Imported King Crab, lobsters are selling well in Vietnam

Vietnam has become an emerging market for foreign seafood exporters with more and more lobster, abalone and salmon imported to Vietnam. 

In HCMC, consumers can buy foreign seafood fresh or enjoy dishes made of imported seafood at restaurants.

Lan Phuong, a housewife in district 7, HCMC, said she rarely ate high-quality seafood in the past because the prices were too high. But now seafood is affordable because more imports have arrived.

“Imported frozen lobster is priced at VND200,000 per kilogram, while live lobster is VND900,000 per kilogram. The prices are very reasonable. If you want Vietnam’s lobster, you have to pay several million dong,” Phuong said.

At a seafood shop on Nguyen Van Dau street in Binh Thanh district, Canadian live lobster is sold for VND900,000 per kilogram (each lobster weighs 1-4 kilograms), and Australian live lobster is VND2.2 million per kilogram. 

However, spiny lobster from Phu Yen, Con Dao Island and Nha Trang City is priced at VND2.5-3.5 million per kilogram.

At another shop, the owner quoted a price of VND1.6 million per kilogram for fresh South Korean abalone and VND2.1 million for Canadian King Crab. Previously, there were only frozen products priced at below VND1 million.

Tran Van Truong, director of Hoang Gia Seafood International, said the domestic demand for premium seafood products is increasing rapidly, but the domestic supply is exhausted, so distributors have had to seek new supply sources from imports.

American and Canadian lobsters are carried to Vietnam by air and charged an import tariff of 10 percent. However, they are affordable with prices just 50 percent of Vietnam’s products.

Hoang Gia now imports lobsters to distribute to restaurants in HCMC and plans to import Canadian King Crab, South Korean abalone and Japanese scallops.

US seafood exporters, who paid a working visit to Vietnam days ago, said Vietnam is now their ninth largest export market.

Steve Nguyen, director of Calisa Food, is optimistic about the consumption of foreign seafood in Vietnam, saying that targeted clients include restaurants, hotels, individuals and the Cambodian market. 

Le Thi Thanh Lam, deputy general director of Sai Gon Food, said that since Vietnamese consumers like new products and now have more money, they are spending more on more luxurious food.

However, according to Vo Quoc, a culinary expert, Vietnam’s lobster is still Number 1 and imports cannot compare.

US$1=VND22,000

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