In the childhood after 95, there was no need for a dollar and a bag of dried fish.
From the middle school shop to the university supermarket, until now, you can still see a dollar and a bag of dried fish in front of the snack shelves or cashiers in major supermarkets.
When I was a child, I had only 80 cents of pocket money. It was not cheap to pack a small fish dry for a few dollars.
After growing up, spicy gluten, fat house happy water, potato chips all poked up several waves of price, and the childhood taste of the small spicy fish still sell for only 1 yuan. Be in a hurry. On the ecommerce platform promotion discount, buy an average of only a few cents, but also free delivery.
Some people have a deep suspicion that the dried fish for 1 yuan and 1 bag will not be the retired fish that feeds on the dead skin on the feet of the fish therapy shop, right?
The flavored dried fish for 1 yuan and 1 packet really hides too many secrets you don't know.
How much does a package of dried fish cost for 1 dollar?
Whether it is a big friend or a child, no one can resist the temptation of snacks.
Tear open the palm-sized vacuum packaging bag of dried flavored fish, and you can see the dried fish covered with golden yellow sauce, which is oily and has a tangy sauce fragrance.
For those who love spicy food, the most wonderful thing is the spicy or spicy flavour of dried fish. After a bite, the unique fresh fragrance and chewy texture of dried fish, and the numbness and refreshing of pepper and chili in the sauce, all exploded in the mouth.
A package of dried fish for 1 yuan is originally a small independent package of only ten grams. When I was chasing drama late at night or was bored to work overtime, I opened bag after bag and couldn't stop at all.
How much do the Chinese like to eat such dried fish?
On the e-commerce platform, search for "Little Spicy Fish", and you can find at least more than 30 well-selling flavored dried fish brands, such as What Jinzai, Saliva Baby, Xiangxiangzui and so on.
As far as supermarkets are most common and popular on e-commerce platforms, "Jinzai Flavored Dried Fish", the annual production capacity of its parent company can reach 18,000 tons [3].
What is this concept?
A pack of dried small fish for 1 yuan, with a net weight ranging from 8g to 15g. Even if we uniformly estimate with 15g, this small dried fish company alone sells about 1.2 billion packs of dried fish every year [3].
Isn't the small dried fish production company making a profit when it sells so hot?
Actually not.
What is the ex-factory price of a package of dried fish?
According to the prospectus of Huawen Foods, the parent company of Jinzai Xiaoyu in 2019, Jinzai flavored Xiaoyu is sold to contracted distributors at a price of 44.76 yuan per kilogram [3]. Counting it down, the ex-factory price of 1 pack of Jinzi dried fish (15g) is 6 cents and 7 cents.
If you pick it up again, the ex-factory price of dried fish for 6 cents and 7 cents per pack actually costs only 4 cents and 4 cents. Among them, the raw material cost of dried fish, which is the protagonist, accounts for 70%, which is about 3 dimes [3].
The cost is only four cents, and the dried fish dared to sell for 1 yuan. Is it expensive?
In fact, the gross profit margin of dried flavored fish is only 34.74%, which is definitely not a huge profit.
For every package of dried dried fish sold to distributors, the manufacturer of dried small fish can get a gross profit of 2 cents and 3 cents from the ex-factory price of 6 cents and 7 cents. The 2 cents and 3 cents are also deducted from taxes, water and electricity, financial management fees, depreciation and other costs.
Compared with the gross profit margin of Nongfu Spring and Coca-Cola of over 60%, the flavored dried fish can only be regarded as "small profit".
Small-package snacks such as dried fish are mostly sold in a sales model with direct sales as the supplement. The manufacturer will first produce it and sell it to a cooperating distributor. Then it is sold by distributors to sub-distributors or hypermarkets, supermarket chains, small shops, etc. for retail sale [3].
The price of 1 yuan actually reserves profit margins for each level of dealers and the final retail terminal, so as to ensure the stability of sales channels and drive dealers to help the Xiaoyu brand to seize market share [3].
In the end, there are 1 dollar dried fish displayed on the shelves in major supermarkets and stores, tempting you to pay for it.
Dried fish that costs a few cents, can you eat it with confidence？
After knowing the cost of 1 yuan and 1 package of dried fish, another question has been lingering in my mind.
The raw material cost is so low that the flavor of dried fish is outrageous. What kind of fish is used? So cheap, is it really the kind of retired fish in fish spas that netizens speculate?
Don't worry, apart from the similarity in body shape, the fragrant flavored dried fish can't beat the "kiss fish" who eats feet in fish spas.
The fish in fish spas that feed on dead skin on their feet grows like this, like a reduced version of carp, covered with blue-black scales[1], can survive in freshwater and can be artificially farmed[2]:
And the small dried fish you bought for 1 yuan and 1 package contains genuine "seafood"-wild sea fish.
Whether you are buying flavored dried fish snacks in supermarkets or on e-commerce platforms, you can see words like this on the ingredient list or leaflet:
Some say "male dried fish", some say "little male fish", some say "anchovy", and some simply write "marine fish".
Don't be misled by the name. The raw material of the flavored dried fish is not "male, dried, ungrown young fish".
In the snack packaging, because of the food processing technology, the dried fish is pinched, fins removed, and covered with sauce. But if you observe carefully, you can still find that their abdomen has a looming blue-black or silver-white long line, like this:
These long threads are not the intestines such as parasites, shrimp threads, or accumulated toxins, but the “tattoos” carried by the small fish as raw materials [6].
