One of the giants of China’s logistics and food-trading business has sought to tap crab supply from Holland.
State-owned conglomerate Zhejiang Xin Nong Du has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Sino-Dutch firm Holland Xiang Song Food Products Co.
Holland Xiang Song Chairman and CEO Xue Dong Fang signed the agreement, which will see the company ship crabs from Holland for sale in the giant Zhejiang Xin Nong Du Aquatic Products Wholesale Market in the wealthy city of Hangzhou, according to a company announcement. SeafoodSource has been unable to contact Xiang Song Food Products, which has a Chinese and a Dutch address.
Traditional wholesale markets like those run by Xin Nong Du, which has major interests in real estate as well as food distribution, have face increasing pressure from the relentless rise of e-commerce giants like Alibaba, which source and sell seafood both online and in a new generation of supermarkets like Alibaba’s Hema Xiansheng. Coincidentally, both Xin Nong Du and Alibaba are based in Hangzhou.
Alibaba-owned online retailer Tmall recently signed a cooperation deal with seafood distribution and marketing specialist Wei Ku (also known as “we cook”) which will see the latter sell imported seafood on Tmall, while also leveraging Weiku’s distribution network for Tmall users. Tmall has sought to increase the range of seafood products on its site, locking in a greater share of the Chinese seafood market which has heretofore been dominated by wet markets.
