In May, the sales season of crawfish is coming. In the "shrimp sucking season", the red and oily crawfish is back on the table of consumers, and the crawfish restaurant in Guangzhou is also on fire. The reporter learned from a recent visit that with the mass listing of crawfish, the price is half cheaper than when it was first listed, and the wholesale price is about 40% lower than last year. Why does the price of crawfish fall this year? Will the crawfish in retail stores and restaurants become cheaper? The reporter launched an investigation.
Market visit: the price dropped by 40% year on year
The reporter visited the Guangzhou Huangsha Aquatic Products Trading Market and learned that the price of crawfish has dropped by about half since it was first listed in March. Ms. Wang, the aquatic wholesaler, said that at present, the price of small lobsters per kilogram is about 8 yuan, that of medium lobsters is about 15 yuan, and that of large lobsters is about 30 yuan. Another aquatic wholesaler, Ms. Liu, said that the price of crawfish often fluctuates, and it has dropped 5 yuan these days. However, because the production of large lobsters is relatively small, the price reduction is relatively small. From the supply side, a crawfish wholesaler told reporters that the price of crawfish this year has dropped by 40% compared with last year.
The price of crawfish at the retail end also dropped. The reporter learned from the fresh food supermarket and e-commerce platform that the price of small lobster is about 16~20 yuan per kilogram, the price of medium lobster is about 18~24 yuan, and the price of large lobster is about 50 yuan. Jin Juan, the crawfish buyer of the e-commerce platform "Originally Living", said that due to the early warming of the temperature, Hubei crawfish came into the market one month ahead of schedule, with a large number of crawfish, and the platform price dropped by 30% to 40% year on year.
The crawfish production areas in China are widely distributed, and the production areas with high output include Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, etc. According to several wholesalers, at present, the crawfish market in Guangzhou is dominated by Hubei and Hunan. The market is dominated by green shell crawfish. Red shell crawfish just came into the market in April, which is about one or two yuan higher than the price of green shell crawfish. Ms. Liu introduced that crawfish had green shells in the early stage, but it became red shells in the later stage because the crawfish was more mature or the temperature rose slowly. The red shell shrimp is more compact and thicker than the green shell shrimp. It is expected to enter the mass production season in May. Ms. Liu also said that the crawfish in April is in the early stage of mass production. When the peak season officially comes in May, the price is expected to stabilize, which may be a few yuan lower than now.
Why is the price of crawfish falling this year? Mr. Xu, a crawfish wholesaler and culturist in Qianjiang, Hubei, said that in addition to the early warming of the temperature, crawfish culturists are also increasing. The output of crawfish is now 30% higher than last year, and is expected to continue to grow. At the same time, the purchasing power of processing enterprises, catering retail and consumers has been weakened. Especially for processing enterprises, half of crawfish used to enter the cold storage, but most of them entered the market this year. "The supply of crawfish exceeds the demand, and some bosses cut the price in order to sell it. The market is chaotic and volatile." Mr. Xu said that the expected income of crawfish this year may be only one-third or one-quarter of that of last year.
Capacity increase and weak demand
The 2023 Investigation and Analysis Report on Crawfish Processing Industry in China pointed out that in 2023, the crawfish breeding area will be about 29 million mu, and the output will be about 3 million tons. The cultivation area in the main production area has expanded. In order to improve the industrial chain, provinces have built large lobster processing plants. Due to the entry of capital, the capacity of crawfish processing enterprises has also been rapidly improved, and the competition between enterprises has become increasingly fierce.
It is reported that the primary processed products of crawfish mainly include quick-frozen products and ready to eat food. The traditional primary processing of crawfish is mainly quick-frozen products, mainly quick-frozen shrimp tail and quick-frozen shrimp meat. In recent years, the proportion of quick-frozen products has gradually declined, while the proportion of ready to eat food has increased. Among ready to eat foods, lobster prefabrication has become a new opportunity for industry growth. Ping An Securities Research Report shows that in the process of crawfish product iteration, Yonghui Supermarket, Anjing Food, Guolian Fisheries and other companies entered the market.