The raw materials of dried fish can be divided into two main categories.
If you eat Jinzi brand dried fish [3], then its deity actually looks like this:
This thin, flat baby, with a white belly and pointed snout, is "Engraulis japonicus", also called Japanese anchovy[6].
If you are eating small dried fish from Liangpin shop, the raw fish is not the same. They are white and tender. They are called "male dried fish"[4], and their scientific name is "Kang's side with small male fish (Anchoviella commersonii). "[5][12].
These two kinds of fish are of the same family, similar in shape and size, and are at the bottom of the marine food chain. They can survive by eating some planktonic diatoms and small shrimps. They are extremely reproductive and can give birth to tens of thousands of cubs in a litter.
For example, anchovy. A female anchovy with a weight of less than 10g and a body length of about 10cm has an egg size of 8,000-24,000[6], and a spawning period can last for more than 2 months[8].
At a water temperature of 18-20°C, the fertilized eggs can hatch larvae in just 48 hours. They also grow very quickly. It was only 3.55 mm in size at birth, the size of a grain of rice. After 3, 4 months, it will grow more than ten times, and the body length will be 4.5cm to 6.5cm[6].
In addition, the base of the anchovy population itself is very large, and it is one of the most abundant marine catchable fish in the world. So compared to other fish, the price of anchovy that is easily available in large quantities is very cheap.
In 2018, the purchase price of Jinzai dried fish was only 15.96 yuan/kg. Most of them are imported from Thailand and Vietnam [3].
This is because, although China's anchovy resources are abundant, in recent years, the anchovy resources have been declining and the catch has fallen sharply [7].
More importantly, the small fish larvae of anchovy are very prone to spoilage. The high protein water activity in the intestine of anchovy may cause rapid autolysis and degradation of anchovy caught ashore [9].
Among fishermen, anchovies have a lot of ugly nicknames, such as "lishui rotten", "rotten boats", "blue sky rotten" and so on [6]. After these small fish are salvaged and landed, they must be cleaned and exposed to the sun, directly dried into small fish and sold to buyers to avoid deterioration [3].
Although there are abundant anchovy resources along the coast of China, there are not a large number of drying grounds for drying. Therefore, Thailand and Vietnam have become the main source of raw materials for the Chinese favorite flavored dried fish snacks [3].
Unexpectedly, the small dried fish of 1 piece and 1 packet is not only the real fish, but also the "imported seafood" that comes across the ocean.
Flavored dried fish, high sodium and high calorie
From the billions of packages of dried fish sold a year, I know how delicious this kind of deliciousness is.
The secret of deliciousness is hidden in the processing technology of flavored dried fish.
Each dried small fish must be washed, soaked and sorted before being made into flavored fish to remove the fish head, scum and other impurities before being sent into the oil pan. High-temperature frying gives the dried fish a slightly crispy texture and a beautiful caramel-colored crust[3].
Marinating is the most critical step, and it depends on it to dry small fish. Use spices and seasonings to halogenate the dried fish to remove the fishy smell. After removing and drying, mix with different flavors of powder, such as spicy, barbecue, sweet and sour [3].
The flavor of dried fish is rich in spices and spicy oil, which firmly captures the taste buds of "heavy taste lovers". It is so spicy that the tip of the nose is sweaty, and one package after another is enjoyable.
While the food processing technology injects the soul into the spicy dried fish, it also makes it less healthy.
The nutritional quality of fresh anchovy itself is not bad. The crude protein and crude fat content of adult fish is higher than that of commonly eaten freshwater fish, such as tilapia and large yellow croaker. It is also rich in unsaturated fatty acids and mineral elements that are beneficial to the human body [11].
However, since it left the ocean and was exposed to the sun, the high-temperature sun exposure has taken away the proud nutrients of the fish, and protein, trace elements, and trans fatty acids have been continuously lost with the exposure [13].
More importantly, it is really salty!
Salt is the key to the preservation of dried small fish. A certain concentration of salt can slow down the growth of spoiled bacteria and molds.
Anchovy is a saltwater fish and will be further pickled for storage and transportation. The salt content of 10-15% of dried fish can effectively inhibit spoilage [13].
As the raw material itself, it is already salty. According to the nutritional composition table of 100g of a certain brand of dried fish, the sodium content is as high as 1602 mg, which is equivalent to 4g of salt [14].
The World Health Organization recommends that adults should consume less than 5 grams of salt per day. Otherwise, a high-salt diet will cause high blood pressure and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke [10].
A few packets of dried fish, coupled with the intake of salt in the daily diet, can easily exceed the standard. Dried flavored fish are properly classified as "high-sodium snacks".
Not only that, the dried fish has a lot of oil and protein, and after high-temperature frying, a few packets of dried fish are eaten, which is equivalent to a powerful calorie bomb.
Calories mainly come from fat, protein and carbohydrates. The calories of 100g of flavored dried fish are about 391 calories, which is equivalent to the calories of 3 small bowls of 100g rice (130 calories), and 2.8 bottles of 330ml of happy fat house water.
2 packets of dried fish are only 30g, and the calories are about to catch up with the calories of a small bowl of rice or a 330ml bottle of Coke. Every layer of fat on the belly of flavor fish lovers has the credit for the mouthful of dried fish when chasing drama late at night.
However, once in a while, one packet of dried fish is still very fragrant. After all, the happiness that an adult can buy for 1 yuan is not much.