Vietnam Needs to Improve Pangasius Processing

According to statistics, in 2013, Vietnamese pangasius were present on 149 countries and territories, an increase of nearly 7 percent over the same period in 2012. Pangasius is still the sector's second largest forex earner only after shrimp, accounting for 26 percent of total export value of Vietnam's fisheries. The U.S. and EU are the largest markets of Vietnamese pangasius. For many years, this sector has still faced with many difficulties such as loosely linked chain; small and spontaneous production; and backward processing technology. Seafood producers need to develop strategies to promote more catfish products to foreign markets to better understand the origin and manufacturing process variable standards of food safety and sustainable production environment.

 

At the workshop: "Improving the norm - Quality in catfish processing" held recently in Can Tho city, the majority of the participants agreed that the skill and technological factors directly affect productivity, quality norms and fish processing. However, fish processing in Vietnam has many shortcomings.

 

In addition, the distribution of benefits is not reasonable. The actors in the industry are not interested in the common interest of developing sustainable industries; seafood producers do not care to get to know the market, commercial practices and consumer behaviour of the importing country.

 

According to Nguyen Cong Thanh from Marel, the key issues of enterprises processing and exporting pangasius is now logistics costs, labour, norms and quality. Fish processing in Vietnam is now using the old system lines and outdated technology; lighting system in each work area uniformity, longer processing time wasting, weight and packaging process is not tightly controlled and does not have the online software.

 

Nguyen Cong Thanh also emphasised the connection between the best possibilities of science and technology, with manufacturing experience of our customers, Marel creates breakthroughs in processing solutions to enhance the value of manufacturers and their customers. Modern factory model will help the fish processing business in Vietnam shorten processing time, automated distribution and transport, reduce freezing time, thus improving processing efficiency. “Marel offers free counseling services when needed improvement in the processing plant," said Thanh.

 

Also at the workshop, the experts came up with many possible solutions applicable for fish processing in Vietnam such as temperature processing, intelligent generation line, where sizing is best classified bulkiness or distributed processing line.

 

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), 2014, fish exports will decrease by 5 percent due to reduced domestic raw materials, and tightening bank credit to businesses makes accessing capital for farming more difficult. In 2015, fish export to Vietnam is expected to reach US$2.2 billion and US$3 billion in 2020. The enhancement of the value-added fish products, promote quality, brand fish will contribute to the development of production, processing, consumption, enhance incomes for farmers and businesses. So enterprises should apply advanced techniques in processing technology to contribute to improving the quality and competitiveness of the product.