Ocean Garden Products has formed a partnership with Guolian Aquatic to market Ocean Garden’s Mexican wild-caught and farm-raised shrimp in China.
Ocean Garden, based in San Diego, California, U.S.A., is a private seafood import, export, and sales company specializing in premium- and standard-grade wild and farmed Mexican white and brown shrimp. The company also handles farm-raised Asian shrimp, and wild shrimp caught in U.S. waters, offered both in value-added and block forms, as well as other seafood products, marketed under the Calmex and Ocean Garden brands.
Guolian Aquatic, based in the Guangdong port city of Zhanjiang, has more than CNY 4 billion (USD 631.7 million, EUR 511.7 million) in assets and is listed publicly on the Shenzheng Stock Exchange under the stock code #30094. The firm is focused on shrimp aquaculture, feed, and sales in China.
“We see a tremendous opportunity to develop our brands with the Chinese consumer,” Ocean Garden National Sales Manager Jim Charters said in a press release. “Today, much of the seafood that comes into the marketplace arrives as a commodity with low consumer awareness. Guolian brings a developed infrastructure and customer base that will value the availability of high-quality seafood in brands that delight.”
Guolian will have exclusive rights to the Chinese marketplace and provide “leadership and dedicated resources to ensure success,” Ocean Garden President Lance Leonard said. Leonard said he believes Chinese consumers will be interested in products sourced from Mexico, especially those that feature premium branding.
“We believe that developing seafood brands like Calmex within China will be our point of differentiation as the practice of importing products evolves in China,” Leonard said. “We also plan on developing products specific for the e-commerce channel, which is growing and in need of quality branded seafood items.”
