HANOI: Vietnam’s cattle industry is failing to meet the country’s increasing demand for beef, forcing local consumers to turn to imported products. Last year, the country imported more than 262,300 live cattle, and nearly 42,000 tons of beef and buffalo meat, valued at more than $410 million, according to the Animal Husbandry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Explaining the reason for the imports, vice head of the department Tong Xuan Chinh said Vietnamese people’s diets have changed drastically in recent years, and they’re now eating more beef and buffalo meat. Average consumption has doubled to 5-6 kilograms of beef and buffalo meat per year in the past decade, but the cattle industry has been unable to keep up with the pace. Local supplies of beef and buffalo meat only meet 80 percent of the current demand. Imports of beef and buffalo meat are unavoidable due to limited local supplies,” said chairman of the Vietnam Animal Husbandry Association Nguyen Dang Vang. “We don’t have the policies needed to develop the cattle industry.” Imported beef, mainly from Australia and the U.S., is available in air conditioned supermarkets, modern food stores and local markets, and some restaurants are also using imported beef in their dishes. Many local consumers favor imported products thanks to their reasonable prices and food safety concerns that have plagued the Vietnamese food market in recent years. Beef imported from Australia and the U.S. costs from VND100.000-500.000 ($4.4-22.02) per kilogram, around the same price as local products. It tastes good and it’s not too expensive,” housewife Nguyen Thi Nga, 42, from Hanoi’s Dong Da District, said while buying Australian beef at local supermarket Vinmart. Consumers like Nga are expected to drive Vietnam’s imports of beef and buffalo meat. This rising demand is mainly because Vietnamese consumption of beef and buffalo meat is still low. Beef accounts for 23 percent of the world’s total meat consumption, while beef and buffalo meat make up just 7 percent of the Vietnamese diet, Vang said. The most popular meat in the country is pork. Despite the demand, Vietnam has been struggling to develop its cattle industry. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the country does not have the conditions to expand the industry.
The hot weather is not suitable for raising cattle, experts said, while low quality livestock has affected output. The weight of cattle reared in Vietnam is 30-50 percent less than animals raised in Australia or the U.S. Limited land is another obstacle for the cattle industry. Chinh from the Animal Husbandry Department said that cattle need large areas to graze. Countries with developed cattle industries like Australia, New Zealand and the U.S earmark one hectare of land per cow, while that space in Vietnam is much smaller.
