The fish sauce made in Binh Dinh was well known for a long time nationwide and abroad. However, it has been defeated by other types of fish sauce made in other provinces since 2011.
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Bottles of fish sauce are wrapped at Thuy Tai manufacturer |
The development of local manufacturers proves the quality of Binh Dinh’s fish sauce. The province also has a golden age during 2006-2010, when 30 manufacturers operated, generating a total output of 10 million litres per year.
Some brand names, including Phung Ky-Thanh Huong, Phung Ky – Thuy Tai, and Muoi Thu, became famous in many countries, particularly Muoi Thu, Thuy Tai, and Bon Phuong which were awarded the “Vietnamese High Quality Product” title.
However, Binh Dinh’s fish sauce has been losing its market as some companies have started producing fish sauce and provinces of Phu Quoc, Binh Thuan, and Khanh Hoa focused on developing their brand names in fish sauce and expanding markets.
According to the owner of Thuy Tai fish sauce manufacturer, there are now hundreds of types of fish sauce in the market and they are greatly promoted, causing difficulties for Binh Dinh’s traditionally-made fish sauce to compete against others.
Binh Dinh’s fish sauce has gradually lost its brand name because most local manufacturers are household-scaled ones, let alone ineffective promotion campaigns, said Chairman of Binh Dinh Aquaculture Association Tran Van Lang. He added that there are also fake Binh Dinh’s fish sauce, badly affecting local manufacturers.
It’s thus necessary to have long-term strategies to be able to promote the brand name of Binh Dinh fish sauce. Improving the quality, enhancing promotion campaign and expanding distribution channels are important factors to fulfill this task.
HCM City-based Pho Viet Investment Co., Ltd, one of distributors in southern market, signed a contract to become an exclusive agent for Thuy Tai fish sauce manufacturer in early September.
The company’s director Nguyen Van Hieu said: “We carefully studied Binh Dinh fish sauce, which has its unique features and we decided to become a sole distributors of Thuy Tai fish sauce. We also planned to sign contracts with other manufacturers in Binh Dinh.”
According to Lang, the fact that a distributor signed an exclusive contract with Thuy Tai manufacturer shows that Binh Dinh fish sauce still has its own market share. However, it requires a common brand name if we want Binh Dinh’s fish sauce sustainably develops.
Alongside this, according market experts, Binh Dinh fish sauce association needs to enhance its role in erasing unfair competitiveness among local manufacturers and fight against those who take advantage of the brand name of Binh Dinh fish sauce for fake products.
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