Chinese oysters have been given a boost with a branding award for a region which calls itself the “home of Chinese oysters.”
Rushan in Shandong province received the Gold Medal award at the annual China Trademark Branding Conference, organized by the China Trademark Association in cooperation with corporate sponsors, including Nestlé and the Chinese retail chain Guomei.
Authorities in Rushan in 2009 secured China’s geographic indicator (GI) for the city’s oysters and have since branded production under that GI. Rushan oyster output amounts to 300,000 tons in annual production worth CNY 2.4 billion (USD 348 million, EUR 310 million) in value terms, according to the city’s Ocean & Fisheries Bureau.
Rushan oysters are selling at between CNY 79.90 (USD 11.58, EUR 10.32) and CNY 89.90 (USD 13, EUR 11) per 2.5kg by various vendors on leading online retailer JD.com. While they sell at a discount to imported European and New Zealand oysters, prices are higher than those fetched by mass producers in cities like Dalian where oyster production has long been conducted for volume business like oyster sauce production.
Restaurants in Beijing charge hefty prices for imported oysters, with several establishments in the city charging CNY 100 (USD 14, EUR 12) per single Gillardeau-branded French oyster. Rushan producers will be hoping that the luster of their new award can help to lift prices for their oysters. China’s government has put much emphasis on increasing innovation and branding in the seafood sector to raise the pricing power of Chinese products.
