"This first basket of shrimp has just been shelled, the color is a little green, and it is still a little soft when pinched, and it is the most tender and delicious time. The shrimp seedlings we invested at the beginning of this year are growing well and fast, and the catch has gone up this time, and you can eat shrimp half cheaper than last month. ”
On April 18, a crayfish fishing ceremony was held in Luoshan Town, Honghu City, and local farmers caught this year's first shrimp ashore, and could not hide their joy to introduce the good quality and low price of this basket of shrimp to reporters.
As one of the core production areas of crayfish in China, Honghu City is known as "the first city of crayfish in China". Recently, in its tributary waters of more than one million acres of crayfish breeding area, the majority of farmers have begun to fish in batches, crayfish consumption season is about to usher in a boom.
Farmers show the "first basket of shrimp"
If it is listed 10 days in advance, the price per catty may drop to single digits
Due to the high temperature this year, crayfish grow fast, and in previous years, crayfish were generally marketed at the end of April, but this year it was nearly 10 days earlier.
In addition, the number of people engaged in crayfish farming in the country has increased significantly, and the output of crayfish has increased significantly.
Judging from the local crayfish market in Honghu, last month, due to the small output, the fresh crayfish with a specification of 3-5 yuan reached 30 yuan per catty, and the price of crayfish with the same specification was halved to about 11 yuan per catty, and the price of crayfish with a larger specification of 4-6 yuan was only about 18 yuan. Some vendors said that according to the experience of previous years, by May, the public may buy single-digit crayfish.
Crayfish sold at the Honghu Aquatic Market
After being listed in large quantities, crayfish returned to the "top stream of supper" and occupied the table of young people.
When the reporter visited offline restaurants, he found that although the price of fresh crayfish in the aquatic market this year has dropped significantly, the cost of eating shrimp in restaurants has not decreased significantly.
Take several brand crayfish chain stores in Wuhan, Hubei Province as an example, a crayfish of about 1.5 catties, steamed flavor is about 148 yuan, spicy and garlic flavor is about 188 yuan, and the cost of a crayfish supper for two people is generally 200-300 yuan.
Seasoned crayfish products are popular among young people, and only one cup of milk tea is the price
In order to eat crayfish more conveniently and affordably, many young consumers will choose to buy seasoned crayfish in offline supermarkets or e-commerce platforms.
According to the "Crayfish Consumption Observation" released by the Jingdong Consumer and Industrial Development Research Institute, in the past month, the sales of seasoned crayfish products on its platform have increased by 109% month-on-month, and the young people born in the 90s and 00s are the main force of their consumption, buying more than half of the crayfish.
At present, the "heated ready-to-eat" seasoned crayfish products on the market are about 20 yuan per catty for 3-5 yuan and about 26 yuan per catty for 4-6 yuan, especially on e-commerce platforms.
The reporter visited a food processing factory called Xinhongye in Honghu City, and the relevant staff introduced that in late April, the order volume of seasoned shrimp products began to soar, and the factory collected shrimp in a single day from 20,000 catties in mid-April to 200,000 catties at present, with a peak of 1.2 million catties.
It is understood that the factory workshop is currently producing a spicy crayfish product, and the raw materials are directly purchased from local farmers in Honghu on the same day. After the live crayfish are delivered to the factory, they go through a total of 15 testing and processing steps.
First of all, the defective products that are not up to standard in weight and condition are screened, then the crayfish are rolled and scrubbed to let them vomit, and then they are washed and sprayed more deeply; after the washed crayfish are steamed and shaped and soaked in flavor, they will be selected for the second time to ensure that there are no defective products before feeding and canning; and finally metal detection is carried out to ensure safety before being packed into storage.
Spray cleaned crayfish
The person in charge of the factory said: "The products processed now are mainly for Jingdong Supermarket, and consumers can taste crayfish from our Honghu Lake within 72 hours from the time we received the crayfish from the farmers this morning."
Searching for related products on the e-commerce platform shows that this spicy crayfish with a specification of 3-5 yuan has a net weight of 700g in a box, which can be enough for 1~2 people for supper. The current price is 29.9 yuan, and after the "buy 1 get 1 free" discount launched by the platform for a limited time, the average price is only about 15 yuan for 1 box, which is equivalent to "a cup of milk tea".
Due to the proximity to the Honghu production area, the reporter received this crayfish the next morning after placing an order at the Wuhan address that night.
Two seasoned crayfish products with a total price of 29.9 yuan
Authoritative institutions can conduct random inspections at any time, and you can eat good shrimp at a low price
According to industry insiders, crayfish are easy to die due to high temperature and lack of oxygen, and the high protein rich in their bodies is decomposed by bacteria after death, which is easy to deteriorate and easily lead to food poisoning. In order to reduce losses, some unscrupulous businesses will pass off dead crayfish as live shrimp and sell them to the outside world, making crayfish a hard-hit area for food safety problems.
Regarding crayfish products on e-commerce platforms, the most worrying question for consumers is still this: although the price is low, can the quality be reassuring?
Third-party data and a number of user surveys show that JD Supermarket is popular among consumers in various online and offline large-scale supermarkets due to its strong price competitiveness and guaranteed product quality.
In response to the quality of crayfish, the person in charge of the seasonal seafood group of the fresh and prefabricated food business department of Jingdong Supermarket said, "We hope to do long-term things, valuable things, and resolutely put an end to the use of dead shrimp, and food safety is the bottom line." The factories we cooperate with are open 24 hours a day to accept random inspections at any time, and consumers get our products, even if a shrimp claw falls, we will be responsible. ”
It is understood that Jingdong Supermarket is building a Jingdong origin buyer model across the country, and dispatching a professional team to inspect the quality of the origin, so as to realize the selection of products at the source, customized procurement, and strict quality control, so that consumers can eat agricultural specialties with confidence. In the in-sale process, the intermediate links are controlled by standardizing product releases, mysterious sampling, unannounced inspections, and benchmarking evaluations. In the after-sales process, we warn suppliers or merchants with poor consumer experience and continue to improve quality.
Jingdong procurement and sales personnel show the quality of the crayfish that meets the specifications
For consumers, after getting crayfish products, they can judge the quality by the color of their abdomen and the shape of their tails. If the raw material of the product is fresh and clean crayfish, then its belly is white in color, the tail is curly, and the taste is delicious and elastic. If the quality of the raw materials is not good, the abdomen will be black, the shrimp tail will be straight, the meat will be loose, and some will even have a strong fishy or rancid smell.
Being able to eat high-quality and inexpensive crayfish is a great treat in summer. Now that we have entered the peak season of eating shrimp and are about to reach the peak in May and June, have you achieved "freedom to eat shrimp"?