Cuban lobster exports have established a small, yet consistent foothold in the Chinese market, where the product has started to minorly compete with lobster from the Northeast U.S. and where consumers have highlighted the product’s high quality and taste, according to a vendor at the large Jingshen Seafood wholesale market in Beijing.
“It’s a premium product and more expensive than lobster from Boston [Massachusetts, U.S.A.],” Liu, the manager of the International Seafood Store, said, adding that she wholesales Cuban lobster during Chinese New Year at CNY 3,000 (USD 420, EUR 390) per 10 lobsters.
“The quantities of Cuban lobsters are still low, however, compared to Boston lobster,” she said.
A wholesale price of CNY 300 (USD 42, EUR 39) per lobster, as quoted by Liu, compared to the CNY 239 (USD 32, EUR 30) per lobster being sold at 7 Fresh supermarkets in Beijing operated by JD.com, suggesting that Cuban lobster is considered a premium product in the country.
In 2020, Cuban lobsters average 900 to 1,100 grams were selling for CNY 568 (USD 78, EUR 73) on the Yu Xian Xuan store on Tmall.com.
Cuban lobsters have an opening to grab an even stronger market share, particularly because Australian lobster is still banned in the country.
Chinese authorities banned the import of Australian lobster in 2020 after the Australian government posited that the alleged Chinese origin of the Covid-19 virus be further investigated. Live Australian lobsters are still barred from entering China directly; however Chinese firms have been offering copycats to the domestic market.
