According to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), black tiger shrimp is a premium product that is popular in EU niche markets such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France.

In the first quarter of this year, Vietnam's black tiger shrimp exports to the EU market increased by 107% with a turnover of USD 24 million.

Before that, in the  2020 - 2021 period, black tiger shrimp consumption in the EU slowed down due to the negative impact of COVID-19, restaurants and bars must be closed for  prevention and control of pandemic.

From mid-2021, the market gradually reopened, therefore the demand for black tiger shrimp in the EU market recovered. As a result, the export of black tiger shrimp to the EU in 2021 reached USD 98.5 million, an increase of 36% compared to 2020.

Currently, the suppliers of black tiger shrimp to the EU market include Bangladesh, Vietnam, Madagascar, Indonesia, India and Myanmar. Products that compete with black tiger shrimp in the EU market such as whiteleg shrimp, Argentine red shrimp and wild-caught black tiger shrimp.

However, VASEP believes that Vietnam's black tiger shrimp in the EU market has many competitive advantages over competitors thanks to tariff incentives from the EVFTA agreement, fresh products, and an increasing number of ASC certified products.

Therefore, businesses need to ensure that they meet the requirements for quality, traceability, chain of custody and third-party certification.

In the EU market, wholesalers and retailers are quite fond of products such as HLSO black tiger shrimp and peeled black tiger shrimp size 16/20 - 51/60, HOSO black tiger shrimp size 21/26.

In the retail segment, frozen peeled black tiger shrimp products are mainly sold as 250g-1kg bags. HOSO semi IQF or IQF black tiger shrimp are sold as 250g-1kg bags or 500g-1kg carton boxes. Most retail organizations sell frozen shrimp under their own label.

In the first quarter, Vietnam's black tiger shrimp products exported to the EU included fresh frozen whole black tiger shrimp, frozen fresh PD black tiger shrimp, frozen fresh EZP headless black tiger shrimp, and frozen fresh HLSO EZP black tiger shrimp, fresh frozen IQF black tiger shrimp, IQF steamed PDTO black tiger shrimp, frozen fresh HOSO black tiger shrimp, frozen steamed CPTO black tiger shrimp, etc.

And the top enterprises exporting black tiger shrimp to the EU market are Camimex Joint Stock Company, Minh Phu Company, Nam Can Seafood Import-Export Joint Stock Company, etc.

Kylie Nguyen