China Marine Food Group Ltd. on Thursday said its seafood sales have been adversely affected by consumer perception of seafood safety in relation to the nuclear disaster in Japan.
In a first-half update, the company said soft sales began in late March after the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan and persisted through the second quarter of 2011. China Marine said it is confident the seafood used to produce its Mingxiang snack foods are safe, but it is unclear how long it will take for consumer confidence in seafood to rebound.
“The long-term fundamentals of our businesses remain strong, and we are committed to continually investing behind our brands,” said Pengfei Liu, China Marine’s chairman and CEO. “While we believe that these sales disruptions in our seafood products are temporary, we are working diligently to ensure the safety of our products to our customers and distributors.”
The company added that solid growth in its Hi-Power algae-based beverages continues. Increased marketing activities have resulted in growing brand recognition and repeat orders in Fujian province.
To increase geographic penetration, the company has expanded into the Zhejiang province through a distributor who services the Wenzhou area. The company has also launched various marketing initiatives to build brand awareness and anticipates signing additional distributors in the near term.
