Nước mắm - Cuộc chiến giữa truyền thống và công nghiệp

After a series of sea pollution issues in the central region, there is a question about the quality of seafood as well as products using seafood materials that achieve a reliable level of safety. with consumers. And is this also a process of going to the path of death for traditional Vietnamese fish sauce, a consequence of the Formosa event?
Fish sauce or sauce
Industrial fish sauce is crowned. According to the General Statistics Office, each year, Vietnam consumes more than 200 million liters of fish sauce, of which fish sauce produced by industrial methods accounts for 75%. 

This market size has generated sales of about VND 7,200 - 7,500 billion. In addition to the big guys, many other businesses now find ways to shoulder, like wings, and creep deep into this market.  

Currently, the market has 2 lines of parallel fish sauce existed as industrial fish sauce and traditional fish sauce. Traditional fish sauce is made from fish and salt, brewed in 6-12 months, and 'industrial fish sauce. 'with the composition of salt, water, fish sauce, sweetener ... So managing according to a common standard is unreasonable. 

Traditional fish sauce often takes nearly a year of net incubation, while fish sauce which is considered "semi-bright morning" of Masan continuously grows and holds market share, overwhelming around 70% many years later. This is also the industry that brings gross profit margin of over 50% for Masan. 

Previously, Thanh Nien had the article "Water + chemicals = industrial fish sauce" reflecting the situation of industrial fish sauce with many chemicals in the composition with hundreds of different brands, dominating the market. The Nam Ngu brand fish sauce bottle is sold on traditional markets, Coop.Mart supermarket, Ho Chi Minh City, believed by many people to have 17 chemicals in addition to water, salt, sugar and anchovy. These include flavor enhancers, preservatives, synthetic salmon flavors, synthetic sweeteners, acid modifiers, thickeners ... 

The main ingredients of Nam Ngu and Chin Su fish sauce are "fish essence" and "fish flavor" but do not specify how much. Dr. Tran Van Ky, in charge of the southern office of Vietnam Food Science and Technology Association, commented: “The fact that a bottle of fish sauce with additives has 17 types can be considered as the act of measuring water. How to mix chemicals to sell for money? Why is it called fish sauce? ”. 

Masan representatives confirmed that their products always meet the two most important criteria for consumers, which are delicious and safe. With the "good" criterion, Ms. Le Thi Nga, Masan Product Development Manager, said that she has spent a long time researching her appetite in order to conquer the domestic market and export to Thailand, instead of keeping The pure salty taste of traditional fish sauce. Sharing this view, Mr. Huynh Ngoc Diep, Chairman and CEO of 584 Nha Trang Company, said that putting flavor in the fish sauce is now an inevitable trend.

Industrial fish sauce with output like water
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Tinh, Chairman of Phu Quoc Fish Sauce, industrial fish sauce only needs to buy juice from the granaries, then seasoning, mixing in a day can have thousands of liters. said traditional fish sauce is in a very difficult situation, especially not active in the source of raw materials. 

In addition, the cost of exploitation increased, people had to borrow money with high interest rates, which are also disadvantages that make all kinds of industrial fish sauce, cheap price more and more dominant. just buy the juice from the sauce, then taste and prepare in just one day to make thousands of liters, so the price is very competitive. Many places, industrial fish sauce sold only for 8,000 VND per liter.

Distribution channels are also difficult for traditional fish sauce producers. A representative of a business in Phan Thiet said that the enterprise had brought goods into the supermarket but the revenue did not compensate the cost. To bring goods into the supermarket, the company always has to discount up to 25%. Even in some supermarkets, the company only does outsourcing because these places are pushing their own labels. 

Because industrial fish sauce is a mixture of fish sauce, mixed with water, salt, additives, flavorings, spices to create: sweet, spicy, sour ... so the price is very low, while traditional fish sauce is naturally cannot sell at such prices. In addition, the majority of consumers are more interested in the protein level of fish sauce, but lack of knowledge and knowledge about protein improperly leads to errors in product selection.

Vietnamese people with Vietnamese tradition
Identifying the basic weakness of industrial fish sauce is low protein content, many traditional fish sauce brands have chosen high protein content criteria as an important keyword for their marketing communication campaign. However, In fact, one liter of pure fish sauce is purchased by producers at VND 40,000 and then seasoned spices and preservatives, prepared into 5 liters of industrial fish sauce with a selling price of about VND 20,000 / liter. . 

By advertising techniques as well as marketing, behind the fine words: premium salmon fish sauce, high-end products, produced from the most delicious anchovies ... industrial sauce producers are ignoring quality, making consumers confused. 

Therefore, the trend is that more and more consumers are looking for traditional fish sauce, delicious and medium-sized. Hanoi now also lacks the brand of fish sauce originating from the famous production areas of Phu Quoc, Hai Non Ca Na, Thanh Hoa, Binh Dinh ... Hopefully, with strong improvements in quality, sample Code and method of sales, traditional fish sauce will soon expand market share, retain the original dish is considered "national soul, national essence" of the nation.

111 years ago, six Western scholars and intellectuals, and officials in Phan Thiet with the same direction, gathered to respond to Phan Chu Trinh's call to Duy Tan movement. They are Nguyen Trong Loi and Nguyen Quy Anh (both are patriotic poet sons Nguyen Thong), Ngo Van Nhuong, Ho Ta Bang, Nguyen Hiet Chi, Tran Le Chat, and six people later became ancestors of fish sauce Lien Thanh. 

After the Duy Tan movement was suppressed, the French colonialists began searching for facilities that supported the movement, including Lien Thanh. However, France did not find any evidence to accuse it because Lien Thanh had a clear and transparent system of business books. 

The money that Lien Thanh supported for Duy Tan movement and Dong Du movement were legalized as the amount of money distributed to shareholders. In the first 10 years, Lien Thanh operated effectively when it expanded. segments in Duc Thang, Huy Long, Phu Hao, Mui Ne and Phan Ri of Phan Thiet, then from Phan Thiet have opened and opened divisions in Saigon, My Tho, Cao Lanh and Ben Tre. 

Feeling that Binh Thuan is a land with the management of the court, has not had a favorable business environment, so in 1917, that is, after 10 years of operation registration, the company moved to Saigon to build. The initial total is at Kitchener Avenue (Ong Lanh Bridge) and then moves to 1-2-3 headquarters Quai Testard Cho Lon (now Chau Van Liem Street), then finally moved to 243 Ben Van Don, District 4 so far ... 

The time has come for us to take a move to help our father's traditional fish sauce industry return to its value on the national market share. Do not let Vietnamese people lose right on Vietnamese soil. Only when consumers are aware of product quality, changing habits, and traditional fish sauce producers can maintain their prestige, then the fish sauce market will have a redistribution of market share.