Even though U.S. shipments of pollock to China have been falling in recent years, China remains a priority growth market for the American pollock industry, according to Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers CEO Craig Morris.
Alaska pollock shipments to China fell to USD 41.4 million (EUR 36.8 million) in 2021, just one-third of the USD 121.2 million (EUR 107 million) total recorded in 2017, according to data from McKinley Research.
Nonetheless, “China, as a market with strong demand opportunity is one we have a keen eye on,” Morris said.
Alaska pollock firms target a different market compared to Russian pollock companies that supply China’s large whitefish processing-for-export sector, Morris said.
“Remember the primary product Russia was shipping into China for reprocessing was [headed and gutted] and over 90 percent of what Alaska produces is boneless fillet and surimi block,” Morris told SeafoodSource. “So, although some form of processing such as surimi seafood manufacture or production of battered- or breaded-fillet products would be valuable partnerships to be had, that is completely different from the form of processing and technical level of work being done in China to Russian product.”
In December 2021, China announced the tariff rate on frozen Alaskan pollock, frozen cod, and frozen herring would be cut from 7 percent to 2 percent from beginning in 2022.
Alaska pollock has been associated with high-volume processing for export in China, but more recently has emerged as a healthy item serving China’s growing functional foods market. Hangzhou Daxidi Technology Co., a firm specializing in ready-meals marketed through major online retailers, has a 200-gram packaged frozen pollock fillet product for sale on JD.com for CNY 89 (USD 14.20, EUR 12.40). The product, sold under the Daxidi brand, is being advertised as both a “baby health food supplement” and an ingredient for hot pots.
GAPP is first and foremost a demand-building organization, according to Morris.
“Clearly we do … follow trade flows to maximize our value proposition to all levels of the supply chain from Alaska to the end-consumer, wherever in the world that consumer may be,” he said.
A tasting event hosted by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu in 2021 promoted Alaska pollock as having “a mild, delicate meat and an outstanding taste that makes it unmatched by any other white fish.”
Pollock roe was also featured at the event, alongside other Alaska species. The omega-3 and protein values of Alaskan seafood and Alaska was described as boasting a “pollution-free and pure natural environment, and the natural and clean seas also breed unique high-quality seafood.”
Photo courtesy of GAPP
