Two big frozen food players have introduced shrimp products in a battle for a slice of China’s lucrative children’s food market.
Sanquan Foods and Zhengzhou Synear Food Co. recently launched frozen shrimp dumplings sold with the marketing angle of being nutritious for children.
At the large outlet operated by the Huapu supermarket chain in Beijing’s Chaoyangmen district, a 210-gram box of frozen Synear shrimp dumplings with labeling information directed at parents looking to improve their children’s nutritional intake retaile for CNY 21.90 (USD 3.06, EUR 2.84). A similar Sanquan product was priced at CNY 22.80 (USD 3.19, EUR 2.96) per 300-gram box. A Sanquan 400-gram box of frozen shrimp dumplings – not targeted at the infant food sector – was priced at CNY 21.90 (USD 3.06, EUR 2.84), showcasing the premium prices suppliers can charge in the children’s food segment.
Frozen food specialists like Synear and Sanquan have also sought to capitalize on a demand for convenience formats of popular regional cuisines, a trend accelerated during the Covid pandemic, when diners were forced to stay home.
Having long focused on low-priced, mass-market dumplings, both Synear and Sanquan have widened their range to cater for wealthier customers seeking ready-to-eat seafood meals. Synear recently launched a snakehead pickled fish soup in a frozen, packaged format. The 400-gram meal retails for CNY 22.00 (USD 3.08, EUR 2.86) in the frozen foods section at outlets of the Huapu and Jinkelong supermarket chains in Beijing.
The scale of Synear and Sanquan represents formidable competition for seafood firms including Guolian Aquatic, which has also sought to tap the frozen meals market. Other players competing for the market include Fujian Anjoy Food Co., a firm based on China's southeast coast and a major buyer of seafood for its various ready-meal offerings.
