Reykjavik, Iceland-based processing-equipment maker Marel has scored another sale in China, where consumer demand for salmon continues to grow.
He Yu Frozen Foods Co., also known as Shanghai Hollywin Frozen Food Co., has purchased two new SC 250MA model salmon-cutting machines, according to Marel.
He Yu, which describes itself as a European company, supplies high-end retailers and restaurant chains in China, including outlets of Sam’s Club and the Alibaba-owned supermarket chain Hema Xiansheng. The firm also supplies the Disney resort in Shanghai and several luxury hotel chains.
Marel Marketing Manager Atli Sigurður Kristjánsson told SeafoodSource in November 2022 the company had seen a “steady increase” in sales of equipment to China as Chinese fish processors committed to automation and quality control. Chinese processors are also seeking to extract more value from raw material, according to Kristjánsson.
China’s seafood-processing sector has faced severe challenges as a result of the Covid pandemic, including tighter access to raw materials and heightened costs of complying with the country’s recently abandoned zero-Covid policy.
Adding to the sector’s troubles are broader long-term labor challenges, created by rising wages and domestic demographic changes.
Based on population projections from the United Nations, Asia is set to lose 145 million working-age people between now and 2040, with 78 percent of the decline taking place in China, according to a recent research paper by French investment bank Natixis.
Photo courtesy of He Yu Frozen Foods Co.
