A Norwegian cod-farming firm has signed a cooperative agreement with a Chinese importer and distributor, continuing a line of recent efforts from the European country to heavily advertise and sell its fish to the world’s largest seafood-consuming market.
Trondheim, Norway-based Norcod signed the agreement with Hecheng Food, which also goes by the English name Hi Chain, at an event in Shanghai in mid-December 2023. The partnership entails launching Norcod products in China, marketing its product as “snow cod” and targeting the higher end of the Chinese consumer market.
The finalized partnership was helped along by Norcod’s Danish parent company Sirena, which has a long history in China and has established several partnerships with local processors. To effectively reach Chinese consumers, Norcod’s marketing strategy aims to align with messaging previously used by the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) in China, which has equated seafood that comes from Arctic waters as exceptionally healthy and safe to eat.
Recent work by the NSC to establish inroads with Chinese seafood industry players includes the company taking a large group of Chinese media and social media influencers to visit cod, mackerel, and salmon facilities in Norway.
As for Hi Chain, with a processing facility at Hengsha International Port near Shanghai, the importer is well-positioned to ...
Photo courtesy of PhotoVisions/Shutterstock
