China Marine Food Group Provides Business Update
China Marine continues to experience solid growth in its Hi-Power algae-based beverages. Increased marketing activities have resulted in growing brand recognition and repeat orders in Fujian province. To increase geographic penetration, the Company has also expanded into the Zhejiang province through a distributor who services the Wenzhou area. The initial focus has been on stocking restaurants and canteens, with approximately 600 points of sales established to date. The Company has launched various marketing initiatives to build brand awareness and anticipates signing additional distributors in the near term. Management has been encouraged by consumer feedback and sell through has been robust.
Sales of the Company's seafood products have been adversely affected by consumers' perception of safety in relation to the nuclear disaster in Japan. Softness in sales that began in late March has persisted through the second quarter of 2011. While China Marine is confident the seafood it uses to produce Mingxiang® snack foods are safe, it is unclear how long it will take for consumer confidence in seafood products to normalize. Management will provide a detailed update when it reports its second quarter 2011 results.
"The long term fundamentals of our businesses remain strong and we are committed to continually investing behind our brands," stated Chairman and CEO, Mr. Pengfei Liu. "While we believe that these sales disruptions in our seafood products are temporary, we are working diligently to ensure the safety of our products to our customers and distributors. Hi-Power continues to gain traction and the product diversification clearly benefit the shareholders at times such as this."
About China Marine
China Marine Food Group Ltd. is a food and beverage manufacturer of Mingxiang® seafood-based snack foods, "Hi-Power" marine algae-based health drinks, and a wholesaler of frozen marine catch in six provinces in the PRC. Founded in 1994, China Marine has grown steadily and positioned its Mingxiang® brand as a category leader in 3,200 retail food sales points and 15,000 beverage sales points in China. The Company has received "The Famous Brand" and "Green Food" awards. Located in Fujian province, it is one of the largest coastal provinces in the PRC and a vital navigation hub between the East China Sea and the South China Sea. The Company is committed to the highest standard of quality control with the ISO9001, ISO14001, HACCP certification and EU export registration.