Vietnamese pangasius suppliers strike deals with Europe’s leading frozen foods firm

Europe’s leading frozen food company, Nomad Foods, has inked new contracts to secure the supply of certified farmed pangasius fish from three Vietnamese firms - Vinh Hoan, VDTG and Godaco Seafood.

The three firms are among the largest global suppliers of Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) - certified suppliers of farmed seafood.

Under the latest deals, the three Vietnamese companies will start supplying the pangasius fish from 2023, according to a Friday announcement from UK-based Nomad Foods, the world’s largest branded purchaser of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified fish and seafood products.

With more than a third of global fish stocks fished at unsustainable levels and wild-caught fishing volumes set to decline, the latest contracts with the three Vietnamese major suppliers are seen as a significant milestone in Nomad Foods’ journey to source 100% of all fish and seafood from sustainable fishing or responsible farming by 2025, the European heavyweight stated in a release.

Chris Ninnes, CEO of ASC, said this was an important sign that environmentally sustainable and socially responsible production are key requirements for the aquaculture industry. “We are really pleased with Nomad Foods' increased commitment to supporting sustainable aquaculture practices by incorporating more ASC-certified farmed fish into their product range.”

Vinh Hoan has worked hard for many years to develop this “healthy source of protein of the highest quality, ensuring it is responsibly processed and sourced from integrated and accredited farms,” according to CEO Nguyen Ngo Vi Tam.

Nomad Foods CEO Stefan Descheemaeker said: “Working with the MSC for over 25 years, we have led the way in protecting wild fish stocks for future generations. We now plan to apply this knowledge to drive higher standards across the aquaculture supply chain, as we grow our existing partnership with the ASC and increase the range of fish species we use for our products.”

Descheemaeker added that his company was proceeding with a number of partnerships aimed at developing and scaling emerging food technologies in several areas including cell-cultured fish and alternative proteins such as mollusk, “to support wider efforts to safeguard the long-term availability of quality, affordable and great tasting seafood that is healthy for people and sustainable for the planet.”

Vietnam’s farmed pangasius fish is one of the country’s major export earners, and it is farmed mainly in the Mekong Delta, which is part of the Lower Mekong Basin.

Vietnam’s farmed pangasius fish is one of the country’s major export earners, and it is farmed mainly in the Mekong Delta, which is part of the Lower Mekong Basin.

Exports of this fish tto the U.S. fetched $421 million in the first eight months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 87%, according to Vietnam Customs.

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council, better known as ASC, is an independent, not-for-profit organization co-founded by the World Wildlife Fund and the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) in 2010 to manage the certification of responsible fish farming across the globe. The ASC standards require farm performance to be measured against both environmental and social requirements.