Crayfish are "blind", the price has been cut in half in many places, as low as 10 yuan, what are the foodies doing?

As the May Day holiday approaches, crayfish are also entering the market. Coupled with the sharp rise in temperatures in many places, it is like summer, making crayfish also enter the peak consumption season.

However, those who are interested have discovered that this year’s crayfish market does not seem to be beautiful. The price has been cut in half in many places, with the lowest price falling to 10 yuan per pound. Many people joke that crayfish are really worthless! What's going on?

01. One roast duck = 4 pounds of crayfish?

Before the first half of April every year, the price of crayfish has always been relatively expensive, especially from February to March. Due to the low supply, crayfish are even rarer and more expensive.

However, since late March this year, crayfish began to decline, and it has remained sluggish to this day. Some netizens even complained: "One roast duck = 4 pounds of crayfish?"

For example, in the Kunming market, the performance of crayfish is not very good.

The reporter found in the interview that the crayfish in the Kunming market has dropped by 20-30 yuan/kg compared to March. Because of the low price, it has attracted many people to buy it. Among them, crayfish with 4-6 yuan are the most popular. favorite.

In the Changsha Aquatic Products Market, the price of crayfish has dropped to as low as 10 yuan/catty. However, due to its small size, not many people buy it, so it is suitable for making shrimp tails.

Lao Liu told reporters that the price of crayfish has dropped to 10 yuan per catty, and the larger ones are 16-18 yuan per catty.

However, crayfish priced at more than 7 yuan are still expensive, 40-50 yuan per pound.

For daily consumption, you can buy it for 18 yuan per pound.

At other stalls, crayfish are basically priced at 10-18 yuan per catty, but large ones cost 45 yuan per catty.

Ms. Wang, a citizen, said that she bought 16 yuan/catty in the market a few days ago, but now it has dropped to 12 yuan/catty.

In a supermarket in Changsha, the crayfish were basically sold out within two hours of being put on display, and the price was 16.8 yuan/jin.

The staff said that the price of crayfish was 20.8 yuan per catty two days ago, but now that the supply has increased, the price continues to fall.

Yiyang Nan County is the origin of crayfish. In March, the price of crayfish of 3-5 cents was 50-60 yuan/catty, but now it has dropped to 15-16 yuan/catty; the price of 7 cents or more is 110-110 yuan/catty. 120 yuan per catty, but now it has dropped to 37-38 yuan per catty.

Some wholesalers said that the price out of the pond will drop to 7-10 yuan per catty in May.

In Jinan, the price of crayfish has also dropped significantly. Market manager Lao Zhu said that this year the crayfish will be launched earlier than expected. In previous years, crayfish were only launched in May, but they began to flood into the market in mid-April.

In addition, large lobsters rarely appeared in April in previous years, but now there are not many large lobsters.

It is these factors that have caused the market price of crayfish to drop significantly.

For example, crayfish with 2-3 yuan/catty are basically 13 yuan/catty, and cheaper ones are 10 yuan/catty; crayfish with 4-6 yuan/catty are currently quoted at 18 yuan/catty, and those with better quality are 20 yuan/catty. Jin; while the price of 8 yuan-sized lobster has dropped to 35 yuan/jin, a 40% drop from previous years.

Mr. Wang, a citizen, said that now the price of crayfish has been halved. He bought 3 kilograms of lobster for 12 yuan per kilogram. The merchant also gave away seasoning packets to attract customers to buy.

02. Why did crayfish fall?

Since 2015, crayfish has suddenly emerged through the Internet platform, transforming from a niche delicacy into an Internet celebrity delicacy, deeply loved by people across the country.

Since the 2018 World Cup, drinking beer and eating lobster has become a new trend. The crayfish industry continues to expand, with an output value of up to 380 billion yuan.

However, behind the increasing output value of crayfish is the shrinkage of crayfish prices.

Some people are curious, why is crayfish experiencing a decline now that it is the peak season?

1. The peak season has shrunk

In the past, lobster shops could operate from April to November, but now the peak season only lasts for 3-4 months, which has affected the crayfish industry. Very big.

After all, seafood products began to enter the market in August, and hairy crabs entered the market in September. These have impacted the sales of crayfish.

At the same time, the scale of crayfish farming is relatively large, but the peak season has shrunk, so its market has been greatly affected.

2. Affected by the mask incident

According to data, the output value of crayfish in 2019 was 411 billion yuan, but due to the mask incident, the output value shrank to 344.846 billion yuan in 2020 .

From the perspective of online sales, it was 60 million yuan in 2000, but only 10 million in 2021, which can be described as a cliff-like decline.

From these data, it can be found that after the mask incident, crayfish sales declined year by year.

Despite what some say, takeout lobster is also very popular.

In fact, takeout only accounts for about 15% and cannot replace traditional lobster restaurants.

In everyone’s opinion, the taste of takeout is somewhat off, and it doesn’t feel like a food stall.

3. Smooth traffic

Starting from the end of this year, mask incidents have occurred in many places across the country. To this day, traffic is still not smooth, which can cause huge losses to crayfish farmers.

Affected by the weather, crayfish are available in advance and the output is relatively large. However, due to poor transportation, it is difficult for lobsters in production areas to enter big cities.

For some big cities, due to the lackluster demand in the catering industry, crayfish sales have been bleak. As a result, crayfish transactions have been deserted and prices in production areas have fallen, which has affected market quotations.

So, can the May Day golden holiday reverse the disadvantage of the crayfish market?

At present, it may be difficult to create a tourism boom during May Day this year, and the catering industry will naturally be affected.

However, an increase in crayfish sales is inevitable. Crayfish prices are expected to rise during the holidays, but will continue to fall after the holidays. What do you think?