The Zhou Hei Ya firm launched its ‘Ju Yi Xia’ range of crayfish products for sale to Chinese consumers – sold alongside its more familiar flavored meat range – earlier this summer.
Crayfish is a major export commodity for China’s freshwater aquaculture sector, but rising local demand is squeezing supply. Known by its yellow packaging, Zhou Hei Ya is one of China’s most recognizable food brands.
Earlier this year, the company dealt with media queries over why the company’s crayfish products were off retail shelves. Company chairman Hao Li Xiao told Nan Fang Zhou Mo, a respected weekly Sunday newspaper, that his firm had run out of supply of fresh materials due to the demand for crayfish in China entering the autumn festival season. Hao said he hopes his company’s new product, which will be sold year-round, will prolong sales beyond autumn.
Zhou Hei Ya spends heavily on marketing, targeting customers of local convenience stores and supermarkets with meat and seafood products prepared in favorite local styles. The firm also has 892 of its own stores around the country. Listed on the Hong Kong stock market, Zhou Hei Ya already packages its own range of cooked, flavored squid snacks.
