Quality key for Vietnam in coming zero-sum game US market

Vietnamese producers must ensure the quality of their produce as the US starts to become a “zero-sum game” of a market, warned consultant Carson Roper.While US consumption of salmon is trending up over the past few years, and still, its seafood consumption is static. 

“When the pie isn’t growing, competition for a piece of that pie gets fierce,” he said. 

“Focusing on the quality of your offering is key, because if someone else can get one over on you by being better, they will.”A ‘zero-sum game’ is one in which one party can only win to the detriment of others.

He noted Amazon’s recent commitment to lowering prices on salmon and tilapia in Whole Foods, and noted the latter species was advertised on the site as being “not muddy-tasting like pond-raised” fish.

In Europe, meanwhile, Roper noted that consolidation among retailers — for instance the relatively recently-formed Ahold-Delhaize group — meant retail negotiating power was strengthening, and suppliers’ was therefore on the wane.