Restaurant crayfish price to dive?

In May, the peak sales season for crayfish is approaching. It's the "shrimp season" again, and the red and oily crayfish are "crawling" onto the consumer's table again, and the crayfish restaurant in Guangzhou is also on fire. The reporter recently visited and learned that with the large number of crayfish on the market, the price is half cheaper than when it was first listed, and the wholesale price has fallen by about forty percent compared with last year. Why has the price of crayfish fallen this year? Will crayfish in retail stores and restaurants become cheaper? This reporter launched an investigation into this.

Market visits: Prices fell by 40% year-on-year

The reporter visited the Guangzhou Huangsha Aquatic Products Trading Market and learned that the price of crayfish fell by about half compared with the first listing in March. Ms. Wang, a wholesaler of aquatic products, said that the current price of small crayfish is about 8 yuan per catty, medium is about 15 yuan, and large is about 30 yuan. Ms. Liu, another aquatic product wholesaler, said that the price of crayfish often fluctuates, and it has fallen by 5 yuan in the past few days, but because the production of large lobsters is relatively small, the price reduction is relatively small. From the supply side, a crayfish wholesaler told reporters that the price of crayfish this year has fallen by 40% compared with last year.

The price of crayfish at the retail end has also dropped. The reporter learned through fresh supermarkets and e-commerce platforms that the current price of small crayfish is about 16~20 yuan per catty, the price of medium crayfish is about 18~24 yuan, and the price of large crayfish is about 50 yuan. Jin Juan, a crayfish buyer on the e-commerce platform "Ben Life", said that due to the early warming of temperatures, Hubei crayfish were listed a month ahead of schedule, and the number was large, and the platform price fell by three to four percent year-on-year.

The mainland crayfish production area is widely distributed, and the production areas with higher output include Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, etc., a number of wholesalers introduced, the crayfish in the Guangzhou market are mostly in Hubei and Hunan. The market is dominated by green-shell crayfish, and red-shell crayfish just went on the market in April, which is about one or two yuan higher than the price of green-shell crayfish. Ms. Liu introduced that crayfish are green shells in the early stage, and in the later stage, because the crayfish are more mature or the temperature rises, the shelling is slow, and it becomes a red shell. Red-shell shrimp have firmer flesh and thicker shells than green-shell shrimp, and are expected to enter the mass production season in May. Ms. Liu also said that crayfish in April belonged to the early stage of mass production, and when the peak season officially arrived in May, the price is expected to stabilize, and it may be a few yuan lower than now.

Mr. Xu, a crayfish wholesaler and farmer in Qianjiang, Hubei Province, said that in addition to the temperature warming up in advance, the number of crayfish farmers is also increasing, and the output of crayfish is now up 30% compared with last year, and it is expected to continue to grow. At the same time, the purchasing power of processing enterprises, catering retail and consumer side has weakened. Especially in processing enterprises, half of the crayfish in the past will enter the cold storage, and this year most of them have entered the market. "The supply of crayfish exceeds demand, and some bosses will reduce the price in order to sell it, and the market is relatively chaotic and volatile. Mr. Xu said that the projected revenue of crayfish this year may only be one-third or one-quarter of last year's.

Capacity increases, weak demand

The "2023 Mainland Crayfish Processing Industry Survey and Analysis Report" pointed out that in 2023, the national crayfish breeding area will be about 29 million mu, and the output will be about 3 million tons. The breeding area of the main producing areas has expanded, and in order to improve the industrial chain, the provinces have built large-scale crayfish processing plants. Due to the entry of capital, the production capacity of crayfish processing enterprises has also increased rapidly, and the competition between enterprises has become increasingly fierce.

It is reported that the primary processed products of crayfish mainly include quick-frozen products and ready-to-eat foods. The traditional primary processing of crayfish is mainly quick-frozen products, mainly quick-frozen shrimp tails and quick-frozen shrimp. In recent years, the proportion of quick-frozen products has gradually decreased, and the proportion of ready-to-eat foods has increased. Among ready-to-eat foods, crayfish prefabrication has become a new opportunity for industry growth. According to the research report of Ping An Securities, in the iteration process of crayfish products, Yonghui Supermarket, Anjing Food, Guolian Aquatic Products and other companies entered the market.

