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Export agricultural products to Japanese market

Although considered one of the most difficult markets in the world, Japan has a high demand for agricultural products in Vietnam, including Dong Nai. There are a number of enterprises and cooperatives in the province that are expanding raw material areas, investing in constructing facilities processing agricultural products for export to this potential market.


​Processed chicken, Cat Chu mangos and dragon fruits are the three items of Dong Nai province that are eligible for export to the Japanese market. However, meeting the requirements on export to this market is not easy at all, which requires thorough investment and arrangement.

Processing agricultural products for export to Japan

In mid-August, the first batch of processed chicken products from Koyu & Unitek (Long Binh Industrial Zone, Bien Hoa City) will be officially exported to Japan. Mr. Khieu Nhon Hieu, General Director of Koyu & Unitek, said that in order to export its products to the Japanese market, the company had to continuously meet the strict requirements of its partner over the past 3 years. In particular, since Japan only grants permits to import processed chicken products, the company invested $ 6.5 million in building a processing plant. "The whole line of machinery and technology are imported from Japan to build a factory with a processing capacity of 50,000 chickens per day. The output of the factory includes 7 kinds of processed chicken such as fried chicken, chicken burger, chicken balls ... qualified for export to Japan market," Mr. Hieu said.

 

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 A chicken processing line at Koyu & Unitek factory.
 
In March, GC Co., Ltd. (Ho Nai industrial zone, Ho Nai 3 commune, Trang Bom district) participated in the International Food and Beverage Foodex Fair 2017 in Chiba Prefecture (Japan) and to introduce and seek the opportunities to export its agricultural products to this market. On this occasion, the company has signed a contract to export red dragon fruit to the Japanese market. In addition, Mr. Nguyen Van Thu, Director of GC Foods Co., also added that, through contacts, partners from Japan also have interest in many other agricultural products of Vietnam such as cashew nuts, coffee ... "We have also built a new factory specialized in cashew nuts and coffee to make proper preparation before doing business with Japanese partners," Mr. Thu said.
 
A demanding yet highly potential market
 
According to Mr. Khuu Hieu Nhon, Japan is a market with high requirements on product quality, especially food safety requirements for agricultural products. For example, commercial broilers must be free from flu vaccines. According to the Japanese parties, the application of vaccines against the flu also means that the area does not guarantee safety.
 
Moreover, chickens should be raised in the safe area guaranteed by the State of Vietnam. In addition, broilers before being brought to the slaughterhouse must also be guaranteed to be free from antibiotic during a period of 10 days.
 
However, according to Mr. Nhon, accompanying those strict conditions, Japan is also a very potential market. "Japan is the world's third largest importer of poultry products, after China and Russia, with an annual volume of 900,000 tons. Japanese partners place import orders with Koyu & Unitek Co. about 2,000 tons of processed chicken per month. However, due to the limited capacity of the factory, the enterprise can only supply about 300 tons of products per month," said Mr. Nhon.
 
Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Nguyen Van Thu also said that the potential to export agricultural products to Japan is very high. Evidence shows that GC Foods Ltd. has also successfully exported coconut jelly and aloe vera raw materials to this market before.
 
However, according to Mr. Thu, Vietnamese enterprises are not able to meet the standards of the Japanese. In particular, the production process does not meet the requirements of food hygiene and safety, the origin of product materials must be traceable and strictly controlled.
 
Mr. Tran Anh Dung, marketing director of Proton Co., Ltd. (headquarter based in Ho Chi Minh City) specialized in exporting agricultural products to Japan, also said that for recent years, due to rising concerns about food hygiene and safety issues Japan, has also restricted imports of agricultural products from China and sought new supplies from Asian countries, including Vietnam. "Particularly, Dong Nai also has the potential to export items to the Japanese market like pomelos," Mr. Dung said.
 
However, according to Mr. Dung, the current problem of Vietnam's agricultural products is to meet strict quality requirements from Japan. Accordingly, the farmers as well as businesses should not focus on only the output but should pay attention to improving the quality and appearance of products for the grant of permits to export to Japan.
 
Dong Nai’s Cat Chu Mangos must be exported to Japanese market via third enterprises
 
In September 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan officially granted the permit to import Cat Chu mango of Vietnam into the market. However, up to now, cat chu mangos of Dong Nai still have to enter the Japanese market via enterprises outside the province. Mr. Nguyen The Bao, Director of Suoi Lon Mango Cooperative, Xuan Hung Commune, Xuan Loc District, which is supplying mango for export to Japan, said that due to limited capacity of cooperative, it is not possible to negotiate price and volume to directly export mango to the Japanese market. Especially, due to the limitation in preservation technology which still cannot meet the requirements from Japan, the cooperative is still only supplying mango to enterprises outside the province for export to the Japanese market.
 
 
Phạm Tùng
 
 

 

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