Niche eels, how to swim to the table?

Text|Red Meal Network Liang Pan.

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In the public perception, eel is the standard in Japanese restaurants. In fact, there is also a long-standing eel food culture in Japan. Previously, eels with low yield and high nutritional value were known as "soft in water" and "ginseng in water".

Today, with the more developed cold chain technology of breeding and logistics, the output of eels has risen, and transportation is not a difficult task, but it is still not so simple to realize the freedom of eels.

The latest data disclosed by the eel network shows that last week (November 24-30), in the main eel producing areas of Fujian and Guangdong markets, the wholesale prices of 3P Japanese eels and American eels were 135 yuan kg and 92 yuan kg, and the wholesale price of Japanese eels with 5P specifications was 170 yuan kg, and the European eels and American eels with 4-5p specifications were about 102 yuan kg.

The vegetable eel with specifications above 550g is cheaper, but the price is also nearly 90 yuan kg. (P stands for specification, the industry often classifies eels by size and weight, 3 eels with a total of 1 kg is called "3P", and the smaller the size of the eel, the higher the price).

Lin Haigen, general manager of Fujian Wushiyanshan Industry, has been working in the aquatic feed industry for many years, and he told the catering chain guide that the eel has improved this year, but there is still a gap with expectations.

The psychological price of farmers is 9-120,000 tons, and the current difference is 20,000 tons. In Lin Haigen's view, many eel farmers are basically in a state of small profits this year.

Lin Haigen revealed to the catering chain guide that the size of vegetable eels is relatively large, and it is more likely to appear in family consumption, family banquets, banquets and other occasions. The specifications of one tail are more than 1 catty, and at present, the single ton of vegetable eel ** is 5About 30,000 yuan, ** will continue to rise. Japanese restaurants prefer 3P, 4P and other smaller eels, depending on the quality of the price, the current single ton ** is generally around 7-80,000 yuan.

Lin Haigen also said that in 2022, affected by the epidemic, banquet consumption will decrease, eels will be difficult to sell, and a single ton of vegetable eel** will be less than 50,000 yuan. Many eel farmers hoped to sell it at a good price this year, but what they didn't expect was that it would take another year in 2023.

According to the data of eel nets, in the first half of this year, the wholesale price of live eels in the markets of Fujian and Guangdong did not change much. 3P Japanese eel, American eel, and European eel** are about 110 yuan kg, 96 yuan kg, and 93 yuan kg. The old fish eel with a specification of more than 650g is 78-79 yuan kg, and the new fish vegetable eel with the same specification is 74-75 yuan kg.

In mid-July, the wholesale price of 3P Japanese eels rose to 120 yuan kg, in mid-August it had risen to 125 yuan kg, and in early October it had risen to 135 yuan kg, and it was still at this price level as of the end of November. Roughly calculated, compared with the beginning of the year, the increase of 3P Japanese eels is about 2%.

In late July, the wholesale price of 550g old fish and vegetable eel was still 70-72 yuan;In mid-August, it had risen to 78-80 yuan kg, and the price remained at 88-90 yuan kg in November. Roughly calculated, in the past 4 months, 550g of vegetable eels have increased by about 20%.

Summer is the traditional peak season for Japanese people to eat eels. Chinese people tend to eat eel in autumn and winter, from October to February of the following year, it has always been the peak season for eel consumption, and the price of eel may be expected to continue.

Feed ** soared all the way, eels are more expensive to eat than people?"Compared with the first recovery, farmers are more worried about the high cost of breeding. ”

Eel farming is not an easy business. It is understood that the breeding cycle of eels is as long as 1-2 years, and the cost of raising is high.

Haikui Aquatic Products Group is a company mainly engaged in aquatic product processing, and Ye Deli, a business person, told the catering chain guide that eel farming requires the use of higher quality and more expensive raw materials, and the feed cost is higher than that of ordinary freshwater fish feed.

Xu Shaowu, the founder of Hezhi Eel, an eel brand that focuses on the retail market, also said that the feed that eels eat is more expensive than the food that humans eat. Taking cod meal commonly used in the industry as an example, if eel is farmed with cod meal, the cost of 1kg of feed will reach more than 100 yuan.

Feed fluctuations will directly affect the profit margins of farmers. This year, many eel farmers are under pressure from increased feed costs.