The demand for crayfish consumer market has weakened. Guolian Aquatic Products said that the overall sales of prefabricated crayfish products this year have fallen compared with last year, and the market demand has not continued to grow as expected. The intensification of enterprise competition and the large fluctuation of crayfish prices will have an impact on the sales of prefabricated crayfish products.

However, Chen Shengjun, director of the Food Engineering and Quality and Safety Research Office of the South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences and director of the Key Laboratory of Aquatic Product Processing of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, believes that whether it is breeding or processing and transportation, the crayfish industry chain is relatively mature, so the overall situation is still worth optimizing.

Catering: The popularity has declined, and the price has remained stable

The reporter interviewed two operators of crayfish shops in Guangzhou, and they said that the price changes of crayfish will basically not affect pricing and profit margins. Yao Hongxin, the operator of "Xiangyu Shrimp Beauty", said that the price of crayfish diving refers to the unified goods, and the crayfish used in the store are hard specifications, and suppliers are required to provide crayfish with higher specifications, which are subject to small price changes. Sister Zhen, the operator of "Sister Zhen Lobster", also said that the crayfish used in the store is relatively high because it is red shrimp.

As the crayfish enters the peak season, the crayfish also begins to enter the hot sales season, and the quality of the crayfish is relatively high at this time. Sister Zhen introduced that from April to September every year, it is the peak season for crayfish sales, and the gross profit margin of crayfish dishes sold at the catering end can reach 50%. Yao Hongxin said that the more off-season, the higher the purchase price of crayfish, and the gross profit margin in the off-season must be lower than that in the peak season, so the price of crayfish will not be adjusted basically.

From the perspective of customer flow, many restaurants said that the customer flow is entering a period of recovery. Yao Hongxin said that the business district where the store is located is the CBD business district, and business is relatively hot on weeknights, and there is still a queue at 9 o'clock on Friday night. But in fact, crayfish have not been as hot as before in the past two years. Yao Hongxin said that the flow of people in the store has declined this year, and around 2018 is the most popular time for crayfish, and consumers are willing to spend money. Sister Zhen also said that although the peak season weekend is still full, the unit price of in-store consumption has decreased.

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How to eat: fried in oil, minced garlic, thirteen spices, chilled ......

Fried in oil, stewed in oil, and minced garlic are the most popular practices of "Xiangyu Shrimp Beauty", and Master Wen in the store introduced that the key to making fried crayfish is the firm Q bomb of shrimp meat. In order to maintain the taste of shrimp meat, it needs to be fried twice at a temperature of 220 °C, fried for 10 seconds, scooped up and then burned to 220 °C for 6 seconds, the meat will be Q bomb, and when you peel the shell, you will find that the shell is very crispy and tender.

The fried shrimp is served with the dipping sauce prepared by the store itself, which is sweet and sour at first, and then spicy. Braised shrimp in oil is a spicy taste, in order to make the braised shrimp flavorful, the crayfish needs to open the back and remove the shrimp head. Yao Hongxin said that opening shrimp is not a job that can be quickly started, and how deep the back should be cut so as not to affect the taste of the meat, which depends on experience. And to eat the shrimp behind the opening, there is a quick peeling trick, that is, peeling it with your hands at the gap behind the opening, you can get a complete and smooth shrimp.

Sister Zhen lobster has been open in Guangzhou for 12 years, and the owner, Sister Zhen, recommends chilled crayfish, which has a dry and fragrant taste and can retain the original taste of shrimp meat. Sister Zhen said that there is not much difference between chilled and steamed, and it may be more refreshing and more suitable for summer. In addition, in Sister Zhen's shop, the chilled crayfish is dipped in soy sauce and mustard, which is rich and stimulating, and the steamed with vinegar is relatively light. Thirteen spiced crayfish has a light taste and less spicy flavor than braised in oil. The thirteen incense in the store is self-matching, which is more fragrant than the thirteen incense readily available in the market. Sister Zhen's store uses red shell shrimp, "The green shrimp are not so red, not so big." The shell is soft, and the red shrimp is red and red, and the shell is also hard. ”