The latest market report from Access Asia reveals that the market for frozen seafood and fish has doubled in the six years, from 1997 to 2003, from CNY 6.16 billion (€584m) to CNY 12.32 billion. These figures almost mirror the growth of the overall frozen foods category in the country, which during the same period grew 100.1 per cent to reach CNY 47.77 billion.
Growth in the frozen seafood and fish segment has been characterized by increased diversity, as consumers strive to sample foods that are deemed to be luxury or 'foreign'. The growth has also been boosted by the ready meal sector, which during the period 1997 to 2003 grew by 109 per cent. A significant percentage of these frozen meals contain white fish and/or prawn, the report states.
Historically frozen fish and seafood sales have been restricted by the lack of widespread ownership of fridges. This problem has been compounded by the fact that the distribution networks for frozen goods have often been elementary. However, with supermarket chains increasing their frozen food distrubtion networks in parallel with store freezer space and the rising number of households having access to their own freezer space, all this is rapidly changing.
Although the consumption of frozen seafood and fish is still in its infancy in China, urban areas are continuing to embrace the segment with gusto. On the whole it is in the larger cities where distribution of frozen foods is much better established and consumers have the means to buy freezers, but the frozen food segment as a whole is becoming increasingly widespread, with smaller cities rapidly being added to distribution networks.
The Access Asia report also highlights the fact that increasing wealth combined with the greater choice of foods bought about from Western-style supermarkets chains is encouraging Chinese consumers to become more adventurous in their culinary tastes. Indeed the advent of frozen foods is allowing many consumers in areas far from fresh seafood sources to taste varieties of seafood that many have never before sampled.
Currently the market for frozen seafoods and fish accounts for approximately a 25 per cent share of the total market for frozen foods. But although growth has been dynamic in recent years, logistical matters relating to transportation and distribution have held back growth potential.
In the coming years projected growth for the frozen foods segment as a whole is projected to run at 30 per cent up to 2008. But more specifically growth for seafood and fish is expected to reach 29.5 per cent. The Access Asia report says that future improvements in frozen food distribution, combined with rising demand should ensure that the frozen seafood and fish segment maintains sustained growth throughout this period and beyond.