Chinese online "middle men" have made it possible for small businesses to procure imported seafood worth only several thousand yuan per order. (Photo : Gannet 39)
Shanghai Import Fresh Co. Ltd. has given small businesses access to imported seafood by placing small orders at their online platform jinkouxian.com.
The company imports seafood from countries such as Japan and Norway and makes it available in China.
Its founder Yao Boda realized that small businesses cannot procure imported seafood because they have to purchase between 20 tons to 25 tons at a time.
According to Yao, these small restaurants are capable of ordering worth only several thousand yuan at a time.
To fill the gap in the market, his company rolled out the online platform jinkouxian.com, which also acts a "middle man" for many family-owned vendors.
Yao, who grew up catching shrimps and crabs in the small island of Tongtou in eastern Zhejiang Province, said that they source the products directly from foreign countries to bring the best seafood available at the lowest prices.
For the past four months, jinkouxian.com has reported sales of $314,000.
Yao's business is a good example on how the emergence of online platforms is boosting the efficiency of global sourcing and delivery services, according to e-commerce analyst Zhang Xiangli of iResearch Consulting Group in Beijing.
However, there were also issues created by China's seafood websites peddling, such as falsely labeling their commodities as having been procured from France; the assumed prestige of French produce will allows these sites to charge premium prices.
Another favorite advertising practice by Chinese seafood vendors, which is frowned upon by Chinese officials, are the baseless claims of health benefits.
This problem could be addressed by China's new advertising law, which took effect this September, criminalizing the use of unverified claims and data in advertising and is expected to have a big impact on the booming online sales of imported seafood.
