A series of meetings between Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma reveal the online retailer’s growing appetite for seafood – and especially salmon – from the Scandinavian country.
During the prime minister’s recent visits to Beijing and Shanghai, Solberg was treated to lavish hospitality events hosted with a guest list long in Chinese seafood executives. The premier’s two meetings with Alibaba boss Jack Ma in less than a week, in particular, signaled that salmon is a priority for Alibaba platforms like Tmall.com.
Also meeting the Norwegian leader were representatives of convenience store operator Wumei, as well as boutique grocer G-Super. A subsidiary of the huge Greenland real estate development company, G-super opened its first outlet in Shanghai in February 2015 and has since focused on selling imported and high-margin food to the white-collar segment of the market.
Importer/distributor firms who met the prime minister included Qingdao Ai Yuan Foods, which owns the “Ai Chi Yu” (Love Eat Fish) brand and Ocean Gala, also known as Chang International. Separately, a delegation of Norwegian seafood firms visited the Beijing offices of importer Sunkfa International, an importer.
