"Revealing the secret" of sows suddenly turning into super cheap cows

After the news of cheap beef being only 60-70 thousand VND/kg spread, many importers changed their products and price lists on their websites and Facebook pages to avoid scrutiny.

However, there are still some suppliers selling imported "beef" at a cheap price of around 70,000 VND, only 1/3 or 1/4 of the price of fresh beef sold on the market.

Unbelievably cheap

An imported meat supplier located on Nguyen Thi Tu Street, Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City openly advertises on its website the price of cheap imported meat, specializing in serving restaurants, eateries, industrial kitchens, and shipping to the provinces.

The information about the product is also quite vague given by this supplier: "Indian meat, Australian beef at surprisingly cheap prices. For example, brisket (for beef stew, brisket pho, Hue beef noodle soup...) is only 86,500 VND/kg; brisket, ribs, neck are introduced to be used for brisket pho, Hue beef noodle soup with prices from only 90,000-95,000 VND/kg.

The cheapest is beef brisket for stewed beef and beef balls, only 68,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, Australian beef brisket sold in supermarkets is up to 170-175 thousand VND/kg.

Another supplier located in Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City also sells Indian beef at a price that is one-third the price of beef on the market. For example, this supplier's lean thigh product is only sold for 110,000 VND/kg, lean shoulder is only 107,000 VND/kg while the price of fresh lean beef sold on the market is very high, such as lean thigh is 302,000 VND/kg, lean shoulder is also up to 292,000 VND/kg.

Tenderloin is also offered by this supplier at only 117,000-130,000 VND/kg, while the highest price of tenderloin in supermarkets is from 370,000 - 390,000 VND/kg.

When we placed an order, the staff of these suppliers told us that the price would be even cheaper if we ordered in bulk, with home delivery, free shipping, and that if the product did not meet the quality standards, we could return it.

“Don’t worry, the meat is properly quarantined, tender and of good quality. We import in large quantities so the price is cheap,” said an employee of this unit.

When we asked if it was buffalo meat, the supplier's staff evaded and assured us that the beef was imported from India, which does not eat beef, so it is sold at a cheap price.

Indian buffalo meat "dressed" as beef

However, Mr. B., a representative of a company specializing in importing meat in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, admitted that Indian beef is actually buffalo meat because India is a Muslim country and does not use beef. They respect cows and consider Indian cows as sacred animals. When imported buffalo meat is brought to Vietnam, people often call it Indian beef, but it is 100% buffalo meat. In terms of meat characteristics, it is not much different from Vietnamese beef.

“Our company sells the exact products that our customers request. The reason why we call buffalo meat beef is because Vietnamese people are familiar with the name Indian beef. We provide products to the market with full certification of imported frozen buffalo meat. The products are diverse in types,” the company representative introduced.

According to Mr. T., buffalo meat imported to Vietnam is only about 40,000-50,000 VND/kg. If buffalo meat is sold, the demand for consumption is not high, Vietnamese people often dislike buffalo meat, and believe that eating buffalo meat is not as good for health as beef.

Therefore, some suppliers sell buffalo meat but "magically" introduce it as Indian beef, or even Australian beef, American beef for easy consumption.

In the hands of retailers, restaurants and eateries, it will be sold and processed at beef prices to earn big profits.

Beware of the quality of “fake beef”

Mr. Pham Duc Binh, General Director of Thanh Binh Livestock Joint Stock Company, said that beef priced at only a few tens of thousands of VND/kg is impossible because the price of live cattle is already 75,000-80,000 VND/kg. After slaughter, the meat ratio is only 50-55%, so the price of meat sold on the market after being butchered must also be two or three times higher.

According to Mr. Binh, cheap beef is “fake beef” which is buffalo meat mainly imported from India, even worse is sow meat is “magically transformed” into beef, traders buy buffalo meat, sell beef at a very high profit margin. If customers do not check carefully, it is easy to be confused.

In 2017, Vietnam spent nearly half a billion USD (nearly 10,000 billion VND) importing buffalo and beef meat (both whole animals for slaughter and frozen meat), including more than 262,000 live buffalo and beef and 41,400 tons of various types of meat. However, surveying retail markets, stores and restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City, we found that frozen Indian buffalo meat was absent.

Mr. Binh said that a large amount of imported frozen buffalo meat, especially Indian buffalo, has been turned into beef and released to the market, deceiving consumers, causing them to lose money.

The reason is that after processing, frozen buffalo meat has the same color and taste as beef, so it can be used as a substitute for beef. “Even sow meat with a deep red color is “transformed” into beef at a cheap price. But this quantity is not much. These suppliers often quietly sell cheap “fake beef” to pho shops and restaurants, so it is very difficult to detect on the market,” Mr. Binh shared.

As an importer of Australian beef for fattening, Mr. Vo Quan Huy, Director of Huy Long An Company Limited, said that it is impossible for fresh beef to be sold for only 70,000-80,000 VND/kg, because the price of whole Australian beef imported to Vietnam is currently over 70,000 VND/kg.

Recently, Australian beef fattening units have encountered many difficulties in output, also due to the unusually low price of frozen beef in Vietnam.