Buyers lost in the fish sauce war

The fish sauce market today has hundreds of brands with all kinds and prices, but the quality does not follow any standards, making consumers confused.

Surveys at supermarkets and food stores show that there are dozens of types of fish sauce with prices ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands of VND/liter. Many types of packaging label fish sauce but advertise it as fish sauce, and prioritize displaying it in beautiful, visible locations, confusing consumers.

A bottle of industrial fish sauce has 17 ingredients.

Nam Ngu 3 in 1 and Chinsu salmon are the two most popular types sold in supermarkets, grocery stores, and food stores. There are even shelves dedicated to displaying these two types of fish sauce. On the packaging, in addition to anchovy essence and salt with unknown proportions, these two types have 15 other ingredients including flavor enhancers, colorants, preservatives, etc. The price of Nam Ngu fish sauce with 10 degrees of nitrogen is 43,000 VND/liter and Chinsu is 62,000 VND/liter.

Dozens of fish sauces are sold in supermarkets, but Masan products still dominate. Photo: Pham Oanh.

Meanwhile, traditional fish sauce with ingredients clearly stated on the packaging including fish and salt is priced 3-5 times higher than industrial fish sauce. Specifically, Nam Phan brand fish sauce, 30 degrees of nitrogen, originating in Ninh Thuan, costs 237,000 VND/liter. Phu Quoc Ong Ky fish sauce, 35 degrees of nitrogen, originating in Phu Quoc, costs 160,000 VND/liter...

In addition, there are also some types of fish sauce that only list anchovies and salt as ingredients, but only have about 10-15 degrees of protein, priced from 38,000 VND/liter to 66,000 VND/liter.

According to the staff introducing Nam Phan fish sauce, this product is homemade and sold in supermarkets. She said that there are currently two types on the market: fish sauce and dipping sauce. Fish sauce only contains fish and salt, while dipping sauce contains other additives and flavorings in addition to fish essence.

“Although it contains many other ingredients besides fish sauce and salt, the sauce is not too salty, which suits the taste of most Vietnamese people. Moreover, the price of industrial fish sauce is 3-4 times cheaper than traditional fish sauce, so its consumption is many times greater than traditional fish sauce,” she added.

Convenience stores and traditional markets currently only sell industrial fish sauce. A survey of nearly 10 consecutive grocery stores selling fish sauce at Ba Chieu Market (Binh Thanh District) showed that none of them sold traditional fish sauce. Most of them were fish sauces under the Nam Ngu and Chinsu brands.

Some grocery store owners in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City said they do not import traditional fish sauce because it is expensive, difficult to sell, and tastes much saltier than other fish sauces.

Vietnamese people consume 75% of industrial fish sauce.

According to data from the General Statistics Office, of the 200 million liters of fish sauce consumed each year, 75% of it is industrial fish sauce (ie not produced using traditional processes).

Masan's 2015 annual report shows that this company alone contributes 65% of the market share of the entire fish sauce industry.

These figures are consistent with a report by market research firm Euromonitor. According to the firm, the size of the Vietnamese fish sauce market in 2015 was VND11,300 billion, of which industrial fish sauce accounted for 76%, while traditional fish sauce only accounted for 24% of the market share.

Many fish sauce manufacturers confirm that in this unequal battle, traditional fish sauce will have to take a long time to regain its solid position. Not to mention that in the financial confrontation, many businesses and small production facilities will be forced to reduce or temporarily stop production, if they do not want to go back to processing for industrial fish sauce brands.

Recently, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested the Ministry of Health to preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant agencies to urgently inspect and clarify the situation of industrial fish sauce containing chemicals dominating the market, and promptly inform the people. These agencies must submit a report to the Prime Minister before October 22.

According to Zing