As an important food source, aquatic products are rich in protein and various trace elements, which meet people's needs for health and diet , which will continue to drive the growth of the supply side of the aquatic industry. In recent years, China's aquatic industry has steadily advanced, the scale of development has continued to expand, and the output has increased rapidly. Data shows that China's total aquatic product output has increased year by year from 2015 to 2022, reaching 68.6878 million tons in 2022.

China is not only a major fishery country, but also a major consumer of aquatic products .With the change of residents' consumption structure and the improvement of consumption level, aquatic products have become an important part of residents' dietary structure. Aquatic consumption has changed from "food and clothing" to "quality", and the seafood catering market has great potential. China's aquaculture area extends from the central and eastern provinces to various provinces in the west, and has formed a complete breeding, fishing, processing, logistics and sales industry chain.

In recent years, local governments have realized that primary processed aquatic products have no competitiveness in the global competition, and pre-prepared dishes are a better way for the aquatic industry to move towards deep processing. Many provincial and municipal governments have made great efforts to promote the better and faster development of aquatic pre-prepared dishes through a package of powerful measures and large-scale financial investment. In the future, aquatic pre-prepared dishes have a broad market space.

As a new growth point in the aquatic industry, the market for prepared seafood dishes has rapidly risen against the backdrop of consumption upgrades and lifestyle changes. The market size of prepared seafood dishes has exceeded the 100 billion mark. The growing consumer demand for convenient, fast , as well as the strong support of relevant policies from local governments, have driven the continued development and growth of the market for prepared seafood dishes.

Driven by this trend, more and more aquatic product companies have begun to increase their investment and research and development in the field of pre-prepared meals to meet the diverse needs of consumers.Aquatic product processing companies such as Guolian Aquatic Products, Anjing, and Hengxing, new retail companies such as Hema, Shuhai, and Meituan, and catering companies such as Haidilao and Xibei have also joined the race, jointly driving market expansion.

According to iMedia Research, the most popular pre-prepared dishes are pickled fish, crayfish, and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall , followed by pork belly and chicken, fish-flavored pork shreds, Kung Pao chicken, grilled fish, coconut chicken, beef lung pot, and preserved vegetables and pork. More than 50% of the surveyed consumers like pickled fish pre-prepared dishes, and 85.5% of the surveyed consumers buy pickled fish pre-prepared dishes 1-3 times a month. The market size of pickled fish pre-prepared dishes in China will be 7.12 billion yuan in 2022 and is expected to reach 20.47 billion yuan in 2025.

Pickled fish has become the most popular seafood pre-prepared dish among consumers. The good taste is the main reason why consumers choose pickled fish pre-prepared dishes. Secondly, eating pickled fish pre-prepared dishes is more cost-effective than eating in restaurants. At the same time, compared with other dishes, pickled fish is more in line with the concept of health. With the promotion of the consumer market, pickled fish pre-prepared dishes have expanded rapidly and become a super single product of seafood pre-prepared dishes.

△Photo source: Yawei Ersanshi

In addition, with the continuous improvement and maturity of the sub-sector of prepared seafood dishes, prepared seafood dishes will usher in greater development opportunities.

On the one hand, the price of aquatic products is relatively stable compared to meat and poultry, and China's aquatic product production is geographically wide, supply and demand tend to be stable, and imports and exports will not have a big impact on domestic market prices; on the other hand, my country's cold chain logistics and warehousing system is developing steadily and can already meet the high requirements of aquatic products for warehousing, preservation and cold chain transportation.

According to the data from the Hongcan Industry Research Institute, the scale of China's prepared seafood industry will reach 104.7 billion yuan in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 16.8%. It is expected that China's prepared seafood market will maintain a high growth rate in the future, and the scale of the prepared seafood market will reach 257.6 billion yuan in 2026. In general, the prepared seafood market has broad prospects in the future and there is still a lot of room for growth .

