Minh Phu Seafood’s chairman, Le Van Quang, used his presentation to hammer home a point that struck a chord with the audience at GOAL 2014.
Quang, who runs Vietnam’s largest seafood company and biggest shrimp exporter, claimed that having one standard for all shrimp producers would cut cost by 5-10%.
“If we did not have all these standards, the producers could cut costs and we could have cheaper shrimp for the consumer,” he told the audience at GOAL 2014 (for all our coverage, click here).
All the standards focus on different areas, from food safety to the ethics of production, whereas it would make sense for one that covers all this, he said.
The company uses “50% of its time” in meeting such standards, said Quang. He’d like to see one standard, which covers hatcheries and farms; shrimp quality; production conditions; and human welfare.
His speech was met with a round of applause from the crowd.
“We have Japanese retailers that have their own standards, we have Costco, Whole Foods and many others who also have their own standards. Then, we have ASC [Aquaculture Stewardship Council], Global Gap, and BAP [Best Aquaculture Practices]. It costs money,” said Quang.
He said the costs are not just financial, but also on management time in dealing with auditors from the various bodies.
When asked if the VietGap standard could be this, he said was skeptical. “This is for the Vietnamese farmers only, it has no value with the buyer.”