Tra fish exports show signs of recovery

Workers process tra fish at a factory in the Mekong Delta - PHOTO: TRUNG CHANH

Ho Chi Minh City – Vietnam’s tra fish exports to the European market have made a slight rebound thanks to marketing campaigns to promote the high quality of the products. The welcome news comes in the wake of a strong drop in exports owing to false allegations being publicized in Europe, reported the VietnamPlus news site, citing Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

VASEP signed an agreement with Globally Cool to introduce tra fish marketing programs in Europe between March and December 2017. Besides this, the association established a website, https://youreverydayfish.com, to introduce Vietnamese tra fish to the world and to respond to the false information on the quality and hygiene of Vietnamese tra fish. The multilanguage website offers information in English, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch.

Vietnam’s tra fish exporters and processors are currently creating new high-end products, improving product quality, raising added value and reducing the glazed ice percentage to boost exports. The prices of tra fish products have risen significantly due to the limited supply since end-2017.

Hoe noted that tra fish prices have recently gone up in the market as other types of white-flesh fish were found to be in short supply. The consumption of Vietnamese tra fish as a replacement contributes in part to the recovery of the tra fish exports and export revenue from tra fish shipments to Europe.

Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs indicate that Vietnam has seen revenue from tra fish exports to Europe rise by 16.5% year-on year, reaching US$139 million over the first seven months of 2018. Some tra fish importers reported a sharp increase in purchases of Vietnam’s tra fish, including in the Netherlands, with a 43% rise, and Italy, with 83% growth.

Europe, Vietnam’s third-largest tra fish importer, accounts for 11.6% of the country’s total supply, behind China and the United States.

Despite these positive movements, experts have voiced concern over the negative rumors that have tarnished the image and reputation of the country’s tra fish sector, suggesting that the authorities of the sector should create a plan to build a trademark for Vietnamese tra fish and map out a strategy for bolstering exports of these products to Europe and other markets across the world.

It is known that in January 2017, a Spanish TV station aired video footage containing false information on Vietnam’s tra fish farming industry, leading to a drop in Vietnamese tra fish distribution in Spain and elsewhere in Europe.