Vietnamese consumers spend 27 million USD to buy Alaskan seafood

Information regarding seafood exports from Alaska was recently shared by Ms. Susan Burns, Consul General of the United States in Ho Chi Minh City at a meeting hosted by the Office of External Affairs - Rural Development under the US Department of Agriculture, the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI).

According to Ms. Susan Burns, agricultural trade relations between the United States and Vietnam continue to develop strongly in recent years.

Vietnam is currently the 9th largest export market for US agricultural products, while the US is Vietnam's largest agricultural export market overall including seafood products.

“We are celebrating the 10th anniversary of our comprehensive partnership in 2023, and I am proud to share that the two countries' bilateral agricultural trade has more than doubled from over 4 billion USD in 2011 to roughly 10 billion USD in 2022”, Ms. Susan Burns informed.

According to the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, seafood plays an important role in agricultural trade between the two partnered countries.

US consumers have access to a variety of Vietnamese seafood, including shrimp and tuna, whereas lobster, king crab, salmon, coal cod and pollock products from the US continue to grow in popularity in Vietnam.

"Alaskan seafood exports to Vietnam have grown steadily over the past 5 years, from nearly 9 million USD in 2018 to 27 million USD in 2022", reported the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Ms. Susan Burns, US businesses within the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) wish to market and expand their activities in the Vietnamese market during this visit. This is one of many marketing activities that ASMI and American Agricultural Associations conduct worldwide to introduce safe, high-quality U.S. food to foreign trading partners.

The Office of External Affairs - Rural Development under the US Department of Agriculture has also developed the "United Tastes" media campaign to provide Vietnamese consumers with diverse recipe ideas and videos highlighting the great values ​​of the American natural ingredients, including Alaskan seafood.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, Vietnam's seafood exports in February 2023 reached approximately 662 million USD, which is an increase of 4% over the same period in 2022. During the first two months of 2023, Vietnam's exports seafood reached over 1.1 billion USD, a decrease of 26% over the same period in 2022.

On the other hand, exports to China have begun to show positive signs; namely, the value of seafood exports to the Chinese market increased by 33% in February. Additionally, the US market showed little sign of recovery in February, falling by 35% over the same period in 2022. During the first two months of 2023, seafood exports to the US reached 164 million USD, which is a decrease of 53%.