Demand for salmon in China is expected to double in the next five years and one of the countries positioned to supply that demand is Chile. At the China International Import Expo, Chilean companies focused on how they can set up their operations to attract more of the Chinese market.

CGTN’s Joel Richards reports. 

At a market in southern Chile, Jose Vazquez has run his stand for over 25 years. He is proud of what he sells.

“This salmon is good because it is Chilean,” said Vazquez. “Everything that is Chilean is good quality.”

In the port city of Puerto Montt, the market caters to international tourists but for this region and the country, salmon is a big business.

Salmon is one of Chile’s most important exports. It is considered the motor of the local economy in the south region. Traditionally, the most important export markets have been the U.S., Brazil and Russia but increasingly companies here are targeting the Chinese market.

Multiexport Foods is one of Chile’s largest exporter of salmon –the company says it processes 85,000 tons of salmon annually. And since they began shipping to China in 2016, the company claims it is now the number-one exporter to the Asian nation.

Multiexport Foods says it expects to double the demand from China over the next five years.

“Our plan is very simple,” explains Ricardo Grunwald, Multiexport Foods Sales Manager. “We started trading salmon to the main distributors, the next year we will be opening an office in Shanghai where we are going to start partnering with several distributors around the country, in north, south, west, east, and probably with each or some of them, we are going to invest in processing companies. With that, we are going to start offering our products to the traditional retailers but also non-traditional retailers which is the online and offline segment.”

One problem remains – getting the salmon shipment to China across the Pacific ocean.

The region’s fishing administration Sernapesca says the sector is working to halve the time it takes to reach the market from Chile.

“The shelf life of fresh salmon is around 14 to 16 days,” says Eduardo Aguilera, Sernapesca Director in Los Lagos region. “If we can short(en) the transportation time it is important in order to get a better product to the Chinese market.”

Chile’s salmon industry has had to overcome several challenges, but the sector hopes it improves standards and logistics to step up to growing demand from across the Pacific.