Seafood suppliers are being sought out by a new distributor that has opened 18 new stores across eastern China, marking the launches with a gala ceremony this week.
Anhui Fu Huang Group, a major Chinese industrial conglomerate, will open 1,000 stores over the next three years to distribute seafood and agricultural products to expanding Chinese cities.
The firm is seeking “to achieve a new model of growth,” according to Fu Huang Chairman Yang Jun Bin.
Seafood imports and distribution is being targeted as a high-margin source of growth for China’s industrial conglomerates, many of them suffering from low margins, over-capacity and debt as China’s economy slowly moves to a growth model driven more by consumption and services than infrastructure and low-cost manufacturing.
Having built a business on heavy metals and precious metals, Anhui Fu Huang Group also has a growing seafood processing division. The firm’s stores are stocking a range of frozen and chilled seafood geared at urbanites, according to Yang. The firm’s focus is on smaller, high-margin stores, rather than large supermarkets.
