A Chinese company catering to the lucrative mother and infant market has been recognized by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) with an award for promoting awareness of certified-sustainable seafood.
Nanjing-based Megzhu Network Technology Co. was given a “Best Partner for Maternal and Infant Seafood” award at a recent ASC China event acknowledging local firms that have adopted and promoted ASC certification. Salmon and other seafood species have become popular products in the functional foods market – itself an important driver of seafood consumption in China – with numerous vendors on leading Chinese e-commerce sites packaging and marketing salmon cuts as nutritionally beneficial for children.
Established in 2016, Megzhu Network Technology operates stores on China’s leading e-commerce platforms. With its wide range of packaged food products and smartphone apps for parents, the firm has gained an important foothold in China’s growing baby food market in particular. The company is described by ASC as “the first maternal and infant food franchised enterprise to promote ASC-certified seafood to the young generation’s parents in this fast-growing market.”
At the event, ASC also handed out awards to Shandong Lighthouse Jellyfish Marine Technology Co., which has sought to tap China’s high-end oyster market, pitting its locally production against imports from France, New Zealand, and the U.S. ASC issued the firm the “Outstanding Partner Award for China’s Online Seafood Market” in recognition of the firm’s ASC-certified oyster becoming a “top-value brand” in China’s online market.
Huitaibohai Seafood Co. was named by ASC as an “Outstanding Partner for the Chinese Retail Seafood Market” for the firm’s efforts to support ASC’s seafood supply chain and consumer promotion efforts at the Olé supermarket chain and Ikea China.
The award winner in the "Offshore Marine Ecological Aquaculture Pioneer Enterprise Award” category was Shandong Nanhuangcheng Marine Technology Co. The firm is “the first pilot enterprise to develop [a] management system and technical indicators of their offshore-equipped aquaculture platform using ASC standards as technical requirements,” ASC said in its citation.
Photo courtesy of Aquaculture Stewardship Council
