One of China’s leading state-owned fishery firms is making a bold play for high-end consumers with its canned tuna range.
The Liaoyu Group (formally known as Liaoning Province Dalian Ocean Fishery Group Co.) is targeting the October festival market with lavishly packed box sets of its regular and “international flavors” range of tinned tuna, which it sells under the Yuan Yang brand. Priced at CNY 224 (USD 33.68, EUR 28.63), the box sets contain twelve 185-gram cans. The set values each can at CNY 18.60 (USD 2.80, EUR 2.38) – a premium on the CNY 15.30 (USD 2.30, EUR 1.96) retail price charged in the Beijing area this week.
While Chinese firms have long caught and canned tuna for export, they have increasingly focus on domestic markets in recent years, in particular with demand rising for convenience food in China, as well as the growing popularity of Japanese cuisine.
Liaoyu in 2015 won a top award for innovation for its international flavors range from the China Canned Food Industry Association at its end-of-year awards. The range features tuna cooked in flavors of various cuisines, including Italian, Korean, and Mexican.
