The story of making traditional fish sauce not in the old-fashioned way

For a long time, people could not distinguish between traditional fish sauce and industrial one. What do you think about it?

Not every one knows about the story of fish sauce and industrial fish sauce.

In fact, those who are interested in cuisine usually pay attention to distinguishing traditional fish sauce and industrial one. In particular, housewives pay attention to choosing fish sauce but which they choose depends on many other factors.

I think that there are two types of fish, one is what we actively choose to eat and the other is what we passively eat as we cannot choose, the restaurants that serve us choose the fish sauce.

The inauguration ceremony of Dien Phu Factory.

Enterprises with large distribution systems and economic potential have made good use of the above factors and almost dominated the distribution channel through restaurants. As for the traditional fish sauce production enterprises, it is difficult to compete because their distribution system and financial potential are still modest.

Knowledge about fish sauce and industrial fish sauce is still controversial, particularly those relate to standards.  So it is still difficult to distinguish.

Today, industrial fish sauce brands have been booming. However, traditional fish sauce can still survive and cmplete as consumers see more and more traditonal fish sauce available in supermarkets. Do you think so?

Major producers with high financial capacity and strong branding  easily have their products enter supermarket systems and large distribution channels. Most of them are large-scale units, not only making fish sauce but also many other products like soy sauce, cooking oil or instant noodles.

They are "giants", so it's easy for them to enter the supermarket. So it is not surprising to see that industrial fish sauce makers are easier to enter supermarkets. As for small units with no potential, no large production size, no methodical work, it is very difficult to do so.

If traditional fish sauce producers want to enter a large distribution chain, they must meet the requirements of the market.

What about our company? Established in 1977, 584 Nha Trang has been in the industry for a long time and so far has built a pretty good distribution system. From the years 2008-2009, we have already put our products into the supermarkets. It's a whole process.

We persist in going from traditional distribution channels to supermarkets and expect that with the development of modern distribution systems, more and more consumers will know about 584 Nha Trang's products.

Our strength is output and prestige, so we have to find many distribution systems to associate with us. We are currently cooperating with a few strategic partners. They highly appreciate our potential and conditions of the raw material area, factories, technical team and the 584 Nha Trang brand.

On their side, they  have a good distribution system, which makes it easier for our customers to access the products. Previously, we sold our products much in the North and Central region, but our strategic partner is very strong in the South.

We persist in going from traditional distribution channels to supermarkets and expect that with the development of modern distribution systems, more and more consumers will know about 584 Nha Trang's products.

It is usually said that traditional is old. Is that true for 584 Nha Trang fish sauce?

To our fish sauce, "traditional" means we retain all the core of the product.

Fish sauce is produced with two main ingredients - fish and salt - with processes of mixing fish, brewing and stirring. However, certain processing stages need to be changed to benefit consumers without affecting the quality of the products. For example, in the past, the stages of mixing fish and salt had to be made manually but now we can use machines.

In the past, we extract fish sauce from the barrel to bottles by hand. Now, we have automatic pumping and bottling lines.

To apply such "non-traditional" stages, it is also necessary to have a certain market size and output. Without those two factors, it is impossible to do, for example, making a few thousand bottles but investing in a production line will be very costly.

So, traditional does not mean do all manually. The factory must now be clean and nice even fish sauce factory. The tradition can be referred as the traditional raw materials and production processes. The fish sauce must be made from fish and salt, with the right ripening process, the right method.

How do you apply science and technology to the production of traditional fish sauce?

584 Nha Trang has a long history of formation and development with a solid technical. Our company itself is located in Nha Trang City where Nha Trang University of Fisheries is located.

Most of the staff of 584 Nha Trang are well-trained, knowledgeable about the industry, and adhere to standard processes. Technological changes are constantly being updated, supplemented and further developed in the production process.

One of our advantages is that we have a professional team, well-trained and experienced staff, ready to develop products to meet market demands in terms of quality and packaging.

Can you please introduce about newly opened factory of 584 Nha Trang in Dien Phu industrial cluster, Nha Trang City?

We inaugurated Dien Phu factory on April 1st. This is what we have planned and longed for.

