Fish sauce is considered the "soul" of Vietnamese cuisine , an indispensable seasoning in many traditional Vietnamese dishes, widely used in households, and a potential export product.
Vietnam has advantages in raw materials and a long-standing tradition of fish sauce production. Along with societal development, the demand for fish sauce is increasing. This has led to the rapid entry of industrially produced fish sauce products.
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| Traditional Vietnamese fish sauce is more expensive to produce and is made by hand; therefore, businesses need appropriate strategies to compete in the market. (Photo: KAG VN) |
In fact, traditional fish sauce has higher production costs due to its handcrafted nature, resulting in a higher selling price compared to industrially produced fish sauce. Therefore, to compete effectively in the market, traditional fish sauce businesses are now focusing on providing high-quality, safe products that meet customer needs. They are particularly focused on the health-conscious customer segment, and as a result, some businesses have seen better revenue growth in recent years.
Mr. Trieu Quoc Tri, Factory Manager of Phu Quoc Quoc Vi Fish Sauce Company, shared: “ The target customers for traditional and industrial fish sauce are different. I think we should just try to do our job well, creating high-quality, safe traditional products to target customers who are housewives who care a lot about daily family meals, and especially about the health of their family members.”
Besides continuously improving product quality to cope with the challenge of price competition, traditional fish sauce businesses are also adopting new marketing and sales strategies to suit market developments. They are focusing on expanding online sales channels through social media platforms such as TikTok, Shopee, and Lazada, while maintaining distribution through traditional channels such as convenience stores and supermarkets. Although the effectiveness of online sales channels is not yet equal to traditional channels, businesses believe this will be the future trend in sales.
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| Many traditional Vietnamese fish sauce products are quite popular in both domestic and international markets. Photo: Tieu Ket |
In the international market, traditional Vietnamese fish sauce is quite popular with customers in many countries, especially in countries with large Vietnamese communities. However, Vietnamese fish sauce is facing fierce competition from foreign brands, with Thailand being one of the strongest competitors.
Therefore, in addition to improving product quality, ensuring food safety and hygiene, and enhancing brand image, traditional Vietnamese fish sauce businesses also need to boost investment in large-scale production with modern technology while still preserving the unique characteristics of traditional fish sauce in order to meet the demands of export markets.
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Anh, Chairman of Nam Mien Trung Company, the investor of the traditional Cana fish sauce brand, said that his company has invested more than 1,000 billion VND to build a traditional fish sauce production factory in Ninh Thuan using modern industrial lines to meet the demand of the international market.
“We have built a factory with a capacity of 25 million liters of fish sauce per year. We buy about 17,000-18,000 tons of anchovies for fermentation at the factory. We buy the anchovies directly from the fishing boats, ferment them on board, and transport them to the quality control area before transferring them to the fermentation tanks to maintain the original quality of the fish and the traditional fish sauce making method, but on a large scale. From the factory construction standards to the input material standards, we maintain very strict control,” Mr. Hoang Anh shared.
Each region has its own traditional fish sauce production process, but all use fish and salt as the main ingredients. Currently, the demand for and diversification of fish sauce products on the market is very high. Besides traditional fish sauce, industrial products are also becoming increasingly popular. The price of fish sauce products on the market depends on each company. Consumers often focus on the protein content of the fish sauce; the higher the protein content, the higher the price.
“To create a distinction between traditional fish sauce and other fish sauces, the Vietnam Traditional Fish Sauce Association has established standards for traditional Vietnamese fish sauce. All standards will be higher than current Vietnamese regulations to create a unique identity, so that all consumers can distinguish between traditional fish sauce and fish sauce that does not meet Vietnamese standards,” emphasized Ms. Ho Kim Lien, President of the Vietnam Traditional Fish Sauce Association.
Furthermore, incorporating fish sauce into industrial products such as processed foods and seasonings is also a new direction to promote and develop the Vietnamese fish sauce brand in the international market. Scientists and industry associations are working together to create new formulas, using and combining fish sauce in industrial products. This is considered a good solution for Vietnamese fish sauce to access the international market.
Dr. Do Viet Ha – Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Chemistry Association, stated: “In the future, the Traditional Fish Sauce Association, along with scientists, will design formulas, make adjustments, and invite foreign companies to sample them. If they find it tastier, they will use our traditional fish sauce ingredients. We're not just selling fish sauce for them to keep on their kitchen shelves; we're providing the raw materials for them to produce it industrially. With this mindset, it will become a big story. If we only look at chefs and family kitchens, it won't become widespread. Because nowadays, in the industrial age, people eat out more than they eat at home.”
Mr. Vu The Thanh, a food safety and hygiene expert, also affirmed: "To market a fish sauce product, you must market it through cuisine. Through cuisine, you need to see how chefs use that fish sauce to suit the tastes of the target audience in each country."
It can be said that one of the most pressing tasks for the Vietnamese fish sauce industry today is to establish national standards for traditional fish sauce, as a basis for promoting and exporting it internationally. At the same time, it is necessary to accelerate the expansion of large-scale traditional fish sauce factories, with strict control from raw materials to the production process, to meet the vast market demand.
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