due to reasons such as not being suitable for one person's food, less freshness, and worries about hygiene. So, how are crayfish selling in Wuhan?
The Yangtze River Cloud News reporter visited some restaurants in Wuhan and found that there were already many customers in major local brand stores such as Shrimp Emperor, Liangliang Steamed Shrimp, and Balinese Lobster. The reporter learned from the person in charge of several major brand stores that from the perspective of daily customer flow, at present, the customer flow of stores from Monday to Thursday is basically the same as last year, and the weekend customer flow has increased significantly compared with previous years. Yin Hao explained that this year's main brand stores in Wuhan opened in early March, relatively early, coupled with the recent period of Wuhan ushered in the "Han Horse", cherry blossom season and Qingming holiday and other holidays, foreign tourists have increased significantly, so the passenger flow has also increased.
Consumers queuing at the door of a crayfish store in Wuhan
The reporter randomly interviewed several diners, and many of them said that they must eat crayfish in the summer in Wuhan. Mr. Shao, a citizen, said that there have been many holidays recently, and friends must take them to eat crayfish when they come to Wuhan: "Everyone's recognition of Wuhan crayfish is quite high." ”
Throughout the country's crayfish stores, the taste is different in different places, minced garlic, steamed, stewed, marinated...... More than a hundred flavors cater to consumers who love a variety of flavors. Yin Hao said that at present, the main consumer of crayfish is still the young people represented by the post-90s, who have strong purchasing power and consumption power: "In fact, the feedback from consumers is not bad, not only the store business has not declined compared with previous years, but the online sales channels are also very bright." Take the brand of "Fat Shrimp Village" as an example, in the three days from March 23rd to 25th, the number of online orders reached 60 million, a new high. ”
In Yin Hao's view, at present, crayfish has just been on the market for a short time, catering sales are mainly concentrated in Hubei and other places, as the temperature warms up, the sales market will continue to extend to the north, if it is a bit too early to say that crayfish can not be sold now.
(Changjiang Cloud News reporter Zhou Xiang)