A Study of the Chinese Marketing Channels from a perspective of Norwegian Salmon Exporters

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to give an overview of different marketing channels of salmon in China and examine the competitive environment of the Chinese salmon market. Furthermore, we would like to understand how Norwegian exporters do business in China and the challenges and opportunities they have in the future regarding marketing channels, using a case study of Cermaq. We chose to explore this topic because of the continuous progress of NorwegianChina Free Trade Agreement negotiations and the popularity of emerging marketing channels. It is meaningful to understand how Norwegian salmon exporters do business in China regarding different marketing channels and how those different channels work.

A qualitative research methodology is implemented to have a deep understanding of Norwegian salmon exporters do business in China regarding different marketing channels. The data for our research was primarily collected by interviews with the Norwegian Seafood Council and a Norwegian salmon exporter. By conducting in-depth interviews, we wanted to understand Norwegian salmon products, exporters’ marketing channels, and their experience in China.

In our study, we found that salmon is mainly consumed through HORECA in China, representing 90% of the total consumption. The remaining 10% is in the retail channels, which can be divided into three parts: traditional retail, new retail, and e-commerce. The competition in the Chinese market is still fierce, while the other channel members have significant influences on profitability. Based on our analysis, we identified the strategic propositioning for Cermaq and consider differentiation strategy would be a sound value proposition for the company.