1. How can sustainability be used to market shrimp in China?
Henrik Aarestrup
Vice President Emerging Markets – BioMar Group

2. What is a sustainable shrimp?
There isn’t any easy definition as sustainability is characterized by a number of trade-offs
BioMar has over the last decade worked to assess the sustainability of our products through Eco-Efficiency calculations
While it provides a solid knowledge it is hard to communicate the complex relations behind sustainability to the consumers
Picture shrimp
In practice products labeled as sustainable tend to focus on one or a few parameters like carbon footprint, responsible use of resources, good farming practice, etc…

3. How can we differentiate a product on sustainability?
Corporate Sustainability
Product Sustainability
Differentiation
Risk Management
Must have
Strategic program for
continuous improvement
Sustainability
leader
Advanced
sustainability
differentiator
Company initiatives
Premium products
Voluntary
global standards
Extended
product standards
Industry
standard follower
Company activities
Product requirements
Legal
compliant player
Legal compliance or sticking to voluntary global standards is not enough to demand a differentiation premium on sustainability

4. Creating an advanced sustainability differentiated product
Double Omega-3 compared to ordinary salmon
Sustainably optimized ingredients such as microalgae
Marine ingredients derived from trimmings of wild-caught fish processed for human consumption
Responsible farming methods
Added a bit of clean blue Artic marketing…

5. An example of someone just following the flow…
The ASC certification is difficult and costly to achieve, so why not use all the good elements a bit better in story telling?

6. Lessons to be learned from the Organic market
30 years from first certifications to achieve a somewhat clear positioning of organic food
Danish consumers are world champions in purchasing organic food, but just 13% of food sold in Denmark is certified organic
China is today the fourth largest market for organic food – but organic share in China is below 1%
Fish & shrimp are far behind with less than 1% of total organic consumption
Top 9 organic market shares and China
Luxemburg
Switzerland
Sweden
Austria
USA
Germany
Holland
France
China
Denmark

7. Why do the consumer chose organic food products?1.
Personal Health
Food safety
No Antibiotics
No GMO
No Pesticide residue
No Additives 2.
Perceived Product Quality
Taste
Texture
Freshness
Natural 3.
Environment & Ethical
Protecting Nature
No spread GMO
Animal welfare
No pesticide in nature
While the health and quality are shared between Western and Chinese consumers the distance to number three on the list is larger in China

8. Global environmental issues have more limited value as differentiators in China than in Western countries
Environmental degradation is a major concern among urban Chinese consumers
The near environment – and particularly air pollution - is top of mind
Mass market understanding of global environmental issues is however limited
This reduces the value of global environmental issues as differentiator

9. Taking it into shrimp product development…
Farmed without antibiotics
No chemicals used in farming
Good farming practice
No Palm oil
(deforestation)
No overfishing
(scarce marine feed ingredients)
Protect habitat
(mangrove)
Strong sustainability stories in Europe will not necessarily work in China
The three top items are both important for the sustainability and relevant to the Chinese consumer
The three lower items are much more relevant among Western consumers than with Chinese consumers

10. Summing up…
Sustainability can be used in marketing shrimp towards the Chinese consumer – however companies must go beyond the industry standard to achieve a premium price
Product attributes related to food safety and personal health are and will for some time ahead remain stronger arguments than degradation of some far away environment
Caring for the environment can be turned into good stories speaking to the “longing for the traditional” among Chinese urban consumers
Fraudulent use of labeling and green washing is a major risk in the Chinese markets – relying merely on certificates is not a guarantee for success