Participating in the PAN Group's ecosystem since 2016 as an associate company, 584 Nha Trang in 2018 became a subsidiary. We have had many opportunities to learn from models that the group implemented. We also receive a lot of support from the group to help the company take steps to develop value and sustainability. Since joining PAN, we have increased investment in the raw material area and have had two more factories producing raw fish sauce in Ca Na and Phan Ri Cua, with the production capacity of the factories reaching over 15,000 tonnes of raw fish per year. The new factory in  Dien Phu is specialised in packing.

In the last two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have faced difficulties. What about your business?

In fact, COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity for 584 Nha Trang to consolidate its facilities. When we have a need to build more facility, the PAN group invested and supported much. I think it's very convenient for a member company to share the same development orientation with the parent corporation.

During the pandemic, the demand for fish sauce increased. This industry is not like tourism, tourism is closed but fish sauce is the kind of product that can be is stored for use later. That is an opportunity for us. But not everyone can seize this opportunity. Assuming someone produces on a large scale and has an output, when the market has a demand, he can sell it. And if you don't have the potential, even if the need is great, you won't be able to take advantage of that opportunity.

I can say that 584 Nha Trang is very lucky. During the pandemic, we can not only maintain jobs for staff, even work shifts, maintain productions to meet market demands.

From 2001, the company has been continuously selected as high quality Vietnamese goods. On March 29, we continued to receive this award in HCM City. Besides, we have received the Việt Nam Gold Star Award five times in a row.

In 2020, fish sauce of 584 Nha Trang along with other products in the PAN Group such as Vinaseed plant varieties and agricultural products, Fimex VN shrimp, Bibica confectionery, cashew nuts and Lafooco mixed nuts were recognised as national branded products. The recognition is for the serious and persistent efforts of 584 Nha Trang on the journey of constantly improving product quality, better serving consumers.

During the pandemic, the demand for fish sauce increased. This industry is not like tourism, tourism is closed but fish sauce is the kind of product that can be is stored for use later.

In the last two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have faced difficulties. What about your business?

During the pandemic, the demand for fish sauce increased. This industry is not like tourism, tourism is closed but fish sauce is the kind of product that can be is stored for use later. That is an opportunity for us. But not everyone can seize this opportunity. Assuming someone produces on a large scale and has an output, when the market has a demand, he can sell it. And if you don't have the potential, even if the need is great, you won't be able to take advantage of that opportunity.

I can say that 584 Nha Trang is very lucky. During the pandemic, we can not only maintain jobs for staff, even work shifts, maintain productions to meet market demands.

From 2001, the company has been continuously selected as high quality Vietnamese goods. On March 29, we continued to receive this award in HCM City. Besides, we have received the Việt Nam Gold Star Award five times in a row.

In 2020, fish sauce of 584 Nha Trang along with other products in the PAN Group such as Vinaseed plant varieties and agricultural products, Fimex VN shrimp, Bibica confectionery, cashew nuts and Lafooco mixed nuts were recognised as national branded products. The recognition is for the serious and persistent efforts of 584 Nha Trang on the journey of constantly improving product quality, better serving consumers.

In addition to building a new factory, 584 Nha Trang has also changed its brand identity in more positive directions. Is this a combination for an upcoming "boom"?

Over the past 40 years, generations of employees and company leaders have witnessed the 584 Nha Trang brand grow from small to large. In the beginning, the company made and designed all kinds of labels without any planning.

Since we became part of the PAN Group, we were consulted to redesign labels, packaging and company’s images in a more professional and modern way.

When started the redesigning, we were also worried that changing the brand identity might make consumers feel unfamiliar with us.

However, before the urgent need, we have determined that if we want to develop, we must change. After piloting the change of identity in a few products, we received positive feedbacks from customers, thereby we are boldly proceeding on a large scale.

Not only has the brand identity and packaging changed, many product details have also been improved. An example is the button cover which is uniformed and much more advanced. Finished fish sauce bottles now not only have beautiful packaging and designs, but also become very user-friendly. This is an unexpected success and we will continue to develop more.