Haaland fever drives 31% surge in Norway’s salmon export to China

Export value hit NOK840 million (US$86 million), up 21%, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council.

Council China director Sigmund Bjorgo said the “Haaland: I Choose Salmon from Norway” campaign has “contributed positively to this momentum” by lifting consumer interest in Norwegian salmon, he told the Global Times on July 9.

The council launched the campaign in Shanghai on June 3, casting the Manchester City striker, its seafood ambassador, as the face of Norwegian salmon in China. It has reached more than 950 stores across 180 cities, SalmonBusiness reported.

On Xiaohongshuthe platform known as RedNotethe campaign hashtag drew 696,000 impressions and more than 1,800 posts, the council said. Shoppers photographed Haaland-themed displays at salmon counters and asked which supermarkets stocked them.

Haaland signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the council in 2024 and has fronted its campaigns since, SeafoodSource reported, and the partnership now runs through 2028.

The pairing plays on his own plate. Haaland eats about 6,000 calories a day on an ancestral diet of cow heart and liver, raw milk he calls a “magic potion,” black coffee with maple syrup and salmon, a regimen Men’s Fitness reported he built with his father, former Premier League defender Alfie Haaland, and a nutritionist.

Norway carried those habits to the World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The squad flew in about 580 kilograms of food from home, including 300 kilograms of salmon and trout, 100 kilograms of halibut, 80 kilograms of brown cheese and 100 kilograms of Jarlsberg, team chef Aron Espeland told AP.

At an average 187.2 centimeters, Norway tied Bosnia and Herzegovina as the tallest of the 48 squads, FourFourTwo noted from FIFA data.

Norway is the world’s second-largest seafood exporter, sending 2.8 million metric tons to more than 150 countries in 2025, SeafoodSource reported from council figures.

China has become its second-largest salmon market. Norway exported 52,446 metric tons of salmon there from January to May, up 55%, holding a 66% share of the country’s salmon imports, Scandasia reported.

Rising e-commerce and appetite for raw salmon lifted China from Norway’s sixth-largest seafood market in 2024 to third in 2025, with salmon leading, followed by cod and mackerel, according to council data cited by SeafoodSource. On current trends it could become Norway’s largest salmon market.

Haaland earned an estimated $80 million over the past year, fifth on Forbes‘ list of the highest-paid footballers, behind Cristiano Ronaldo ($300 million), Lionel Messi ($140 million), Karim Benzema ($104 million) and Kylian Mbappe ($95 million). About $60 million came on the field and $20 million off it, Forbes estimated, making him the Premier League’s top earner.

Norway’s World Cup ended in the quarterfinals, their deepest run. They knocked out five-time champions Brazil 2-1 in the round of 16, The Guardian reported, before losing 2-1 to England after extra time in Miami on July 11.