It's another year of "crab eating season". This year's high temperature weather has delayed the growth progress of hairy crabs, making the well-known Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs miss the opportunity to serve on the table in the Mid-Autumn Festival this year. However, many regions, especially the northern producing areas, have taken advantage of the situation to supplement the market. A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily learned that due to the decline in the production of river crabs, the delay in molting, and the increase in breeding costs due to the general high temperature weather this year, the opening price of hairy crabs has risen as a whole.
The Mid-Autumn Festival can't catch up with eating hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake
Hairy crabs have always been one of the hottest choices for consumers on the autumn table. However, due to the impact of climate this year and the fact that the Mid-Autumn Festival is slightly earlier than in previous years, the "top stream" of hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake cannot catch up with the golden period of Mid-Autumn Festival sales, and the total output is expected to decrease compared with last year.
On September 13, crab farmers in Qingshui Village, Xiangcheng District, Suzhou City, conducted a sampling net test of the "Yangcheng Lake No. 1" hairy crabs bred in the waters of Lotus Island in Yangcheng Lake
On September 9, the Suzhou Yangcheng Lake Hairy Crab Industry Association issued a consumer reminder letter saying that this year's Yangcheng Lake hairy crab fishing festival is scheduled for September 25, and a small number of listings will be based on small and medium-sized specifications after the start of fishing, and a large number of mature crabs are expected to be in early and mid-October, and the best crab tasting period for Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs is after mid-October.
A reporter from Beiqing Daily learned that hairy crab breeding has to go through 5 molts every year, and each molt, the crab will grow about twice in size. High temperatures can delay the molting time of hairy crabs by 20 to 30 days, resulting in stunted weight gain. In addition, high temperatures will also affect the living environment of hairy crabs, leading to problems such as aquatic weed decay and a surge in plankton population, which will further affect the health and growth of hairy crabs.
Missing the Mid-Autumn Festival is small in quantity and the price may not be high
Since the beginning of August, the hairy crabs in the Yangtze River Delta region have entered the fourth molting period, but they have encountered continuous high temperature weather, and the high temperature of about 40 degrees has slowed down the growth rate of hairy crabs, delayed shelling, and has a casualty rate of more than 20%. "Hairy crabs are relatively delicate in the molting period, and there will be damage in the general molting period, but it is only 10%, and now the high temperature will cause a big loss." Some farmers said that every day, hairy crabs in the molting shell are "heat to death", and 3 or 4 dead crabs can be picked up in an acre of pond a day. Many farmers began to rent equipment to "cool" and oxygenate the ponds, which invisibly increased the cost.
After the fourth molting period of hairy crabs, the high temperature in the Yangtze River Delta region has not eased, and the last molting period that was originally ushered in in mid-September has been postponed because of the high temperature.
This also leads to the fact that there are very few hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake that meet the standards on the market at present. Some crab traders said that because of the small quantity, the current purchase price has increased by 4 to 5% compared with before the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, but also because more Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs are destined to miss the Mid-Autumn Festival market, and eventually the price will inevitably fall when the lake officially opens. "As soon as the Mid-Autumn Festival passed last year, the price of hairy crabs dropped by 2 to 3 percent." Some crab traders said that the purchase price will fall after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the price of hairy crabs may not be higher than in previous years.
Hairy crabs in many places grab the Mid-Autumn Festival market
According to the "2024-2029 In-depth Research and Analysis Report on the Competition Pattern and Investment Planning of China's Hairy Crab Industry" and the latest data of the industry, the market size of hairy crabs has continued to grow in recent years. Especially during the Mid-Autumn Festival, as a traditional reunion festival, the demand for hairy crabs surges. Taking 2023 as an example, the wholesale market size of hairy crabs in mainland China has reached 32.917 billion yuan, of which the fresh food field occupies the vast majority of the market, with a market size of 32.55 billion yuan. It is expected that during the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, the sales of hairy crabs will once again set a new record, with a year-on-year growth rate of about 15%, showing that consumers have a strong demand for hairy crabs as a festival ingredient.
