March 13, 2014 — China’s leading tilapia producing region will meet with global retailers in Boston next week hoping to secure higher prices or long-term supply contracts to reward more environmentally-responsible tilapia cultivation.
The Hainan Tilapia Sustainability Alliance will meet with major discount retailers in Germany as well as a leading U.S. retailer with global reach, according to Han Han, the Hainan-based country manager for the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP). She declined to name them until deals are inked.
The meetings are part of an effort by the Hainan alliance to engage retailers — having to date focused on producers, processors and feed suppliers in the local tilapia value chain. “We have to build confidence on the buyer side and therefore give premium prices or long-term purchase orders to reward farmers pursuing best practice,” explained Han. Aside from retail, the SFP-assisted Hainan Tilapia Sustainability Alliance has also built ties to foodservice, with resort operator Disney and hotel operator Starwood (which operates a Sheraton hotel in Hainan) both keen on tilapia from the alliance for its China properties.
Securing big name clients would be good news for the firms involved in the alliance, which includes three of China’s top tilapia processors, including top-placed Xiang Tai, Sky Blue Ocean and the feed-processing conglomerate, Tongwei. Also on board is King Win Aquaculture, which serves as a middleman, supplying feed and purchasing tilapia from farmers for processors, as a provider of technical advice to tilapia farmers the firm has been useful in distributing best practice know-how, said Han. Partners in the alliance are keen to improve the quality and reliability of tilapia supply by sharing information and training between farmers.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource.com