InMarch, a Canadian delegation, led by the country’s Minister ofAgriculture and Agrifood Gerry Ritz, visited Vietnam in a bid to promotesafe, high-quality beef among local restaurants and hotel chains.
On April 20, the European Livestock and Meat Trades Union and thePolish Union of Producers and Employers of the Meat Industry coordinateda press conference presenting European beef and pork. As aVietnam-European Union free trade agreement will be signed this year,the region devised a complete promotion plan on the quality and taste ofmeat.
Over 100 European enterprises, including40 Polish companies, have been licensed to provide meat for Vietnameseconsumers, paving the way to meet an EU 2015 goal of a 5 percentincrease in meat exports to Vietnam.
The goal iswithin reach, considering that in 2014, Vietnam imported 6,149 tonnesof pork from European countries, soaring from 774 tonnes the yearbefore. Last year these nations also shipped 1,720 tonnes of beef toVietnam, a more than 70-fold increase from just two years ago.
Unable to compete against the low price of Australian and Americanmeat, which currently occupies a considerable space within localsupermarkets, the European producers have shifted their attention to thehigh-end market of hotels and restaurants. Domestic processingbusinesses are also considered as potential customers, according to theCounsellor for Economic Affairs at the Polish Embassy in Hanoi MariuszBoguzewski.
The Animal Husbandry Association ofVietnam reported the number of cows raised in Vietnam has fallen from6.7 million in 2007 to 5.23 million last year. Domestic cow productionmeets only 75 percent of local demand. In 2014, Vietnam imported 181,534cows and buffalos from Australia and India, where the average meatproduction cost is up to 35 percent lower, the association said.
Chairman of the association Nguyen Dang Vang said the majordifficulty faced by international meat exporters is the Vietnamesepenchant for buying raw meat. He said this could shift in the next fiveyears as consumers look to save time and reduce expenses.
He added that it is not all black in the situation, as the fiercecompetition will force the domestic husbandry sector to restructuretowards large scale and professionalism.
ViceChairman of the Vietnam Feed Association, Pham Duc Binh, said theinternational meat influx is likely to lead to a massive closure oflocal animal husbandry businesses and meat processing plants, leavingbehind only some foreign-funded giants.
The onlychance for those domestic enterprises to survive is to work togetherand build strong connections so that their meat finds its way from farmsto shops, he noted.-VNA