The most famous hairy crab in Yangcheng Lake will miss the Mid-Autumn Festival market, but it does not mean that one of the protagonists of the Mid-Autumn Festival table will be missing "crab" this year. A reporter from Beiqing Daily learned from Benlai Life Network, Dingdong Grocery and other businesses that at present, northern crabs such as Yellow River Estuary Crab and Panjin River Crab have been listed first, and some southern crabs have also been caught in order to grab the "fresh" Mid-Autumn Festival market.
With the help of its aquatic supply chain advantages, Dingdong has opened the hairy crab tasting season in late August, and introduced hairy crabs from other high-quality production areas such as hairy crabs from the Yellow River Estuary in Shandong and fresh Tianshan snow crabs in Xinjiang that have completed molting earlier and can be listed one step earlier. Together with the clear water hairy crabs directly supplied by the source of the Taihu Lake water system, the pike crabs from the East China Sea and imported crabs such as Dungeness crab, Russia king crab, blue crab, etc., they fill the "main play" gap on the Mid-Autumn Festival table.
Dingdong said that a week before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the sales of hairy crabs in Yantian at the mouth of the Yellow River have increased by more than 4 times month-on-month, and the growth rate is even more obvious when the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching. Dingdong is expected to sell about 400,000 hairy crabs in the Yellow River Estuary and Xinjiang during the three days of the Mid-Autumn Festival this year.
The crab coupon price war has begun
According to a person from Benlai.com, the origin of hairy crabs usually has a huge influence on consumption decisions. Some well-known hairy crabs, such as Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, have formed a strong brand effect and become synonymous with high quality, which has greatly enhanced consumers' willingness to buy. In the original life, the sales of hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake accounted for more than 80%, far exceeding the hairy crabs of other origins. Therefore, many merchants still rely on crab coupons to boost the sales of hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake before the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, this year, the price war for crab coupon sales has already started before the hairy crabs are listed.
A reporter from Beiqing Daily saw on the e-commerce platform that not only the numbers such as "1699", "2699" and "3688" printed on the crab coupon have nothing to do with the price, but the seller even marked the "original price" on the e-commerce platform and the actual selling price. Some crab coupons with a nominal original price of 600 yuan have actual selling prices ranging from 308 yuan to 268 yuan, and the price is directly cut in half or even lower. And some of the original prices seem to be quite "reliable", and the actual selling price is also discounted by 7 to 9 percent, which does not include the platform's cross-store reduction.
In addition, regardless of whether they have made an article on the "original price" or not, most of the crab coupon sales merchants have actually opened the buy and gift promotion. Most merchants buy three get one free, buy five get two free, and there are discounts for large group purchases.
A set of preferential "combination punches" down, the original price of 2898 crab coupons is 600 yuan, including 4.5 two male crabs, 3.5 two female crabs 4, the discounted price is 308 yuan, buy three get one free, buy five get two free. With the current preferential range, this is equivalent to 231 yuan to 220 yuan a crab coupon. The customer service of the store said that the purchase volume is large, and it can also be discounted, and the specific discount amount depends on how much is purchased.
Be wary of crab coupons falsely marked "size" and other routines
"The purchase price of more than 4 taels of male crabs this year is 8 or 90 yuan per catty, and 4 are almost 200 yuan. Female crabs of this size are more expensive. Therefore, if the specifications are sufficient, these 4 pairs of hairy crabs will definitely not be able to buy more than 200 yuan. "Some industry insiders said that the routine of hairy crab coupons is very deep, and some crab coupons are falsely marked as "size", and the specifications are 3 taels of crabs marked as 4 taels or even 5 taels; Some of them do tricks when cashing - or make customers unable to make an appointment during the hot sales period, or postpone the redemption period to the next year; Some are declared to be in the same area as the actual delivery area; Some make a fuss about the name, playing the edge ball of "Yangcheng Lake" and so on.
Industry insiders suggest that if it is for personal consumption, it is better to buy physical crabs directly from credible retail channels.
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Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Zhang Xin
Editor/Fan Hongwei