Industry News

Ninh Binh province held an OCOP specialty-products week from June 26 to 30. We explain how Japanese food buyers can read this regional certification system, with 60 booths and about 70 items on display, as a clue for narrowing down growing areas.

Vietnam's fisheries directorate has announced an animal-welfare roadmap for shrimp and pangasius. As ASC, GlobalGAP, and BAP incorporate welfare standards, we lay out the points Japanese buyers should keep an eye on.

Indonesia's seafood-processing plants have expanded exports to China to 638 facilities. As competition with Vietnamese shrimp and pangasius intensifies in the Chinese market, we lay out the changes in sourcing structure that Japanese food buyers should read, and the business opportunities created by the shift toward Japan and high value addition.

Vietnam has drafted equipment standards for industrial marine aquaculture for the first time. What does this system, to be established in 2026-2027, mean for Japanese buyers who source Vietnamese farmed fish? We read it from the perspective of traceability and quality standards.

Trung Nguyen Legend has broken ground on a Robusta deep-processing plant in Dak Lak province, investing 98.9 billion dong (about 6.09 billion yen). We unpack what the new spray-drying capacity of 1,000 kg/h will demand of Japanese roasters' and trading companies' raw-material sourcing.

Gia Lai province has begun a monthly subsidy for electronic fishing logbooks on 4,000 fishing vessels of 12 m or more. Using eCDT, it digitally tracks the origin of catches to address the lifting of the EU yellow card and origin certification for exports to Japan. We unpack the impact on Japanese tuna and skipjack importers.

Le Van Phuong, a former fisherman in Thanh Hoa province, produces 50–70 tonnes of whiteleg shrimp a year with a three-stage closed-recirculation system across 5 hectares and 38 ponds. From a site with a net profit of 5 billion dong, we explain the real picture of the advancement of Vietnamese shrimp that Japanese importers should read.

On July 1, Vietnam fully launched a national traceability system for agricultural, forestry, and fishery products. We explain how this system, which began with QR tracking of durian, will change the origin-verification practices of Japanese importers and retailers.

Lenger, a major Vietnamese clam processor, has revealed a shift by overseas buyers from long-term contracts to small-lot orders. We read the bivalve market, growing at +29% in Spain and +49% in the United States, and the implications for Japan's shellfish sourcing.

Le Van Sau, a durian farmer in Can Tho in the Mekong Delta, has shared his cultivation know-how with neighbors free of charge and formed a "billionaire farmers club" with more than 20 members. We unpack this growing-area formation, which chose shared prosperity in a world where monopolizing technology is the norm, from the perspective of Japanese sourcing and growing-area branding.