Artemia was developed in many parts of the world and was introduced and domesticated in Vietnam in 1985. In 1990, Artemia became a popular business model in Vietnam, as it is combined with traditional salt production business in Soc Trang and Bac Lieu provinces. Artemia Vinh Chau - Bac Lieu Cooperative is a successful business with this model.
Artemia is a genus of aquatic crustaceans known as brine shrimp, a foreign species for Vietnam. Artemia can tolerate varying levels of salinity. The preferred level of salinity is about 30–35 ppt (parts per thousand). Eggs laid by this crustacean can be used to feed shrimps, crabs and fishes.
Artemia production entails the establishment of a service and business network and Artemia Vinh Chau - Bac Lieu Cooperative is just that case. The cooperative was founded in 2003 and operates under the production-sharing model with a total paid-up capital of nearly VND2.5 billion and 12 shareholders. Although the number of shareholders was small, the operation of the cooperative was very professional. With deep expertise, this unit usually joins investment cooperation programmes. To ensure the highest quality of Artemia on its 200 hectare fields, the cooperative always closely manages every step from input materials to outputs.
The model is easily applied on salt fields, because environmental conditions are favourable and technical solutions are suitable. Hence, the cooperative annually purchases and processes more than 10 tonnes of Artemia from salt workers. With a stable production process, a hectare of salt field can produce 70-80 kilos of Artemia and generate a profit of VND30-40 million, helping raising incomes for farmers and creating jobs for hundreds of local workers.
After more than 20 years of developing on salt marshes in the southern delta, Artemia - Vinh Chau Bac Lieu has seen many changes in size, quality and nutrition compared with original species. Eggs of Artemia cultured in this region are richer in nutrients than in any other place. Its eggs are also smaller, have higher percentage of hatches, and have a high concentration of highly unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA- an important indicator in nutrition composition of marine larvae), many times higher than Artemia in other places. As a result, the commercial value of the cooperative’s Artemia is always twice as much as other similar products. Half of Artemia produced by the cooperative is now for export and another half for the domestic market.
The "7-diamond Artemia egg" trademark of the cooperative was registered for trademark protection in 2006 and won the Golden Rice Award in 2006 and Golden Quality Product Award in 2008 from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, among many other awards.
Vinh Chau - Bac Lieu is the only place producing Vietnam’s registered Artemia lines at present. The cooperative is highly appreciated by Vietnamese and international professionals. Apart from the well-established Artemia brand, the cooperative is also known for cultured crabs and developed its affiliated Bac Lieu Crab Breeding Company. The company’s crabs are taking the lead in quality, as they are fed with nutritious and well-developed Artemia. In the future, the cooperative will culture high-quality shrimps also fed with Artemia.
Apart from good professional expertise and business administration, the cooperative also attaches much importance to infrastructure investment. It is now operating a self-contained process from input to output stages, powered by modern processing equipment, dryers, freezers, quality analysers and packagers.
Hai Trung
Vietnamese
