The potency of online commerce as a tool in driving government and corporate targets for the seafood sector was underlined recently with a strategic cooperation deal between JD.com and the Zhongyang Group.
The agreement, made in conjunction with the local government of Haian, a city in Jiangsu Province, binds the three to “strategic cooperation on promoting rural revitalization and jointly building Haian’s ecological agricultural products industry chain.”
The accord is a follow-up to a 2019 agreement between the three that involved JD.com using the extensive data it collects from customers to help Zhongyang zero in on demand and guide the firm in developing products to meet regional tastes for its pufferfish, saury, and shad products.
Products being marketed under the agreement, seen by SeafoodSource, include semi-prepared pufferfish meals for younger consumers. A 1.5-kilogram gift box of Zhongyang products – now selling under the “Yu Tian Xia” online brand – retails on JD.com for CNY 599 (USD 89.85, EUR 77.80).
Zhongyang is located in Jiangsu in the Yangtze River delta, which is the focus of a 10-year fishing ban due to overfishing on the main river and its tributaries. The ban has local government officials fearing lower tax receipts and facing growing unemployment in its fishing sector.
With the approval of China’s central government, JD.com was invited in by regional officials to help boost local economic development through the creation of new products and distribution channels.
Zhongyang, a conglomerate which is China’s leading puffer fish producer, buys fish from local subcontracted farmers. The firm, which also farms alligators and sturgeon, sells through 247 franchised stores in 73 cities across China. The company claims to have discovered “how to control and eliminate the poison in pufferfish,” which have long been a delicacy in Japan and China.
Image courtesy of JD.com
