In early November the Company broke new ground and invited a delegation of shareholders for a brief tour of Shanghai market, the hub for lobster success in China. This would go down as one of the most important visits to the market in FLC’s thirty year history.
The first day was more a settle in day, check into the hotel later in that afternoon and get some needed rest. Day two started with an intense three hours in the classroom at the Consul General Office, participating in presentations from the NZTE team Serene Deng BDM Shanghai, the Trade Commissioner Damon Paling and our own Andrew Harvey.
The afternoon delegation began exploring new channels for our lobster distribution and retail, such as the Alibaba run He Ma store of which there are thirteen such stores in Shanghai. That evening we visited one of our new Restaurant Chain partners to discover a new world of live seafood retail. On display was Fiordland lobster tagged with QR Codes linking to our China based website, wild legend.com.cn and promotional video playing in store. We finished the evening with a dinner at the restaurant around a very large table for twenty two and it had room for at least thirty people.
The next day was an immersion in the core business of importing and distribution through one of the largest wet markets in China, the Jiang Yang Market. There was plenty to see over the morning and for many of the tour party a first-hand look at how Fiordland lobster is handled through the chain to restaurants. A very enjoyable lunch was hosted by one of our dear friends and customers in Shanghai, where the party experienced delicate seafood from around the world, including the famous local farmed Shanghai Hairy Crab.
The tour party retired to the Hotel for our gala dinner hosting some seventy guests from the Seafood industry. It was a wonderful tribute to the long term business relationships, Fiordland Lobster Company has developed with our partners in China, over many years. It was an informal get together in a relaxed atmosphere with good food and wine, with key players who manage global live seafood importation for all of China. A special evening that helped sign off what was an exceptional few days for the delegates. The success of this tour and feedback from delegates, suggest another such tour will be needed next November.
The management team including the Chairman then moved on to the Qingdao Seafood show. This was our 6th consecutive year with a stand on the New Zealand Pavilion. This was another successful year over three days and a number of new leads were discovered for the team to follow up in future.
Ensure you reserve your spot for 2019’s tour – check out how here!
