Into the Northwest Frozen Food Hub| All-Union Centralized Procurement Visits Lanzhou Jiaojiawan Frozen Market

Jiaojiawan Market: The Core Landmark of Frozen Goods Circulation in Northwest China 

Lanzhou Jiaojiawan Frozen Market, as the largest frozen product distribution center in Northwest China, has a history of more than 30 years.  Merchants from Henan, Hebei and other places gathered in the market, mainly squid, shrimp, South American white shrimp, Basha fish fillet, crayfish tail and other products, daily to Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and other surrounding areas to transport a large number of frozen products.  It is observed that although beef and mutton are still the main local traditional consumption force, the demand for seafood and aquatic products has gradually increased in recent years, especially the sales volume of hot pot ingredients has increased significantly.  

However, overall market activity is challenging.  Merchants generally reflect that this year's downstream procurement demand slows down, customer price reduction phenomenon increases, profits spread thinner and thinner.  Because Lanzhou is located in Inner Six, frozen products mostly rely on the transshipment of Tianjin Port, Zhengzhou, Jinan and other places, with long supply chain and high cost of intermediate links, which become the key factors restricting market efficiency.  

Market status quo: long supply chain, consumption kinetic energy to be released 

The main source of frozen goods market in Lanzhou depends on external input.  Taking imported hairtail as an example, the transportation from Tianjin Port to Lanzhou needs to undergo many transits. After superposition of storage and loss costs, the comprehensive cost is about 15% higher than that of coastal areas.  In addition, the unstable customs clearance time limit and high capital turnover pressure further aggravate the operating burden of small and medium-sized merchants.  

Changes in the consumer side also bring new issues to the market.  Food and beverage customers 'requirements for frozen products gradually shifted from "low-cost procurement" to "complete categories and flexible distribution", such as South American white shrimp and other products to be supplied in batches on a weekly basis to reduce inventory pressure.  This contradiction between demand escalation and traditional wholesale mode has become one of the pain points to be solved urgently in the market.  

Visit of all-in-one centralized procurement: go deep into the front line and link the demand 

The visit to Jiaojiawan market by the all-in-one centralized procurement team aims to deeply understand the current situation and challenges of frozen products circulation in Northwest China.  As an enterprise with imported aquatic products as its core business, Quanlian Centralized Procurement focuses on the penetration of Ecuadorian white shrimp, basa fish and other categories in the northwest market, and at the same time investigates the regional consumption characteristics of domestic shrimp, clear water crayfish and other products.  

Through field investigation, the team found that Lanzhou market not only undertakes local consumption demand, but also radiates frozen goods transfer station in many provinces in northwest China.  However, limited by geographical location and supply chain efficiency, merchants still have obvious shortcomings in terms of source stability and cost control.  In this regard, the all-in-one centralized procurement plan further combs regional circulation links and explores the possibility of cooperation with local enterprises.