Japan begins pilot scallop processing in Vietnam from January 8

Nhật Bản bắt đầu thí điểm chế biến sò điệp tại Việt Nam từ ngày 8.1- Ảnh 1. — Japanese scallops will be processed in Vietnam before being exported back to the Japanese market.

Nikkei Asia reported on January 6 that online seafood retailer Foodison is partnering with other companies, including wholesaler Ebisu Shokai, traders Ocean Road and Nosui, to pilot a container of shell-on scallops, equivalent to more than 20 tons.

Under the agreement, Ebisu Shokai's scallops will be purchased by Ocean Road and exported to Vietnam for processing and sent back to Japan for sale at restaurants and retailers of Foodison, Ebisu Shokai and Nosui.

Ocean Road is a company with similar experience with shrimp and crab, processing them in Vietnam for sale in the Japanese market.

The first batch has been sent to Vietnam, where the processing facility will produce half-shell scallops for cooking, sushi, and freezing for raw consumption. The companies will consider further development based on the results of this batch.

“If the product prices fall, they could be used by conveyor-belt sushi chains and large convenience store operators,” said a representative of the frozen seafood division of Nosui, a company that sells processed seafood for commercial purposes.

Processing labor costs in Vietnam are only 20-30% of those in Japan. For scallops used for sushi or eaten raw, prices are expected to be lower than those of processed products in Japan even after shipping costs are taken into account.

Half-shell scallops, which require less processing, are expected to be priced similarly to processed scallops in Japan. But even so, there are not enough workers in Japan and processing takes time, said Kenichiro Hoshino, a manager at Foodison.

“Instead of keeping unshelled scallops in stock, it is better to process them overseas and sell them to customers,” he said.

Facilities in Vietnam are HACCP certified, an international standard for food safety, and scallops processed there can be exported to markets other than Japan. Therefore, companies will consider selling to Europe and the US.

Japan produced 500,000 tonnes of unshelled scallops in 2022, of which about 140,000 tonnes were exported to China, of which 100,000 tonnes were sent in shells for processing. Since China banned Japanese seafood imports in August 2023, scallop inventories have increased.

Meanwhile, demand in other markets is limited and they cannot be processed in Japan fast enough to supply domestically due to labor shortages.

The Japanese government has introduced a series of support measures including subsidies to cover the costs of processing and storage equipment.

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