{"id":1537,"date":"2026-09-15T21:32:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T12:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/?post_type=industry_news&p=1537"},"modified":"2026-09-16T14:19:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T05:19:03","slug":"vinhhoan-whitefish-japan","status":"publish","type":"industry_news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/industry_news\/vinhhoan-whitefish-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild white fish in short supply worldwide: Vinh Hoan expands sales channels to Japan too"},"content":{"rendered":"

With natural whitefish in short supply worldwide and prices rising, Vinh Hoan, Vietnam's largest pangasius producer, is expanding its sales channels with Europe as the axis. On September 8, 2026, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) reported on the company's moves. CEO Nguyen Ngo Vi Tam named Brazil and Japan as markets with active demand outside the United States, signaling a stance of advancing the diversification of export destinations. For Japan's foodservice, prepared-food, and processing procurement staff searching for a whitefish substitute, this becomes a turning point at which the supply map shifts.<\/p>\n

The cod shortage, a tailwind redirected toward pangasius<\/h2>\n

The article's starting point is the supply crunch in natural whitefish. Natural fish such as Alaska pollock have seen supply thin out under the constraints of catch quotas and stock conditions, and prices are rising. Farmed pangasius, with its white flesh usable across a wide range of applications such as frying and fillets, is relatively raising its competitiveness as a receptacle for natural whitefish whose prices have climbed. The worldwide whitefish shortage is opening a gap for Vietnamese pangasius in Japan's foodservice procurement<\/a>\u3002<\/p>\n

Vinh Hoan is moving to capture this phase in Europe. The CEO said sales are growing in Spain and the United Kingdom, and that Germany too holds meaningful room in the latter half of this year. Europe was originally a major market for pangasius, and the higher natural fish climbs, the more the relative value of steadily supplied farmed whitefish rises.<\/p>\n

What it means that the CEO named Japan alongside Brazil<\/h2>\n

What is worth noting here is that the CEO named Brazil and Japan together as markets with active demand outside the United States. This does not declare Japan a standalone strategic market, but it shows that Japan is within the field of view of a company that wants to dilute its dependence on the United States. Because uncertainty over tariffs and trade friction hangs over shipments to the United States, the supply side has a motive to build up sales channels other than the United States.<\/p>\n

A phase in which the supply side wants to disperse its sales channels is also a phase in which the buyer's room to negotiate widens. If Japanese procurement staff nail down terms now, it is easier to land favorable deals on quantity and specifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Market<\/th>\nVinh Hoan's moves<\/th>\nImplication for Japanese procurement<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
US<\/td>\nUncertainty over tariffs and friction<\/td>\nBecomes a motive for the supply side to dilute dependence<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Europe (Spain, UK)<\/td>\nSales growing; Germany holds room in the latter half<\/td>\nLets you check the main battleground for whitefish substitution ahead of others<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Brazil<\/td>\nDemand is active<\/td>\nNamed by the CEO as an emerging demand market<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Japan<\/td>\nDemand is active<\/td>\nThe window for negotiating terms opens easily<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Three points \u2014 use, supply, and certification \u2014 that determine pangasius's fitness as a substitute<\/h2>\n

When considering pangasius in Japanese food procurement, the issue is not price alone. First is fitness for use. Being bland and firm-fleshed, it can replace much of the role whitefish has carried \u2014 frying, simmering, bulking out surimi, fillets for prepared foods. Second is stability of supply; being farmed, it is less subject to the catch swings of natural fish. Third is certification and provenance; for Japan and the EU, certifications such as ASC are increasingly becoming conditions of trade. Exports to Japan are shifting from volume to quality, and the ratio of processed goods signals the supply room<\/a>\u3002<\/p>\n

Whether to keep chasing the natural whitefish whose prices have risen, or to narrow the use and switch to pangasius. Thinking it through by menu and by product makes it easier to hold down swings in cost.<\/p>\n

How the supply side's channel diversification tells on Japan's negotiations<\/h2>\n

A move in which a major player like Vinh Hoan expands its channels into Europe and Brazil holds two meanings for Japan. One is that the main battleground for whitefish substitute raw material is in Europe. Watching the demand in Europe lets you grasp the sense of the going rate for price and quantity. The other is that a supply side wanting to dilute its dependence on the United States is likely to welcome steady orders from Japan. Vietnamese seafood is breaking its reliance on shrimp through growth in crab and shellfish<\/a>, and the dispersion of export destinations has become a trend across the whole industry.<\/p>\n

At our company, Agriture, as we handle contract development of food products, we sense that the move to split sourcing sources for whitefish-type raw materials with an eye on both price and supply is strengthening. Keeping a farmed whitefish among the options, rather than leaning on a single fish species or a single origin, leads to stability in cost.<\/p>\n

How to take it, considered from the supply structure<\/h2>\n

Because uncertainty over tariffs and trade friction hangs over shipments to the United States, it is a natural flow for Vietnam's seafood industry to lean toward a strategy of filling quantity in Europe and emerging markets. As long as neither price nor quantity can be read on a single leg toward the United States, channel diversification spreads as a defensive measure across the whole industry.<\/p>\n

On the European side, the more natural whitefish holds high, the more the judgment to shift the ratio toward steadily supplied farmed whitefish works. The wider the price gap opens, the more easily substitution advances.<\/p>\n

In Japan's procurement, rather than jumping at cheapness alone, it is realistic to draw the line by use, ASC certification, and degree of processing. Sorting products that keep chasing natural whitefish from products that switch to farmed whitefish lets you hold down swings in cost.<\/p>\n

What can be moved as the next step<\/h2>\n

To prepare for a rise in whitefish prices, you will want to move from three points. First, drawing up the list of products and menus that can be switched. Second, inquiring with major suppliers, including Vinh Hoan, about terms including certification status and degree of processing. Third, keeping a fixed watch on the European going rate to gauge the reasonableness of Japan's purchase prices.<\/p>\n

Now, with the supply side widening its channels, is a period in which buyers can lead on terms. Starting from obtaining samples and trial production in small lots, and preparing for a phase in which natural whitefish holds high, keeps you from being thrown around by sudden changes in cost.<\/p>\n

References: VASEP, \"Vinh Hoan day manh co hoi tai chau Au khi gia ca thit trang tang\" (September 8, 2026)<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With wild white fish in short supply, the largest pangasius company, Vinh Hoan, is expanding sales channels centered on Europe. Its CEO named Brazil and Japan. We lay it out from the perspective of Japanese buyers looking for white-fish substitutes.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[113,90],"tags":[532,774,141,274,384,361],"crop_category":[],"class_list":["post-1537","industry_news","type-industry_news","status-publish","hentry","category-export-to-japan","category-aquaculture","tag-asc","tag-vinh-hoan","tag-pangasius","tag-274","tag-384","tag-361"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry_news\/1537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry_news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/industry_news"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1537"},{"taxonomy":"crop_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-agri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop_category?post=1537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}