Against the backdrop of the rapid rise of the aquatic pre-prepared food market, some leading domestic aquatic product companies are actively seizing market share, and the increase in the rate of restaurant chains has increased the demand for pre-prepared food. Faced with the urgent need for standardized production and cost reduction and efficiency improvement from chain restaurant companies, these aquatic product companies have improved their competitiveness by accelerating product innovation and supply chain upgrades, actively adjusting product structure and production processes, and providing convenient and fast pre-prepared food and supporting food solutions , which have been enthusiastically sought after by catering industry and other companies and individual consumers.

As demand continues to increase, these leading companies are gradually establishing their leading position in the industry and demonstrating strong market competitiveness and production capacity in the aquatic pre-prepared food market. With the strong and complete industrial chain advantage of "from pond to table", Hengxing Food has successfully achieved the transformation of its positioning as a catering chain, food trading platform supplier and service provider. It has developed more than 200 pre-prepared dishes and frozen aquatic foods, and has taken "4R food" (ready-to-prepare food, ready-to-cook food, ready-to-heat food, ready-to-eat food) as a breakthrough point, continuing to explore the industrialization and foodization of aquatic products. It has 6 aquatic food and pre-prepared food processing plants across the country, with an annual production capacity of more than 200,000 tons and an annual output value of more than 2 billion yuan.

△Photo source: Hengxing Fishing Port official account

Hengxing Group's aquatic food said that Hengxing will conduct in-depth research on customer needs in each market segment, give full play to Hengxing's resource advantages and R&D advantages in the entire industrial chain, and while continuously improving its own supply chain efficiency and sales capabilities, continue to explore and enrich multiple varieties, multiple series, and multiple scenarios to meet the different market needs of various groups of people. Enterprises actively adjusting their market strategies will not only help increase their market share, but also continuously promote innovation and upgrading of the entire aquatic industry.

As the prepared vegetable industry has become a popular track , Northeast China, as the "Granary of China", has also introduced relevant policies to "protect" the development of the prepared vegetable industry. Dalian, Shenyang, Qiqihar and other cities have successively launched prepared vegetable industrial parks. According to local media reports, Dalian’s prepared vegetable industry has now initially formed eight prepared vegetable clusters. The products cover a variety of aquatic products, fruits and vegetables, pasta, poultry and livestock, including seaweed, shrimp, crab, ginseng, etc. The output value of prepared aquatic products such as abalone and abalone accounts for 46% of the output value of all prepared dishes. This shows that aquatic prepared dishes have broad development prospects in the Northeast market .

Haiming · Shenyang Food Expo has an exhibition area for aquatic products and aquatic products preparation , which will provide the aquatic products industry with an all-round opportunity to display exchanges and trade cooperation.Promote technological innovation and cooperative development within the industry. Well-known brands such as Guolian Aquatic Products, Haixin, Shenglong, Beihai Jiujiajiu, Fujiabao, Fubon, Hailinyuan, Hongbao, Hengxing, Xianmeilai, Wanyang, Beihai Hongfang, and Zhangzhou Xingwei participated in the development and cultivation of the Northeast market.The industry's joint efforts and continuous innovation will lay a solid foundation for the future development of China's aquatic industry and bring more diverse choices and higher quality product experience to aquatic product consumers.

Haiming·Shenyang Catering Expo has been deeply involved in the Northeast region for more than 10 years. It has become a flagship exhibition for the display and trading of the domestic catering upstream and downstream industries focusing on the Northeast region and radiating across the country. Accurate links for professional buyers.

With the improvement of industry standards, the continuous development and integration of B and C ends, and the establishment of the pre-prepared food ecological alliance, the prospect of aquatic pre-prepared food is promising and will develop in the direction of clustering, branding and standardization.The supply and demand of aquatic products are booming, and the industry will develop in the direction of greening, intelligence and industrialization. With the trend and competition going hand in hand, enterprises continue to increase their efforts in innovation and cooperation, which will vigorously promote the sustainable development of the industry. Looking to the future, I believe that China's aquatic products industry will show stronger competitiveness and influence on the global stage, and make positive contributions to the development of the world's offshore fisheries.

Sea NameThe 11th Shenyang Catering Expo in 2024 will continue to delve into the Northeast market. With the concept of "efficient investment promotion and effective transaction results" and digital exhibitions as the basis of operations, we will build a business cooperation platform for enterprises that integrates product promotion, cooperation negotiation, and market development.