November 11, 2013 — Although pangasius is a remarkable source of competitively priced, boneless, skinless, white fish fillets which consumers enjoy eating, many European importers are solely concerned about how little they can pay for it. In order to achieve ultra low prices they are asking for the fillets to be tumbled in polyphosphate solution and then glazed by up to 30 percent.
It is a throwback to the days — hoped to be long gone — when, for example, in order to gain certain contracts, U.K. scampi companies would soak tail pieces in polyphosphate overnight to absorb liquid, then mould them into tail shapes, before freezing, adding excessive glaze and double breading.
Unfortunately competitive Vietnamese pangasius processors/exporters agree to demands for low prices and force the farmers to acquiesce. Twice a year pangasius farmers have to harvest their fish as the water temperature changes with the seasons, which causes them to lose condition. Furthermore, once they have reached their optimum weight of about 2.5 kilograms (kg), it takes an increasing amount of food to keep them alive.
The processors know this and take advantage of the situation to offer prices so low that farmers desperate to harvest their fish accept, but then often don’t re-stock their ponds. It is estimated that 70 percent of independent pangasius farmers have stopped production during the past two years.
The farmers need a factory delivery price of VND 22,000 (USD 1, EUR 0.78) to VND 30,000 (USD 1.40, EUR 1.06) per kg in order to continue rearing fish. With a filleting yield of 30 percent and processing and packaging costs this equates to USD 3.00 (EUR 2.24) to USD 3.50 (EUR 2.61) per kg, yet many importers are buying fish at less than USD 3.00 per kg.