Imported beef may combat the domestic beef?

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It is expected that the Vietnamese habit of fresh meat will not change in the next few years

Market expanded

Talking with Reporter of Custom News, President of Vietnam Feed Association, Mr. Le Ba Lich has appreciated: at present, the average meat consumption rate of Vietnam is about 38/kg/person/year of which beef and buffalo meat only occupied 6-7%. This number is rather low compared with the world’s average consumption of 25-30% in the total meat consumption. Obviously, the balance of beef market is still rather large.

Through surveying some markets in Hanoi such as: Co Nhue (the North of Tu Liem district), Nhon (the South of Tu Liem district), Yen Hoa (Cau Giay district), Lang Ha B (Dong Da district), Phao Dai Lang (Dong Da district),etc the reporter has learned that the price of beef in each market has certain fluctuations. Specifically, the price of beef tenderloin and muscle meat is around 220000-280000 VND / kg while the price of rib meat is 170000-200000 VND / kg.

Currently, together with the development of the economy, people's lives are gradually improved, demand for all kinds of meat, including beef are also increased. However, besides the price, food safety is the major concern of housekeepers.

Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Lan (Cau Giay) said: Her family has three generations living together, she and her husband, her son, daughter in law and her grandson who is teenager. Therefore, the consumption of beef is quite frequent. She often buys beef tenderloin twice a week, each time is about 3 grams valued 25.000 vnd/gram. So her family has spent 75.000 vnd for each time.

“Although the beef is more expensive than other food, our family still is able to accept. The most concerned problem here is quality of the beef, because in the recent time, the fake beef made from pork is quite popular. If not being observant, consumers are difficult to identify this. Thus, I usually choose to buy the beef of familiar sellers.

As same as Mrs. Lan, Ms. Tran Ngoc Huong (Co Nhu – The North of Tu Liem district) said that: Because of lack of experience in buying beef but trust seller, she has bought fake beef. According to Ms. Huong, the sellers now are very sophisticated in cheating; the fake beef is not only made from 100% pork but also added while slicing genuine beef. Therefore, although having doubts on this, it is difficult for buyers to identify this because they still smell beef when eating.

Accept “the game”

In fact, over the years, the beef production industry of Vietnam has not met the consumption need. The import of beef in Vietnam has continued to increase, especially import of beef from Australia with the number in the hundreds of thousands of cattle every year. Supermarket and shops have been flooded with imported beef.

Recently, the senior commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Union (EU), Mr. Phil Hogan led a senior trade delegation of 40 companies to seek business opportunities in Vietnam. Among the agricultural products which were introduced, beef and milk and dairy products played an important role. This has shown the interest of foreign investors to Vietnam market and forecasted that the import of foreign beef in Vietnam will increase faster.

Taking account of this, Mr. Le Ba Lich said that Vietnam has signed many free trade agreements (FTA), especially joined in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). Thus, many countries have considered Vietnam as a potential import market. The animal farming industry in general, beef farming in particular in Vietnam is still quite limited with small farming land, low breed quality and slow movement, therefore, fast growth is impossible. Meanwhile, Countries in South America, EU ... have huge advantages on beef farming, especially in terms of quality and food safety. That these things make the domestic beef overwhelmed when foreign beef has been imported is natural, "the game" needs accepting.

From the view of the consumer, according to Ms. Huong, the increase of imported beef in the market is a positive sign for housekeepers to choose food for family meals. "Currently, I have also combined consumption of imported beef with domestic beef. In the future, if foreign beef is imported from reputable markets with competitive prices, I will consider to buy imported beef in order to not worry about buying fake beef and low quality beef” said by Ms. Huong.

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The fact that imported beef has overwhelmed domestic beef is natural, many experts predict that from the present period to the next 3-5 years, Vietnamese people will be still interested in fresh meat. Meanwhile, imported meat is mostly frozen, with high cholesterol. This is also one of the helpful factors for beef farming of Vietnam to have time to change in order to better meet the consumption need and increase competitiveness.