China’s obstruction of Norwegian salmon exporters is prompting a Danish firm to seize market share by shipping Norwegian-sourced salmon into China, value-added and branded as Danish.
The Copenhagen-based Delicious by Nordic brand was established in 2013 to cash in on demand from China’s nouveau riche for imported seafood, said company COO Atif Awan, speaking in Hong Kong.
“There is no problem with Chinese customs because our salmon is sold as a Danish product…but it’s from Norway, Chinese people appreciate salmon from Norway is the best,” said Awan.
While it also supplies fresh salmon, the firm’s trademark product is salmon smoked in a low-temperature, 48-hour process that leaves the salmon juicy in texture and appealing to Asian customers “who like a fatty type of salmon,” he explained.
By smoking and packing the salmon in Denmark and Sweden Awan’s firm avoids the “Made in Norway” appellation that has drawn particular attention from Chinese customs inspection authorities since 2011 when Sino-Norway diplomatic relations nosedived. Shipments of Norwegian fresh salmon into China fell by 25 percent in the first half of this year, according to data from the Norwegian Seafood Council. However Chinese consumption of salmon is growing at an average 30 percent annually according NSC.
The emergence of the Delicious by Norway brand is part of a wave of new Chinese focused seafood trading firms seeking to cash in on the Chinese demand for luxury seafood. Awan said that his firm had previously focused on the Scandinavian market but the prospect of large volume demand in China drew it to exhibit at Seafood Expo Asia in Hong Kong. The firm has yet to enter mainland China but has tentative orders from Beijing as well as from Korea and Japan from this week’s Seafood Expo Asia.
“That is one of the benefits of this market, compared to Europe, buyers in the China region want large volumes…we were asked by a buyer from Tokyo seeking 20 tons per month.”
Prices match the premium image the firm is seek to portray: USD 120 (EUR 91) per kilogram of backbone salmon meat is a price acceptable to his buyers, said Awan, given the firm’s promise of quality. To ensure supply, Awan said the firm pays a premium of 30 percent to Norwegian suppliers for high grade salmon.
With a regal-looking logo and gold-embossed named cards, Awan and his colleagues are clearly geared for the bling-hungry Chinese luxury market. The firm has planned a blaze of promotional activity for greater China this autumn, planning a stand for shows in Dalian, Shanghai and Macao this autumn.
Judging by the long lines of Chinese queuing for tastings at the firm’s booth at the Seafood Expo Asia, Delicious by Nordic may have struck a chord with China’s new rich. In marketing brochures the firm promises Chinese customers “high quality Nordic seafood, which is served at a Royal Swedish Court,” and has plans for other products too, said Awan.
“We hope to introduce a virgin lobster from the Faroe Islands at the [hotel and catering] expo in Shanghai this Autumn, it’s very rare and special.”
