The first batch of chicken exported to Japan
After two years of operation, CPV Food Binh Phuoc under CP Vietnam Co Ltd announced the export of its first batch of processed chicken to Japan, on October 25, 2022.
General Director of CP Vietnam Montri Suwanposri said: “The first shipment of processed chicken to Japan marks the success of CPV’s Feed-Farm-Food value chain, starting the journey to bring Vietnamese processed chicken products to the Japanese market and head to other foreign markets”.
The first batch of chicken exported to Japan was 33.6 tonnes. CP is expected to export more than 80 tonnes of chicken products in the last two months of 2022 and about 4,500 tonnes in 2023.
Over the past 10 years, chicken has overtaken beef and pork as the world’s number one protein source, and this situation continues to accelerate amid inflation, according to Bloomberg news agency.
It is estimated that the total chicken meat consumption will have reached 98 million tonnes in 2022, twice as high as in 1999. The growth rate of chicken consumption is 3 times higher than that of pork and 10 times higher than that of beef.
Therefore, promoting the export of chicken to the world is the goal of many Vietnamese food processing enterprises. CPV Food is one of the pioneers in the journey of processing and exporting chicken to Japan and many other fastidious countries.
According to the Department of Animal Health (the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Japan is currently the third-largest chicken import market in the world (after China and Russia). Each year, Japan needs to import about 1 million tonnes of chicken.
CP Vietnam’s successful export of the first batch of chicken to this market has opened the door for Vietnamese chicken to enter other demanding markets.
According to the Department of Animal Health, by October 2022, seven countries and territories including Japan, Hong Kong, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, accepted and allowed the import of Vietnamese processed chicken. Vietnam exports about 4,500 tonnes of processed chicken to other countries each year.
“Vietnam will have more than 520 million poultry heads, more than 28 million pigs, more than 12 million grass-fed cattle, and more than 17 billion eggs by 2022. The export revenue of livestock products is expected to reach more than 1 billion USD, making an important contribution to the export achievement of the agricultural sector, which is estimated at over 55 billion USD in 2022,” said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien.
The door is open but it is not easy to get in
Despite the good news, it is not easy to be able to export chicken to major markets.
For example, to be able to bring chicken into the Japanese market, CPV Food must meet all the strict criteria of Japan. Since its operation in December 2020, CPV Food has always committed to the traceability of the entire supply chain, from feed ingredients to product processing and the implementation of world best practice standards, regarding the environment and animal welfare.
In addition, CP Vietnam has cooperated with Japan’s ITOCHU Corporation, to thoroughly understand the requirements of the Japanese market.
Executive Vice President of Agro Feed and Food Products Business at CP Vietnam Chamnan Wangakkarankul, said that the standards of the Japanese market are very strict and it is not easy to meet them.
CP Vietnam and the Japanese side cooperated very closely so that the Japanese side accepted the chicken product, both in terms of quality and standard.
This year, the company exports chicken meat to Japan and will export to the Republic of Korea and then to the UK and the EU next year.
Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Itochu Corporation Tsuyoshi Kozuki said, that Japan mainly imports fresh chicken meat from Thailand and Brazil, and imports processed chicken products from Thailand and China.
Vietnam is still a new partner in the Japanese market. In Japan, consumers have a demand for processed chicken products, such as breaded chicken, and this is what businesses need to learn about to be able to export to this market.
In the domestic market, the country has few advanced slaughtering and processing establishments.
Vice Chairman of Dong Nai Breeding Association Nguyen Van Ngoc said, that chicken export needs time to meet many factors of food safety and hygiene, as well as standards and conditions of importing countries.
In addition, it is necessary to have international standard slaughterhouses and cold storage facilities, to be able to export chicken meat, in addition to free of disease breeding areas.
Therefore, it is necessary to invest in building more chicken processing plants and expand the international market, to overcome all the inadequacies, so that Vietnam’s poultry industry can grow further in the future.null
