Understanding the Insights of the Global Surimi Market

The global surimi market has been growing and gaining popularity among culinary lovers, particularly those from Asia. Changing consumer preferences, particularly the trend toward healthy diets, have primarily influenced the development of the global surimi market.

Surimi, also known as fish paste, is a refined fish myofibrillar protein. The popularity of surimi, including surimi seafood such as crab sticks, has been expanding globally due to its versatility and affordability.

Since the surimi market has been growing globally, there are main countries that have contributed to the market growth, such as Japan, China, the United States, and India.

This article will help you understand the global surimi market. Scroll to explore more!

Global Surimi Market Overview

Researchers anticipate a steady growth rate of 5.90% for the USD 6.34 billion global surimi market.

There are various factors that drive the rise of the global surimi market, which will be explained at the end of this article.

From the current surimi market size, the development of the surimi industry is very clear and is believed to keep expanding annually.

Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the general public also views surimi as a highly processed food item, which may also be the cause of its market fluctuations.

Surimi Market in Key Countries

The Surimi market in the key countries has also shown growth and potential for future success.

China is predicted to lead the surimi market by 2033, with a market value of USD 1,888.7 million. It is also predicted that surimi will continue to be the popular choice across the country due to the healthy diet trend.

On the other hand, though the United States (US) has also contributed to surimi market growth, it is predicted that the US will have a lower surimi market value than China by 2033. However, the US will still have a main role in the surimi market due to the high consumption of surimi seafood such as imitation crab or crab sticks.

Just like the US, India has also been taking part in market growth through the massive production of surimi seafood. The rising CAGR of 7.2% in 2023 demonstrates this clearly.

This relates to the surimi market in the other Asia-Pacific region, which had dominated 50% of the market share in 2023 and is expected to keep its dominance during the forecasted period, according to Maximise Market Research (MMR). This is due to its popularity because of its affordability, unique taste, and versatility.

As part of the Asia-Pacific region, countries like Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand have become key players in the surimi global market, actively contributing to the consumption as well as the growth of surimi products.

Surimi Consumption and Production: Regional Variations

1.    Japan

In Japan, surimi consumption has reached 350.000 metric tons, impacting a rapid market growth rate. Market Value Insight (MVI) predicts that Japan's increasing surimi consumption will increase its market demand.

The growth of Japan's current surimi market reflects a rise in popularity and consumer demand throughout the country.

To meet the increasing consumer demand, Japan has been sharing its market with Russia, as shown by the high volume of pollock surimi imports to Japan that reached 16.1 thousand tons in 2022, which was more than five times more than in 2021.

The changing trends among Japanese consumers might influence the rising demand in the surimi market, which requires higher production.

2.    United States

In the United States, surimi production reached 16.0 thousand metric tons in 2022 and 18.5 thousand metric tons in 2023. Both numbers indicate a decline in production compared to the four previous years in this country.

However, the United States still contributes to the current global surimi market due to the popularity of imitation crab or crabstick among the country’s consumers.

3.    China

China is one of the top countries with a high consumption of seafood products, including surimi. This led to high production of surimi to meet the high market demand across the country.

According to Urner Barry, production in 2022 will slightly increase by about 3.9% in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Fun fact: According to the high market sales, the growth of China's surimi market is a result of the high demand for tropical surimi and surimi seafood like crabsticks.

4.    Thailand

In contrast to China, Thailand's surimi production in 2023 decreased by approximately 14%, making it the lowest production since 2010.

The lower production also includes the decrease in Japanese imports of Thai itoyori surimi.

5.    Indonesia

Indonesia's rich fishery resources and significant seafood consumption have been influencing the growth of the global surimi market.

However, researchers show that in 2023, Indonesia’s production was the lowest since 2019, when Indonesia reached its peak for tropical surimi production, which includes Indonesian exports to China.

Market Drivers

As previously mentioned, a number of factors have influenced the global surimi market's expansion. In some countries, there has been a changing preference among customers. This includes healthy dietary trends.

In this case, surimi is considered a good choice for healthy diets due to its low fat and high protein. Its affordability is a plus to its popularity in the culinary industry.

Experts also see that the increased demand for convenience foods makes surimi gain more popularity. This means that the versatility of surimi has been recognized through surimi seafood, such as crab sticks, fish balls, and many more.

Asia is the primary consumer of surimi, including surimi seafood. However, due to changing preferences and trends, surimi seafood has also seen rising production across the globe, particularly crab sticks in the United States.

Conclusion

All in all, the global surimi market has been growing these past few years. The versatility and affordability of surimi itself have played a role in expanding the market, offering a convenient choice across the globe.

Though so, the surimi industry still needs to face the public opinions that mark surimi as a highly processed product, which could negatively impact market growth. In this case, the surimi industry needs to find the best way to deal with such perceptions.

However, the experts still believe that, despite the challenge, the surimi market will continue to grow in the future.