A new source of demand for seafood suppliers looks to have opened up, with leading Chinese e-retailer JD.com announcing the launch of a new B2B division supplying China’s restaurant sector.
The new division aims to introduce a “highly efficient” supply chain for the restaurant sector, which is dominated by small- and medium-sized traders. Independent small- and medium-sized enterprises account for 65 percent of China’s restaurant sector revenues, but many of them rely on food wholesale and wet markets, according to JD.com Vice Chair Zheng Hong Yan, who announced the new venture. Zheng said he’s hoping the company’s new operation will tap into pent-up demand among restaurateurs for quality seafood, meat, and vegetables delivered to their restaurant doors.
China’s food and beverage sector continues to tap into rising income and consumer spending in China – something which has attracted the attention of institutional investors as well as large industrial conglomerates. In February, Wen He You Culture Management Co., a restaurant operator based in central China that operates youth-focused crayfish and meat restaurants, sold a six percent stake to the Tangrenshen Group, one of China’s biggest agricultural conglomerates.
