A well-known Chinese seafood importer has teamed with a state-owned wholesaling behemoth to integrate online and offline retailing.
Shun Jing Fa Holding Group, also known as Sunkfa International Trade (Beijing) Co Ltd. and trading under the Sunkfa brand, has signed a deal with China Supply and Marketing Agricultural Products Wholesale Marketing Holding Co. (also known as China Co-op) to build the China Supply and Marketing Northern Intelligent Distribution Port in the key port city and seafood processing hub of Qingdao. Ground has been broken on the site in an industrial zone of Qingdao, according to a statement from the two firms.
The tie-up is being delivered through Ewfresh.com, the consumer-facing online operation established by Sunkfa to distribute seafood. Last year, Sunkfa set a target of opening 50 seafood stores in lower-tier Chinese cities by the end of 2018, stretching from Haikou in the tropical south to northerly Harbin.
Company boss Weng Sheng Sheng founded Sunkfa in 1989 as an offshoot of a conglomerate with interests in trading, heavy industry, and minerals. Like many of its Chinese peers, the conglomerate entered the seafood industry seeking access to the higher margins available in the sector.
Having long operated out of the Jingshen Wholesale Market in Beijing, Sunkfa will be seeking to harness its new relationship with China Co-op, which has traditionally distributed agricultural inputs like seeds and chemicals through a national network that includes a range of wholesale food markets in many of the same lower-tier but fast-growing regional cities targeted by Sunkfa.
The deal has happened as China's lucrative seafood and fresh food retail market is becoming increasingly competitive. In recent years, Sunkfa has faced an onslaught of competition from online retailers like Alibaba and JD.com, which have also in turn been linking up with traditional retailers.
