A Beijing based entrepreneur is cashing in on Chinese demand for crustaceans with a home delivery service for crayfish, lobster and shrimp cooked in local styles.
Qing Ha (the name translates as “Pretty Shrimp”) delivers from a base in downtown Beijing, with dishes including cooked “Boston lobster” for CNY 159 (USD 23.54, EUR 20.23) and crayfish at CNY 329 (USD 48.71, EUR 41.87) for 40 pieces cooked in spicy flavors.
The firm , which also goes by the English name “Shuck Shock,” is aiming to lure higher-income consumers in the Chinese capital to its convenience-focused services.
Qing Ha was established by entrepreneur Liu Qiang, who previously founded several other start-up ventures, including a car wash service. He also worked in the high-end Quanqude chain of Peking duck restaurants.
Internet-based take out dining is booming in China, where more than 200 million people utilized the service in 2015. That figure represents a nine-fold increase in seven years, and China’s National Bureau of Statistics has projected it will increase to more than 300 million in 2018.
Online sales went from 1.01 percent in 2011 to 4.64 percent in 2016 of overall dining sales. But growth levels are slowing: China recorded a year-on-year rise in online sales of 55.5 percent in 2012 to a much lower increase of 14.4 percent in 2017.
