Ingredients for rustic dishes become export items with triple-digit growth

DNVN - In the first 8 months of 2025, tilapia exports - a familiar ingredient in Vietnamese home meals - set a new record, with impressive growth in three digits, affirming the position of this fish as a potential key product in the international market, especially in the United States.

Illustration photo.

Record turnover and extraordinary growth

According to Vietnam Customs data, by the end of August 2025, the total export turnover of tilapia (including red tilapia) reached more than 63 million USD (equivalent to nearly 1,650 billion VND), an increase of 174% over the same period in 2024. Notably, this turnover has surpassed the total export value of tilapia of Vietnam in the past 5 years, since 2020.

In the export structure, tilapia (excluding red tilapia) showed the strongest breakthrough. Exports of this item reached 52 million USD, recording an impressive growth of 359% compared to the same period in 2024. Meanwhile, red tilapia exports reached 11 million USD, down 1% compared to the same period in 2024.

  United States - Key market and great potential

The United States continues to be the largest import market for Vietnamese tilapia. This market accounts for 62% of the total export value of tilapia and red tilapia from Vietnam. If considering tilapia alone, exports to the United States account for 70%.

According to the World Trade Center (ITC), the United States is the largest consumer of tilapia. The product most consumed by US consumers is frozen tilapia fillets (HS code 030461).

In the first 7 months of 2025 alone, the US imported 262 million USD worth of frozen tilapia fillets alone, up 19% over the same period in 2024, accounting for 23% of the total US whitefish imports. Vietnam is currently the second largest supplier of HS code 030461 products to the US, behind only China.

Opportunity to become the next flagship product

In the context of the US Department of Commerce (DOC) refusing to recognize the equivalent of 12 Vietnamese seafood exploitation occupations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), leading to the risk of stopping the import of these exploited seafood species into the US from January 1, 2026, tilapia will be a strategic alternative product to maintain seafood exports to the US market.

Currently, many Vietnamese enterprises have begun to raise and produce tilapia for export, similar to the production model of pangasius – a white-fleshed fish that has many similarities with tilapia. With strong growth potential, the global tilapia market is forecast to reach 14.5 billion USD by 2033. This is considered a great opportunity for Vietnam to make tilapia the next key product, after shrimp and pangasius.

Hien Thao

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/kinh-te/nguyen-lieu-mon-an-dan-da-thanh-mat-hang-xuat-khau-tang-truong-3-con-so/20250930071924857