A South Island business is successfully exporting sea cucumbers to China.
James Parfitt, CEO of Wild Catch, says that his company is exporting nearly one million sea cucumbers per year, and that business has recovered after a slump during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking to The Spinoff, Parfitt says that he first got the idea for the business when he was living in China in the late 2000s. Sea cucumbers, which are closely related to sea urchins and resemble cucumbers in appearance, are a delicacy in China. Parfitt remembered: “We have those in New Zealand. You see them out snorkelling.” He wanted to create a business that would connect China and New Zealand, his “two favourite countries.”
Wild Catch charges around NZ$4.50 for each dried sea cucumber. Although this price is higher than those grown overseas, the New Zealand-grown sea cucumbers are highly prized by Chinese consumers. Overseas competitors farm sea cucumbers in less-than-ideal conditions, according to Parfitt, using hormones, antibiotics and unclean water.
Parfitt’s sea cucumbers are hang-caught in the wild and, he says, sustainably. “We got some pretty good results and feedback and the texture was very similar to the really highly prized Japanese species – only ours were wild and a golden colour,” he says.
Parfitt says that sea cucumbers are eaten in China as a superfood. “Big chunks of populations will have one a day all through winter to ward off sickness and keep healthy,” he says. He admits that he likes them too, “They’re such a clean-tasting food. They’re not fishy at all … it’s a really healthy food that makes you feel alive.”
Parfitt recently received an NZTE award for trade between New Zealand and China, and was recently nominated in the EY New Zealand entrepreneur of the year awards.
Image credit: Wild Catch
