Joyvio introduces new brand to rescue its Australis salmon sales

Joyvio, the owner of Santiago, Chile-based Australis Seafoods, has launched a new brand on China’s leading e-commerce websites to drum up interest in its subsidiary’s salmon.

The “Jia Wo Xian Sheng” launch gives the firm a single unified brand on JD.com and Tmall. The product also prominently displays its four-star Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and Aquaculture Stewardship Council certifications in an effort to provide assurances to consumers in light of recent food safety concerns related to salmon in China.

Among the offerings under the new brand for sale on JD.com this week are two pieces of salmon steak (420 grams) for CNY 79.90 (USD 11.17, EUR 9.57), or 230-gram salmon steaks for CNY 59.90 (USD 8.38, EUR 7.18). Likewise, 450-gram salmon heads are being offered at CNY 39.90 (USD 5.58, EUR 4.78). The JD.com listing offers recipes for salmon porridge and stir fry, and stresses the functional benefits of fish consumption for human health.

Joyvio purchased Australis Seafoods in June 2019 for USD 922 million (EUR 820 million). It has said it intends to increase production at Australis from 60,000 to 100,000 tons of Atlantic salmon per year.

Last year, Chile and Norway held respective 39 percent and 36 percent shares of China’s fresh salmon market, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council. Other players include Australia, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Scotland.

Describing the Chinese market as “relatively sluggish” in the first half of the year due to trade issues and the COVID-19 pandemic, Joyvio said in a company statement its sees salmon consumption “gradually picking up.” Consumer confidence in the salmon market has been strengthened by the “quarantined and safe products,” according to the company, which describes itself as “a brand with its own upstream fisheries and processing plants.”

Formerly known as Wanfu Biotechnology Hunan Agricultural Development Co., Joyvio is itself a subsidiary of the technology-focused Legend Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed entity that diversified into food production in the past decade to cash in on rising demand among China’s middle classes for quality foods.