7-1-2024 (HANOI) In response to China’s embargo on Japanese seafood, Japanese seafood companies are initiating the processing of Hokkaido scallops in Vietnam, with the first batch set to be processed on Monday.
Seafood e-retailer Foodison is collaborating with several companies, including wholesaler Ebisu Shokai and trading houses Ocean Road and Nosui, to conduct a trial shipment of unshelled scallops, exceeding 20 tonnes in weight.
The partnership involves the purchase of scallops from Ebisu by Ocean Road, which will export them to Vietnam for processing. Subsequently, the processed scallops will be shipped back to Japan for distribution to restaurants and retailers by Foodison, Ebisu, and Nosui. Ocean Road has prior experience with this model, having processed shrimp and crabs in Vietnam for the Japanese market.
The initial consignment has been dispatched to Vietnam, where the processing facility will create half-shell scallops suitable for cooking, sushi-grade meat, and frozen scallops for raw consumption. The success of this trial will determine whether further operations will be conducted in Vietnam.
The head of the frozen fish division at Nosui, which supplies processed seafood for commercial use, stated, “If product prices come down, then they could be used by conveyor-belt sushi chains and big convenience store operators.”
Labour costs for processing in Vietnam are only 20% to 30% as high as those in Japan. Even with transportation costs factored in, the price of sushi-grade or raw scallops is expected to be lower than Japanese-processed products. Half-shell scallops, which require less processing, are anticipated to be priced similarly to their Japanese counterparts.
Kenichiro Hoshino, a manager at Foodison, highlighted the advantages of processing overseas due to the scarcity of manpower in Japan and the time-consuming nature of the process. The Vietnamese facilities are HACCP certified, meeting international food safety standards, enabling the export of scallops to markets beyond Japan. Once established, the companies may explore selling to Europe and the U.S.
In 2022, Japan produced 500,000 tonnes of unshelled scallops, with approximately 140,000 tonnes exported to China. However, since China suspended imports in response to Japan’s wastewater release from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, unprocessed scallop inventories have accumulated. To address this issue, the Japanese government has introduced support measures, including subsidies covering processing equipment and storage costs. The U.S. Embassy is also promoting sales in other regions, such as Southeast Asia, while the Japan External Trade Organization is exploring an export route to the U.S. through processing in Mexico.
