Poland exporters eye Vietnam poultry market

With a population of over 90 million and rising incomes and demand for quality poultry products, Vietnam is a promising market for the Polish poultry industry, according to the general director of that country's National Poultry Council – Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking at a seminar in HCM City on August 9, Lukasz Dominiak, citing US Department of Agriculture figures, said Vietnam's annual poultry consumption rose by 79 percent between 2002 and 2012 to 7.6 kilograms per capita.

The trend is expected to continue, he said.

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According to figures from the European Commission, there has been rapid growth in EU poultry exports to Vietnam in the last three years, going up from 13,409 tons worth 7.3 million EUR (8.1 million USD) to 26,457 tons worth 23.28 million EUR (25.84 million USD) last year.

Jaroslaw Olowski, deputy president of the Agricultural Market Agency, a government arm, said Poland's agricultural-food exports to Vietnam have not met expectations and remained modest at around 100 million EUR (111 million USD) last year, with dairy products (32 percent), fish and fish products (30 percent), feedstuff (17 percent), and meat, offal and meat products including poultry (9 percent) making up the bulk of them.

As the largest poultry producer in EU, Poland seeks to export more of the products to Vietnam, he said.

Dominiak said the National Poultry Council – Chamber of Commerce is implementing an information and promotional program called "European poultry – the power of quality" in target markets like Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, China and Hong Kong to promote the advantages, quality and production methods of European poultry that conforms to the QAFP (Quality Assurance for Food Products) system.

The main goal of the three-year campaign (2016- 2019) is to increase exports of European poultry to the target markets and deepen knowledge of the quality, taste value and production standards there, he said.

Europe is famous for its quality poultry as a result of breeding based on stringent EU regulations and the care given to every element of the food chain, he said, pointing out that the QAFP stands additional guarantee to the quality.

As part of efforts to introduce and promote Polish poultry in Vietnam, several companies are showcasing their products at the four-day Vietfood and Beverage-Propack international exhibition which opened on August 10 at HCM City's Sai Gon Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Visitors would have the opportunity to watch cooking shows and taste delicious poultry dishes at the show, he said.

Poland is looking for prestigious Vietnamese poultry distributors to promote its exports, he said.

According to the Department of Livestock Production, Vietnam imports 100,000-120,000 tons of poultry products annually, of which 90 percent is chicken meat.