Alibaba and Marine Harvest sign salmon distribution deal in China

Win-Chain, Alibaba’s fresh food sourcing platform, and Marine Harvest, the world’s largest producer of farmed salmon, have signed an agreement to bring fresh salmon to Chinese consumers.

Both companies will combine efforts and capabilities to create “the most effective supply chain for the distribution of salmon in China”.

The partnership aims to meet Chinese consumers’ increasing demand for fresh, high-quality salmon, and for Win-Chain to become a leading outlet for salmon products in the country.

Marine Harvest has also opened its first processing facility in Shanghai in response to Chinese consumer demands.

Win-Chain and Marine Harvest intend to work closely together on supply chain optimisation solutions from farm to end consumer, particularly in the areas of processing and cost effectiveness. Win-Chain will become Marine Harvest’s strategic partner to sell fresh chilled salmon products directly from the Marine Harvest processing factory in Shanghai.

In order to meet the evolving needs of modern Chinese consumers, Win-Chain will also provide consumer insights to support Marine Harvest’s branding and communications activities.

Alibaba Group president Michael Evans said: “The demand for fresh seafood in China is rapidly growing, and Marine Harvest is one of the most trusted and world’s leading producers.

“By partnering with Marine Harvest and leveraging the consumer reach, technology capabilities and logistics support of the Alibaba ecosystem, we will be able to deliver the best-in-class offering of fresh seafood products to consumers across China.”

Marine Harvest chairman of the board Ole-Eirik Lerøy added: “China is a very attractive market, and partnering with Alibaba Group and Win-Chain was a natural choice for us. We look forward to the many opportunities ahead to deepen our collaboration with Alibaba as we now ramp up our presence in China, for example through our new processing factory in Shanghai.

“We see that Chinese consumers love salmon, and together with Alibaba and Win-Chain we will bring even more fresh salmon to dinner tables in China.”