Crawfish consumption market demand is weak. Guolian Fisheries said that the overall sales of prefabricated crawfish products this year fell compared with last year, and the market demand did not continue to grow as expected. The intensified competition among enterprises and the large fluctuation of crawfish prices will have an impact on the sales of prefabricated crawfish products.
However, Chen Shengjun, director of the Food Engineering and Quality Safety Research Office of the South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, and director of the Key Laboratory of Aquatic Products Processing of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, believes that the crawfish industry chain is relatively mature, whether for breeding or processing and transportation, so the overall situation is still promising.
Catering end: the heat drops and the price remains stable
Will the price of crayfish plunge to the catering end? The reporter interviewed two operators of the Guangzhou crawfish shop, who said that the price change of crawfish would not affect the pricing and profit margin. Yao Hongxin, the operator of "Xiangyu Shrimp Beauty", said that the price jump of crayfish refers to the unified goods. The crayfish used in the store is of hard specification, and the supplier is required to provide crayfish of higher specification, which is subject to little price change. The operator of "Zhenjie Lobster", Zhenjie, also said that the prices of crayfish used in the store were relatively high as a whole because they were red shrimp.
With the crawfish entering the peak production season, the crawfish also began to enter the hot sales season. At this time, the quality of crawfish is relatively high. Sister Zhen said that from April to September of each year, crawfish sales are in peak season. At this time, the gross profit rate of crawfish dishes sold at the catering end can reach 50%. Yao Hongxin said that the lower the off-season, the higher the purchase price of crawfish. The gross profit rate in the off-season must be lower than that in the peak season. Therefore, the price of crawfish will not be adjusted basically. Both the off-season and the peak season are the same price, which is basically flat throughout the year.
From the perspective of customer flow, many restaurants said that the customer flow was entering a recovery period. Yao Hongxin said that the business circle where the store is located is the CBD business district. Business is brisk on weekdays and nights. He is still waiting in line at 9:00 p.m. on Friday. But actually, the crawfish is not as hot as before. Yao Hongxin said that the flow of people in the store has declined this year. Around 2018, crawfish was the most popular, and consumers were willing to spend money. Sister Zhen also said that although there were still full customers on weekends in the peak season, the customer price of in store consumption decreased.
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More ways to eat: fried oil, garlic, thirteen spices, iced
Fried crawfish with oil, braised with oil and mashed garlic are the most popular practices of "Xiangyu Shrimp Beauty". According to Master Wen in the shop, the key to doing a good job in fried crawfish is to make the shrimp meat compact. In order to maintain the taste of shrimp meat, it is necessary to fry it twice at 220 ° C for 10 seconds, pick it up and then fry it at 220 ° C for 6 seconds, so that the meat will be Q elastic. When shelling, you will find that the shell is very crisp and tender.
The fried shrimps are served with the dip sauce prepared by the shop itself. The taste is sour and sweet first, then spicy, with rich layers. Braised shrimp is spicy. In order to make braised shrimp taste better, crawfish needs to open its back and remove its head. Yao Hongxin said that opening shrimp is not a job that can be started quickly. How deep the opening back needs to be cut will not affect the taste of meat, which is very dependent on experience. When you eat the shrimp behind, you can quickly peel it, that is, you can peel it with your hand at the gap behind the opening to get a complete and clean shrimp.
Jane's lobster has been open in Guangzhou for 12 years. The shopkeeper Jane's recommends iced crawfish. It tastes dry and fragrant, and can retain the original flavor of the shrimp meat. Sister Zhen said that ice cream is not so different from steaming. It may be tastier and more suitable for summer. In addition, the frozen crawfish dipped in soy sauce and mustard has a strong and stimulating taste. It is steamed with vinegar, which is relatively light. The 13 spice crawfish is slightly less spicy than the braised crawfish. The thirteen fragrances in the shop are self matched, which are more fragrant than the thirteen fragrances available in the market. Jane's shop uses red shell shrimp. "The green shrimp is not so red, not so big. The shell is soft, while the red shrimp is red, and the shell is hard."
