People buy strawberries in a market in Jinan, east China's ShandongProvince, Jan. 2, 2023. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui)
BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- With the burgeoning growth of China's "prefabricated food" industry, seafood or aquatic products in Rizhao City, east China's Shandong Province, are tapping the novel business model to expand the market.
At present, there are more than 100 prefabricated food enterprises in Rizhao, among which seafood-related enterprises account for 40 percent.
Meanwhile, the city has formed a complete industrial and supply chain, including aquaculture, seafood primary and intensive processing, which created more than 20,000 local jobs.
The development of prefabricated food industry in the city has also attracted wider attention. Recently, the 2023 Rizhao prefabricated seafood development conference kicked off in the city.
In 2022, the market size of China's prefabricated seafood industry exceeded 100 billion yuan and is expected to exceed 300 billion yuan in 2026, Cui He, president of the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA), said during the conference, adding that prefabricated seafood is the largest subcategory and the most potential market segment in the prefabricated food industry.
More than 200 enterprises in the city are engaged in the production and processing of aquatic products, with the total output of aquatic products exceeding 500,000 tonnes. Aquatic products have been exported to more than 100 countries and regions in Europe, America, and South East Asia.
Cold chain storage and transportation is of great importance in the development of prefabricated food industry. Rizhao far sea cold chain logistics Co., Ltd., together with Rizhao comprehensive bonded area development group and local aquatic products leading enterprises, jointly invested 399 million yuan to build cold chain warehousing and logistics project to provide services.
(Edited by Tian Shenyoujia with Xinhua Silk Road, tianshenyoga0524@163.com)