The lack of a nationally recognizable or significant seafood brand in China was underlined by a just-published survey conducted by the country’s respected Tsinghua University and Mei Ri News, a popular program on state TV.
The survey of the top 500 company brands in China, ranked by value, only contained three seafood-related brands, all feed-focused operators: Xin Xi Wang (New Hope), Da Bei Nong, Guangdong Haid and the Guangdong-based Wen’s Group. Xin Xi Wang, which is also a meat processor, led the way in 13th place. Da Bei Nong was 41st on the list and Haid was in 43rd place. New Hope also made ninth place of a ranking of the privately-owned brands
For a country where seafood plays such a large role in the diet and culture, it’s remarkable that no seafood brands rank in the overall list, while specialty brands, such as rice wine brand Wuliangye and dairy brand Yili both finished in the top 50
Online retailers of seafood fared better, however: Tencent and Alibaba take first and second place, respectively, while online retailers JD.com and Suning.com (Suning is also the country’s leading appliances retailer) were in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
