Bringing shrimp back to the domestic market for parallel, sustainable development

Production costs are getting higher and higher; tariff and non-tariff barriers are increasing; the difficulty is getting greater and greater; fierce competition from cheap shrimp sources in major markets makes shrimp export increasingly difficult. Given the above situation, bringing shrimp back to the domestic market is considered a strategic choice, both to solve the current difficulties and to be a consumption channel parallel to future exports.

Potential from 100 million people

Although the export market still plays a key role, domestic consumption in recent years has shown to be increasing and becoming one of the important consumption channels, contributing to stabilizing domestic shrimp prices and minimizing risks for shrimp farmers when the export market fluctuates. Shrimp consumption today is no longer considered a luxury, because if you compare the price of 60 shrimp/kg with the price of pork in supermarkets or traditional markets, you will see that there is almost no big difference, while shrimp has higher nutritional value and can be processed into many dishes that are not inferior to pork or some other livestock.

Selling live oxygen shrimp for domestic consumption is one of the effective options for farmers thanks to its high selling price.

According to business estimates, with a market of more than 100 million people, the annual domestic shrimp consumption output has exceeded 100,000 tons, accounting for about 10% of the country's total shrimp output. And according to forecasts, with the proportion of the population with average income or higher on the rise, along with the demand for highly nutritious, safe, easy-to-process, and reasonably priced food, in just a few years, this number will be around 200,000 tons or more.

In recent years, because the price of shrimp is almost equal, sometimes even lower than some other foods, the demand for domestic shrimp consumption has only increased, rarely decreased. Especially shrimp of the right size, fresh, and antibiotic-free are consumed quite a lot by large restaurants and eateries in areas with many tourists , so the price is always high, especially during the peak tourist season or holidays, Tet, and the end of the year. Normally, the price of fresh shrimp sold at the pond is always 5,000-10,000 VND/kg higher than that of iced shrimp for the same size.

In particular, for households with high density farming, harvesting in stages, selling fresh shrimp when harvesting is considered the most effective solution. Not only selling shrimp when harvesting, many households also switch to specialized shrimp farming to sell fresh shrimp for domestic consumption to achieve higher profits. Even some export processing enterprises with large shrimp farming areas also apply this solution for some sizes of low-priced export shrimp to optimize profits in production and business.

Create a parallel

Discussing the situation of shrimp consumption in the domestic market, traders all said that the largest consumer market is still Binh Dien market - Ho Chi Minh City, some northern provinces and the Central region. Trader Nguyen Van Quy in Khanh Hoa ward, Can Tho city, shared: "For Binh Dien market, the consumption is very large, especially at the end of the year, holidays, Tet and almost all year round. Particularly in the northern provinces and the Central region, only when the supply is scarce (cold weather, rainy season, etc.) and the price of shrimp in these areas increases, the source of shrimp from the Mekong Delta is transported for consumption". According to Mr. Quy and other traders, to sell fresh shrimp in the North, it must be transported by air, which is very expensive and requires techniques and preservation experience to achieve a high survival rate, but in return, the profit is very good.

Speaking at the Conference on promoting seafood consumption to serve domestic demand organized by the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) in collaboration with the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and the Vietnam Retailers Association recently held in Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Tran Huu Linh, Director of the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development (Ministry of Industry and Trade), emphasized: "The domestic market is not only a "support" in the context of difficult exports, but needs to be identified as a long-term strategy, fundamental to the sustainable development of the seafood industry. Enterprises cannot continue to consider domestic consumption as a secondary channel, or a place to consume surplus export products, but need to proactively build their own strategy for this market, with all stages from farming, production, distribution to post-inspection. Enterprises need to strengthen research on tastes, preferences and new consumption trends, and diversify products to reach more widely customer groups, especially especially the rapidly growing middle class."

To make the return of shrimp more sustainable, it is not only based on the fresh shrimp segment, but also requires a strategy to change consumer habits to direct consumers to the segment of deep-processed and convenient shrimp products... to meet the increasingly high demand of the market. Returning to the domestic market is not only considered a tactical step back to share the burden with exports in difficult times, but also strategic, to create a foundation to build a sustainable Vietnamese shrimp brand. Or in other words, this is also an effective way to nurture the future of the Vietnamese shrimp industry.

Article and photos: HOANG NHA

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/dua-con-tom-quay-ve-thi-truong-noi-dia-de-phat-trien-song-hanh-ben-vung-a190666.html