Chilled meat: New consumption trend in Vietnam

The announcement of national standards on chilled meat is expected to improve the efficiency of meat processing activities.

Centralized slaughter has not been effective.

Currently, 52/63 provinces and cities nationwide have approved slaughter planning. In the Red River Delta region, 11 provinces have slaughter planning, but the entire region has up to 12,400 small-scale slaughterhouses. Meanwhile, centralized slaughterhouses often operate below capacity due to low input, unable to compete with small-scale slaughterhouses.

In the Southeast region, although the number of centralized and small-scale slaughterhouses is less (307 facilities), centralized slaughterhouses are also not operating at full capacity...

Vietnamese consumption habits have caused centralized slaughterhouses and food safety facilities to operate at a standstill, despite billions of dong in investment. A representative of An Viet Production and Trading Joint Stock Company (Hanoi) said that despite investing tens of billions of dong in a chilled meat processing line, for many years the company has only been able to operate at 15% capacity, mainly producing fresh meat.

Mr. Tran Dang Ninh - Director of the Center for Testing, Verification and Consulting on the Quality of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Products said that Vietnam ranks 7th in the world in pig farming, however, pork is mainly for domestic consumption, the export output is still very small. In fact, meat production and trading in the Vietnamese market currently only exists in two forms: fresh meat, which is hot meat immediately after slaughter and is consumed, and frozen meat.

“Vietnam is one of the few countries in the world that still uses hot meat immediately after slaughter, a type of meat that immediately loses quality due to the inability to inhibit the activity of microorganisms and enzymes, and it is very difficult to control food safety and hygiene,” said Mr. Ninh.

National standards for chilled meat

Chilled meat is a product consumed widely in developed countries around the world (EU, USA). In the future, chilled meat will also be a development trend of the slaughter and meat processing industry as well as a new consumption trend in Vietnam. Processing chilled pork is the target in the process of transforming the production structure from small-scale to industrial processing, chain management, product traceability, meeting the export criteria of the markets.

Labeling goods and clarifying the difference between fresh meat and chilled meat products is a pioneering work in product management and transparency.

Mr. Nguyen Nhu Tiep - Director of the Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Product Quality Management said that the above reasons show the urgency of building a new Vietnamese standard (TCVN) "Chilled meat - Technical requirements", which clearly stipulates the requirements for raw materials, techniques at each stage of production, and storage and distribution conditions to ensure product quality.

Labeling goods and clarifying the difference between fresh meat and chilled meat products is a pioneering work in product management and transparency. At the same time, it promotes healthy business competition, helps businesses producing chilled meat products have a full legal foundation, and helps Vietnamese consumers access delicious, safe products. Not only that, this new TCVN also helps to raise the level of the slaughter and meat processing industry in Vietnam as well as target the export market.

"The Ministry of Science and Technology's issuance of the Decision to promulgate National Standards is an important event for the livestock industry," emphasized Mr. Nguyen Nhu Tiep.

Although the potential of the chilled meat market is quite large and standards are already in place, according to experts, in order for chilled meat to become closer to Vietnamese consumption habits, as well as to truly have a breakthrough impact on Vietnam's slaughter and meat processing system, there is still a lot of work to be done from management agencies to businesses.

Previously, on October 16, the Ministry of Science and Technology officially issued Decision 3087/QD-BHCN on promulgating National Standards for chilled meat, first of all for pork. This is the basis for moving towards a chilled meat processing industry in Vietnam to serve domestic consumption and export needs.