China’s seafood consumption rebounded significantly over Chinese New Year with small businesses enjoying the biggest recovery, according to the industry. Foodservice consumption rebounded sharply during the Spring Festival, after the COVID epidemic…
Footfall during the holiday increased by 26% compared with last year’s Spring Festival and is “basically the same” as the 2019 Spring Festival, the survey said. “The catering service industry has achieved a good start, various offline consumption has maintained strong momentum,” said the association. The survey also shows that the consumption of dining out during long holidays increased by 76% year-on-year, with Beijing, Sanya, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Dali the five most popular cities.
Seafood Guide, a local publication reported that the impact on seafood consumption due to concerns about COVID infection has largely subsided.
“After experiencing the peak of the pandemic in December, consumers are no longer afraid of gathering and they are willing to go out to eat. Overall, foodservice consumption during the Spring Festival this year has grown by double digits compared with the same period last year,” a chain restaurant owner told Seafood Guide. “The recovery of consumption in third- and fourth-tier cities was better than expected.
“A lot of people are going back home without worrying about COVID, and demand is very good,” he said. “In the first-tier cities, the number of catering merchants operating normally has increased compared with last year, so their business is also better.
“But overall, the recovery is going well, particularly for small restaurants. Many small restaurants are family-run and takeaways that are easier to reopen. Large chain restaurants need to hire workers to operate normally. We expect a full recovery by March,” the owner said.