A recent study of Chinese consumer buying preferences shows a majority of seafood buyers in the country are willing to pay extra for products certified by authoritative third-party auditors.
The report, titled “‘Consumption Patterns and Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Aquatic Food in China,” offers encouragement to certification schemes that have faced difficulties in the country
Written in collaboration with the Global Seafood Alliance, which operates the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification, and based on consumer surveys conducted by academic teams from Shanghai Ocean University, the University of Stirling in Scotland, and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark; the report found that over 90 percent of the 3,400 Chinese participants surveyed said they were willing to pay a premium for sustainably certified aquatic food, “presenting opportunities for product differentiation based on safety and environmental sustainability credentials.”
Only around 8 percent of those surveyed were completely unwilling to pay any premium for certified eco-labeled aquatic foods.
Further, the presence of certification labels positively influences the purchasing intentions for 57 percent of Chinese consumers; 36 percent viewed certification favorably but reported no impact on their purchasing decisions, and only a few participants expressed aversion to certification labels.
Though the results paint a rosy picture for certifications attempting to make inroads into China, the presence of eco-labels remains relatively rare, the report suggests.
Only 29 percent of consumers surveyed said they had encountered an eco-label such as BAP when purchasing aquatic foods, 24 percent had never seen them, and 47 percent were unsure if they had seen them.
The biggest room for growth is in inland regions, the report found. Coastal provinces and municipalities like Guangdong and Shanghai exhibit high per-capita aquatic food consumption rates of 24.4 and 24.6 kilograms per year, respectively, whereas the western regions of Qinghai and Xinjiang reported per-capita consumption rates of 2.1 and 3.1 kilograms per year, respectively.
The report suggests consumers’ willingness to pay more for certified products creates an opportunity for Chinese policymakers to tighten environmental and traceability standards while also creating a profit incentive for seafood producers and retailers.
“Producers and retailers can address consumer concerns about food safety and environmental impact by investing in transparent supply chains and adopting blockchain technology for traceability,” the report said. “Such measures not only meet consumer demands but also potentially command premium prices in the market.”
Chinese authorities have already started tightening the screws on such operations as tilapia farming, recently introducing emissions regulations that are forcing firms to obtain export certifications in order for processors or exporters to use their products.
Though the report offers encouragement to labels that have faced difficulties in establishing a Chinese presence, Shanghai Ocean University’s Wenbo Zhang, who is one of the authors of the report, said it would be difficult for the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) to return to China.
The ASC announced in 2024 it was closing its China office.
“ASC has undertaken a strategic business review of internal operations and of current and future operational regions and markets,” ASC Global Press Manager Sophia Balod-Lorenzo told SeafoodSource in a statement at the time. “As a result of this business review, ASC has decided to phase out program operations and cease investment in China. This will allow ASC to focus and invest in coming years in regions, markets, and activities where we believe we can have the greatest impact through effective use of our limited resources. Our position may change following future business reviews.”
While the ASC attributed the withdrawal as a business decision, it also faced criticism in failing to identify the presence of Uyghur and North Korean laborers in Chinese seafood-processing plants.
Zhang said the move to withdraw, instead, was seen as anti-Chinese in the Asian nation and will make it nearly impossible for the certifying body to return.
