Financial Services Association, March 5 (Reporter Wu Weiling) Arowana (300999.SZ)'s “Tianfu Wuchang Daohuaxiang” rice product was questioned. Well-known counterfeiter Wang Hai recently posted a video on Douyin saying that the product is suspected of using Zhongke Fa No. 5 rice to impersonate Daohuaxiang No. 2.

In response to this, Arowana said today in response to a Financial Federation reporter that the rice raw materials used by the company's Wuchang Rice are all grown and purchased in the Wuchang region of Heilongjiang Province. “Arowana insists on selecting high-quality local rice varieties in Wuchang to produce arowana rice. Our company has always adhered to the long-term concept of managing the Arowana brand, and is committed to providing high-quality and affordable products and services, and will never be redeemed”.

According to a related video posted by Wang Hai, he purchased the Tianfu Wuchang Daohuaxiang product as a sample at Arowana Tmall's official flagship store and sent it to the Hainan Yazhou Bay Molecular Identification and Testing Center. The test results showed that the genetic similarity of this product to Daohuaxiang No. 2 plant DNA was 78.08%. It was determined to be a different variety. The genetic similarity with Zhongkefa No. 5 was 97.82%.

Wang Hai said in the video that Zhongke No. 5 rice, regardless of appearance and taste, is very similar to Daohuaxiang No. 2, but the price is only 3 yuan more per catty, which is almost half that of Daohuaxiang No. 2. He believes that this geographically marked arowana talent, Wuchang Daohuaxiang No. 2, “sells dog meat with sheep's head.”

Arowana said that Tianfu Wuchang Ecological Daohuaxiang Wuchang Rice is produced in strict accordance with the requirements related to Wuchang Rice's geographical indication protection products. For order-grown varieties, including Wuyou Rice No. 4 (commonly known as Daohuaxiang No. 2), seed samples provided by the order-growing unit will be sent out for inspection before planting to ensure the purity and traceability of the variety.

Regarding the truck with the Jilin license plate mentioned in the video, Arowana said to the Finance Association reporter that after verification, it was confirmed that the vehicle was actually a Wuchang locally operated vehicle with a foreign license plate (Ji AV4815 & Ji AZ5840), and that the raw grain that the vehicle was carrying at the time was produced locally in Wuchang.

The “Kuohai Wuchang Rice Co., Ltd.” mentioned in the video, Wang Hai said is a rice collection and storage enterprise of Jinlongyu Grain and Oil Co., Ltd. A Financial Services Association reporter noticed that in March 2022, a recruitment information released by the “Wuchang Women's Federation” shows that Kuohai Wuchang Rice Industry Co., Ltd. is a grain and oil processing enterprise integrating grain procurement, grain processing, storage, trade and management. It is located in Erhe Township, Wuchang City. All processed varieties are Wuyou Rice No. 4 (rice flower fragrance) produced locally in Wuchang City. All products are vacuum-packed. They mainly produce Arowana series products and are sold all over the country through Yihai Kerry Group's perfect sales system.

As the leading cooking oil, arowana is also a leader in the packaged rice market. According to Nielsen data, the market share of the company's modern channel for packaged rice is about 20%, ranking first. According to the 2023 semi-annual report, as of the end of June last year, kitchen food, including the rice business, achieved revenue of 73.525 billion yuan, accounting for 61.93% of total revenue.

According to Arowana's performance report, for the full year of 2023, the company achieved operating income of 251.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3%; net profit to mother was 2.85 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.4%.