Canadian lobsters making massive inroads in China; consumers told not to discard the claws
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Hexun.com] Translated by Amy Zhong Dec 16, 2014
Canadian lobster sales in China are soaring with widespread consumer discussions of how they differ from the standard Crayfish or Australian Lobster. Chinese women have taken to Wechat to post pictures and discuss their lobster dishes. In most cases, live Canadian lobsters are priced at about 1/3 the level of Australian, and consumers are responding. There are now over 200 online stores selling Canadian lobster, and there is every indication that consumption is reaching a critical mass that will have widespread and longterm ramfications for the North American lobster supply chain. Below is one of our reports from the newpaper in Hangzhou:
Can you imagine spending about one hundred yuan buying a lobster for dinner? It used to be regarded as a fallacy, but now it comes true. A batch of lobsters from Canada have been served on the table of Chinese consumers recently. Wei is a regular shopper of Taobao and she has been tempted by these low-priced large lobsters, which have been sold on the Internet, although she hesitated because of her friends’ warning that the lobster texture would not be good if they turned out dead upon arrival.
Wei rushed to pay 158 yuan to order a lobster at the weight of 700g when she saw that the lobster sales had been on the rise and its sales volume was even close to 20 thousand last month. After some calculation, Wei found that the price of this lobster was only about half of those which she had bought in the farmers’ markets.
Actually the lobsters are the updated version of crayfish, said Wang, a manager of some Hangzhou restaurant. Although the lobster front claws are fleshy, it is not suitable to be cooked as sashimi because it is difficult for the meat to melt in the mouth.
A batch of lobsters have been flown from Canada to Shanghai and they need to overcome the jet lag here.
Recently many housewives have shown off their dishes of high-end lobsters in Wechat. ...
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