According to the data monitored by the Fujian Provincial Aquatic Technology Promotion Station, in the first half of the year, the Fujian eel feed continued to be about 14～1.60,000 tons. Entering the second half of the year, the feed **continued**. In the third quarter, affected by fishmeal***, eel feed ** also followed**, in 156～1.630,000 tons.

Since the beginning of this year, a number of feed companies have issued price increase notices.

At the beginning of May, Haimei Biotechnology, Gaolong Feed, Tianma Technology, Haima Feed, Xingfenghua Biotechnology and many other aquatic feed companies have issued price increase notices, raising the eel-related feed by 1,000 yuan. In July, Wanghai Feed, a feed company in Jiangmen, announced that it would raise its eel meal series products by 800 yuan.

This year, the cost of feed has been rising, which has also diluted the profits of farmers. In Lin Haigen's view, compared with the beginning of the year, the eel has ** has **, but there is not much profit margin left for farmers.

This year, the raw material for eel feed has risen by 35%, and fishmeal has increased from 1 at the beginning of the year350,000 tons soared all the way to the current 1800,000 tons, which makes most of this year's eel farming practitioners in a state of low profit. 1 ton of vegetable eel can be sold for 530,000 tons, but the cost of feed will cost 380,000 yuan".

In addition to cost pressure, the rise of new production areas and the increase in eel production have also led to increasingly fierce market competition.

In the past three years, the domestic eel aquaculture production has shown a year-on-year growth trend.

According to the China Fishery Statistical Yearbook, in 2022, the domestic eel aquaculture production was 28170,000 tons, compared to 25530,000 tons, an increase of 10 percent year-on-year35%。Among them, Guangdong and Fujian, as traditional eel production areas, account for nearly 9% of the country's output, and the emerging Jiangxi production areas are also making continuous efforts.

In 2022, Fujian's output will be 12210,000 tons, 11610,000 tons, Jiangxi is 2390,000 tons, accounting for the proportion of national output. 48%。Compared with 2021, the aquaculture output of Fujian and Guangdong increased by 110,000 tons, 080,000 tons, Jiangxi's year-on-year growth rate is nearly 20%.

2023 China Fishery Statistical Yearbook.

Good ecological environment and water quality resources are the late-mover advantages of Jiangxi's development of eels.

The article "The Status Quo and Countermeasures of Guangdong Eel Industry Exhibition" published by Guangdong Agricultural Science has pointed out that the climate and environment of Jiangxi are suitable for eel farming, and at the same time, Jiangxi eel breeding areas (such as Wancun) have pure, pollution-free, mineral-rich hot springs.

In recent years, more and more enterprises have begun to build eel breeding bases in Shangrao, Jiujiang and other places in Jiangxi. Tianma Technology, an aquatic feed company, also involves eel breeding and processing in its business scope, and has built an intelligent green ecological breeding base for eel towns in Wuning County, Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province.

Xu Shaowu told the guide to accepting the catering chain that Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other regions are all traditional provinces for eel farming. However, in the past two or three years, eel farming in Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangxi has gradually strengthened. It is understood that Hezhi eel has built breeding bases in Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi, among which Jiangxi Shangrao is the largest breeding base for Hezhi eel.

On the whole, in recent years, eel production has maintained a growth trend, emerging production areas are also secretly making efforts, and the enthusiasm of Chinese people for eel farming is still high. But where will the eel production, which is growing year by year, be sold?

The future of eels on the Chinese table?Domestic eel production is stable at more than 200,000 tons, but less than 100,000 tons of eels are exported overseas every year. Customs data shows that in 2021 and 2022, China's eel export volume will be 710,000 tons, 650,000 tons.

This also means that eel consumption still depends on the Chinese people. But for now, eel is still a niche in the domestic market.

On the one hand, the firm labels such as "Japanese food" and "foreign" on the eel limit its popularity on the consumer side.

From the perspective of the catering market, the catering stores with more eel products are still Japanese restaurants, eel specialty stores, Japanese and Korean barbecue restaurants, Japanese fast food restaurants and other catering stores that focus on exotic flavors. The eel in these stores usually focuses on Japanese style, and the cooking method is mostly kabayaki, and the products are mostly kabayaki eel, eel rice, and eel sushi, and the product form and method are relatively simple.

