I See through Everything

Chapter 266: Chapter 1143: For the Greater Good (Part 2)

February 10th of ’26, the Little New Year in the North.

Xue Hua, the chairman of Haida Group, had no choice but to come to Shanmei in person.

This time, however, he wasn’t visiting in his capacity as the chairman of Haida Group, but rather as the Executive Vice President of the Cyrus Feed Industry Association.

Accompanying him was a delegation of over a dozen people, including Chen Dan, Chairman of Hengxing Group; Academician Li Defa, President of the Feed Association; and Dr. Wang Zhongli, the association’s Executive Vice President and Secretary-General.

Evidently, the Feed Association had also recognized the importance of Egyptian Catfish Meal.

Jiang Miao personally received the group.

But since they were all industry insiders, they didn’t convene in a conference room. Instead, they met directly at the Egyptian Catfish Farm on Yandun Mountain.

Gazing at the lively Egyptian Catfish, Academician Li sighed with admiration. "General Manager Jiang, your company’s technology is extraordinary!"

"It’s all just a byproduct of our research into the artificial breeding of eels," Jiang Miao explained with a smile.

Dr. Wang, who was standing to the side, asked with a smile, "General Manager Jiang, I heard your company acquired Hero Dairy? Are you planning to enter the dairy market?"

Dr. Wang was not only the Secretary-General of the Feed Association but had also previously worked at the General Administration of Animal Husbandry. Naturally, he was privy to inside information about Hero Dairy and the dairy industry.

"Yes. We hadn’t originally planned to enter the dairy industry so soon, but we were invited by Gan Province. They wanted to find a suitable new owner for Hero Dairy, and after some consideration, I decided to take it on," Jiang Miao replied, not hiding anything.

The group chatted for a while.

Then, Academician Li spoke up. "We’ve come today for two reasons. First, we’d like to invite you, General Manager Jiang, to become a vice president of the Feed Association. What are your thoughts on the matter?"

"I couldn’t ask for more." Jiang Miao certainly wasn’t going to refuse. This was a good thing.

"Since General Manager Jiang has agreed, I’ll take responsibility for the follow-up procedures!" Dr. Wang said with a smile.

Jiang Miao nodded slightly. "Then I’ll leave it in your hands, Dr. Wang."

"You’re too kind," Dr. Wang replied with a smile.

Academician Li continued, "The second matter concerns the industrial planning for fish meal production. On this front, we will need the full support of you, General Manager Jiang, and Hailufeng Company."

"Does the association have any specific recommendations?" Jiang Miao already had an inkling of what was coming.

As an expert in the feed industry, Academician Li shared his assessment of Egyptian Catfish Meal. "After discussing with Vice President Xue Hua, Vice President Chen Dan, and others, we feel that Egyptian Catfish Meal has enormous potential. However, because of its relatively high geosmin content, it can only be used in early-to-mid-stage feed, or added in small batches."

"Indeed," Jiang Miao nodded.

Academician Li went on, "Therefore, it still can’t completely replace Peruvian fish meal. Although your company, General Manager Jiang, has developed a geosmin-free Egyptian Catfish, producing it increases costs. As a result, the country will still need to import 500,000 to 800,000 tons of Peruvian fish meal annually."

Xue Hua, standing nearby, added, "Actually, the late-stage deodorizing feed that General Manager Jiang has been researching is another potential solution."

"The variety is too limited. Right now, it only works for eels and Egyptian Catfish. Applying it to other farmed species will take time!" Academician Li shook his head, reminding Xue Hua that developing such specialized feeds was time-consuming. He continued:

"Of course, I heard from Vice President Xue that Hailufeng Company can produce the geosmin-free Egyptian Catfish at a cost of 2.5 yuan per kilogram. If that’s used to make fish meal, the cost per ton would be around 6,900 yuan. Adding in a profit margin, it could be sold for about 7,500 to 8,000 yuan per ton. That’s also a viable production model."

Everyone present was sharp and experienced.

They all understood the subtext in Academician Li’s words.

The idea was to produce this high-end, geosmin-free fish meal in small batches to be used as leverage, suppressing the price of imported marine fish meal.

In other words, the price of imported fish meal could go no higher than 7,500 to 8,000 yuan per ton. If it exceeded that price, domestic producers would scale up the production of geosmin-free Egyptian Catfish Meal to force the price of imports back down.

Meanwhile, the standard Egyptian Catfish Meal, with its higher geosmin content, would serve as a mid-range raw material.

In reality, this was also a way to give other domestic fish meal producers a chance to survive.

After all, the country’s annual domestic fish meal production capacity was about 400,000 to 600,000 tons, and the state of these domestic products was complex.

This was especially true for small local factories that produced fish meal from dead fish and rotten shrimp. Their product sold for only 4,000 to 5,000 yuan per ton, but it had a higher level of harmful substances, a shorter shelf life, and lower nutritional value, making it suitable only for low-end feed.

This is also why standard Egyptian Catfish Meal, despite its relatively high geosmin content, was still classified as a mid-range raw material.

Evaluating the quality of a fish meal requires consideration from multiple aspects.

Low-end fish meal: Raw material types are inconsistent, using dead fish, rotten shrimp, and seafood processing scraps. The nutritional composition is difficult to standardize, the shelf life is short, and improper processing can result in a certain level of harmful substances.

Mid-range fish meal: Raw materials are fixed to specific fish species, using fresh freshwater fish. The nutritional composition is standardized, the shelf life is longer, and it contains a certain amount of geosmin.

High-end fish meal: Raw materials are fixed to specific fish species, using fresh deep-sea fish. The nutritional composition is standardized, and the shelf life is long.

Therefore, with the large-scale production of Egyptian Catfish Meal, the domestic production capacity for mid-range fish meal was certain to continue climbing.

However, in terms of high-end fish meal, current domestic capacity was only about 100,000 to 200,000 tons per year, accounting for only about one-third of total domestic fish meal production.

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