The record inflation taking place in Europe due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has caused a sharp increase in prices of not only energy commodities but also many foods in the EU. This situation is creating opportunities for Asian agricultural products in general, Vietnamese agricultural products in particular to promote exports to this market…
EU consumers choose healthy foods. (Photo: Internet)
According to a report published by the European Union (EU) Eurostat Statistics Office on 1 July, prices in 19 Euro-using countries increased by 8.6% in June. The increase in prices in this area was 8.1% one month ago.
Eurozone inflation increased to a record high level in the context of escalating energy and food prices. Meanwhile, energy prices go up sharply at 41.9% in the past year because of the impact of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.
AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS ARE FAVORABLE
In the EU, in the food field, flour increased the strongest compared to last year, to 52.3%. Many other foods also increased, such as the price of milk increased by 31.3%; the price of sugar increased 25%, the price of eggs increased 14.2%, and the price of pork increased 25% compared to the same period last year.
According to Eurostat, in the first 6 months of this year, the food commodities group increased by 8.9%, showing that inflation is spreading in the Eurozone.
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the prices of seafood in Europe are increasing because of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine with recent trade embargoes. These have been causing disruption and even broken off many important European trade routes.
Russian Alaska fish to China has been placed on the list of banned products for export to the US and Europe. The price of tuna in the European market has also increased strongly because the sharp increase in oil prices has increased the operating costs of tuna exploitation and transportation. The prices of shrimp and salmon are continuing to go up since the beginning of 2022 thanks to the recovery of the market while the supply is limited.
Thanks to the high price of Tra fish, shrimp, tuna, etc exported to the US and EU markets, Vietnam’s seafood exports bring over 5.76 billion USD in the first six months of the year, up 39.6% compared to the same period last year.
VASEP commented that the lack of seafood supply in the EU and the US is creating a “golden opportunity” for Vietnamese Tra fish products to increase the market share in these two markets.
If in the past, the average price of Tra fish exported to Europe was only 2.7 USD/kg, in the first 6 months of 2022, the export price to this region averaged 3.45 USD/kg.
The price of Tra fish exported to the US has increased even more sharply, reaching 4.5 USD/kg, the highest ever, while in the past Tra fish exported to the US only reached 2.9-3.1 USD/kg.
Mr. Tran Van Cong, Vietnam’s Agricultural Counselor in Europe, at the online forum “Diversification of processed and preserved fruit and vegetable products in line with the consumer market” (July 7), emphasized that Europe is an important and potential market for Vietnam’s agricultural exports.
Especially in the context of the very strong increase in food prices in Europe, due to the scarcity of supply, enterprises need to take advantage of this opportunity to increase the export turnover of Vietnamese agricultural products to Europe.
According to Mr. Cong, of all the groups, vegetables are the one with the largest surplus. “Each year, the European market imports about 120 billion USD of vegetables, accounting for 40% of the total global fruit and vegetable imports. However, Vietnam’s export turnover to Europe is only about 190 million USD, accounting for a very small proportion of the European market share in imports, ” Mr.Tran Van Cong said.
Fruit juice products and frozen juices are favored in Europe because people in this region tend to consume green and are in high demand for nutritious, healthy foods, and plant products to replace animal products.
“Recently, large-scale enterprises with modern technology have done well in processing products to enter the European market. For processed products, Vietnam can fully access the European market with frozen or canned fruit and vegetable products”.
The lack of seafood supply in the EU and the US is creating a “golden opportunity” for Vietnam to increase the market share in these markets. (Photo: Internet)
VIETNAMESE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS STILL ACCOUNT FOR A SMALL MARKET SHARE IN THE EU
Also at the Forum “Diversification of processed and preserved fruit and vegetable products in line with the consumer market”, Mr. Hoang Xuan Khang, representative of the International Fresh Group Company specializing in distributing agricultural products in the EU shared: Currently, products distributed by the company are available in more than 3,500 supermarkets in many EU countries. However, the volume of agricultural products from Vietnam that the company distributes in this market is only less than 1%, which is a very unfortunate thing.
According to Mr. Khang, the major difficulties for Vietnamese enterprises when exporting to the EU market are the strict requirements of this market in terms of pesticide residues, food safety standards, and traceability.
The company has worked with Vietnamese enterprises, but many enterprises have not met the requirements of food safety standards and traceability, so they have been eliminated from the beginning.
“The dietary needs around the world are being balanced in the direction of good health and convenience. In addition, having to work from home because of the pandemic makes people afraid to go out to eat, leading to a greater demand for processed food. ”
Ms. Vu Kim Hanh, Chairman of the Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods, said.
Therefore, Mr. Khang expressed his desire: First of all, state management units need to help enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises, to achieve certificate of standards and basic infrastructure for export to the EU market. Then it’s time to choose the right item and marketing strategy.
Ms. Vu Kim Hanh, Chairman of the Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods, pointed out that the world is currently threatened by a shortage of food, which will help Vietnam’s agricultural exports increase in the coming time.
According to Dr. Ngo Xuan Nam, Deputy Director of the SPS Vietnam Office, in the first 6 months of the year, Vietnam received 504 notifications related to food safety and plant-animal quarantine. Compared to the same period in 2021, the number of notifications increased by about 9%.
The two markets highlighted by Mr. Nam are the EU and China. In particular, the EU pays special attention to residue levels in both fresh fruit products and processed/ dried products.
“Just now, at the 83rd session of the SPS-WTO Committee, we worked with the EU on this issue. The EU committed to working closely with Vietnam to increase information transmission as well as agreed on measures and notifications to promote agricultural product trade, ” Mr. Nam emphasized.