The catering chain guide visited the Guangzhou market and found that an eel specialty store in Haizhu District, Guangzhou City, focused on Japanese simple food, and it played the slogan "Eel Factory Direct Store, Direct Supply to Japan" at the door of the store to attract customers. According to public comments, Shunde's live eel freshly grilled brand eel is fishy, and among the top 3 dishes recommended by netizens, there are pu-roasted eel products.

Ye Deli also told the restaurant ** chain guide that grilled eels are mainly driven by the demand of the Japanese market. Similar to the grilled eel products that are exported, the flavor of the eel at Japanese restaurants in Japan is mainly based on Japanese soy sauce and sweetness.

From the perspective of the retail market, the Japanese kabayaki flavor occupies the mainstream position. The catering ** chain guide uses "eel" as the keyword, and it is found that most of the top sales are Japanese-style kabayaki eels.

Screenshot of Douyin.

*The highest-selling product in the store is the ready-to-eat kabayaki eel. According to the store homepage of the Douyin account "Jiulijing Fresh***", its sales exceeded 230,000. Among them, the sales volume of frozen kabayaki eel that is ready to eat has achieved 210,000 sales.

On the other hand, although there is also an eel food culture in China, and there are many kinds of eel dishes and cooking techniques, such as braised eel in Huaiyang cuisine, panlong eel and stewed white eel in Cantonese cuisine, and red stewed macaroni river eel in Fujian cuisine, there seem to be few Chinese restaurants in China that focus on eel.

In recent years, although the domestic eel subdivision track has gradually formed, eel specialty stores have appeared. However, these eel specialty shops also specialize in live eel grilled or eel rice, and Chinese eel dishes are rare.

At present, the more out-of-the-circle eel products in China are Japanese-style grilled eel, eel rice, and eel sushi, and many domestic consumers lack awareness of eel.

When it comes to eels, many people feel unfamiliar. But when it comes to its other name, the white eel, it may not be so unfamiliar. However, white eel refers to Japanese eels and cannot represent all eel species.

In the Guangfo area, the Japanese eel is also known as the white eel, and it is eaten in a variety of ways. Parietal eel, panlong eel, white eel claypot rice, and steamed eel with tempeh are all common dishes.

On social platforms such as Xiaohongshu, many netizens said, "We will have panlong eel many times when we eat at the banquet," "I've eaten white eel, but I don't know it's eel", "There are many ways to eat eel in Shunde, all kinds of fried and stewed, better than eel rice" ......

Outside of the main eel-producing areas, there is a lack of consumer awareness of both Japanese eel, which is known as "white eel", and vegetable eel, which is made into Chinese dishes.

As a native of Fujian, Lin Haigen also told the catering ** chain guide that there are also many eel dishes in Fujian, such as sauerkraut eel, eel hot pot, steamed eel, eel soup, etc. However, in Fujian, Guangdong and other major eel consumption provinces, eel consumption lacks the tonality of light luxury, so that although the volume of local eel consumption is large, it is not well known by the public.

Lin Haigen analyzed that in recent years, the popularity of eels has been improved, and the important reason is that eels are bound to Japanese food. The high added value of Japanese food and the main light luxury route can meet people's needs for taking pictures and socializing, and young people will also take the initiative to check in when consuming Japanese food. However, in fact, in terms of domestic eel food consumption, the proportion of grilled eels in Japanese cuisine is not high, and the proportion of vegetable eels made into Chinese dishes is relatively higher.

In Lin Haigen's view, in order for eels to achieve long-term development, they also need to be more popular in the Chinese food market.

In order to open up a larger market in China, it is also necessary for catering businesses and food companies to continue to develop more eel dishes that meet the dietary Xi of Chinese people. From the perspective of the domestic market, more and more catering and food businesses have begun to explore the Chinese cuisine of eel.

For example, Hezhi Eel has cooperated with a number of chain restaurant companies to launch products such as eel stewed pot, eel claypot rice, and eel bone golden soup sauerkraut fish.

Considering the high raw material of eel, combined with the production form of Chinese food, the eel is turned into a non-exclusive main ingredient, and different parts of the eel are used to amortize the cost.

Regarding the future prospect of eel Chinese cuisine, Xu Shaowu has a happy attitude, but believes that it cannot be rushed. "The popularization of eel in Chinese cuisine is promising in the future, but the cycle is relatively long, and it can't be too urgent now. ”