Center markets region's range of culinary styles

A brand development center is helping make Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, hailed as China's capital of seafood cuisines, more appealing to visitors.

The Zhanjiang Seafood Brand Development Center, since its establishment in 2011, has organized four seafood festivals in the city with the local culinary association and TV station.

The events have attracted more than 2 million visitors from Zhanjiang and across the country and generated sales revenue of 50 million yuan ($7.63 million), according to the center.

The city's growing popularity saw the number of visitors grow by double digits year-on-year. In 2015 Zhanjiang welcomed 32.27 million tourists.

With the help of local authorities, the center has organized a number of campaigns to select top-level restaurants, chefs and signature dishes.

The rankings have helped create brands for the local seafood cuisine and make them easier for visitors to remember, said the center.

In conjunction with the local culinary association, the center has held three cooking competitions where 36 teams from across the nation showcased their seafood cooking skills.

Because Zhanjiang is known for its seafood, local culinary professionals have been invited to cook nationwide. The center said at least 10,000 Zhanjiang cooks are currently cooking seafood across the country and overseas.

The center has also organized a couple of seafood procurement fairs, attracting more than 300 professional procurers and generating combined sales revenue of more than 36 million yuan. It has also conducted brand-building exchanges with food associations from cities such as Chongqing, Liuzhou and Hong Kong.

It has built an editorial team to run a food magazine to promote the local cuisine.

As the government proposes to boost coastal tourism and the private sector, experts at the center are presenting a new plan to promote the seafood industry.

It will build a personnel team that consists of think tanks that will offer ideas for the industry's development, research institutes that can provide technical support and schools that will train managers and technicians.

The center will enhance brand-building by establishing a system of standards and registering trademarks about China's seafood capital.

It will make use of financial institutions to attract investment to boost the industry's development. Supportive facilities, such as seafood futures trading offices and intermediate agencies, will be built.

The center will also enhance its publicity and sales through forums, websites, smartphone apps and partnerships with universities.

With the help of the government, it is planning to establish an investment company to ensure that the center is operated professionally.

It also plans to start a number of projects to build a complete chain, including a seafood museum, seafood-themed restaurants, seafood supplies, seafood insurance and logistics, and a cultural park on seafood.

lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/30/2016 page8)