Canada seeks bigger share for its beef in Vietnam Clayton Colliou, a butcher at Bon Ton Meat Market, organizes choice cuts of Alberta beef in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, October 3, 2012. Reuters Canada appears so serious in its plan to have the country’s beef enter the Vietnamese market that its agriculture minister has visited the Southeast Asian country for a promotion campaign. Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Gerry Ritz led an agricultural trade mission on a trip to introduce Canadian beef in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday, their first stopover in a three-country Asian tour to promote the brand. Speaking at a seminar, the minister said Canadian cows are fed mostly grains so their meat is different and more delicious than those raised in the U.S. and Australia, where cattle eat corn and weeds, respectively. In 2014 Canada’s beef exports topped US$2 billion to nearly 80 markets worldwide, Minister Ritz said, adding that shipments to Vietnam were estimated at $25 million. Ritz hailed Vietnam as a “potential market” for Canada’s beef exports, which is the reason they chose to visit the Southeast Asian country first before moving on to Japan and South Korea. The Canadian minister expressed his hope that more Canadian beef will be shipped to Vietnam in the future. Since 2006, Canadian agri-food and seafood trade with Vietnam, South Korea and Japan has increased 57.4 percent, according to Canada’s Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food. A stronger presence of Canadian beef in Vietnam will intensify competition in the market for the meat, with existing players from Japan, Australia, and the U.S. Vietnamese conglomerate Hoang Anh Gia Lai and leading meat company Vissan have recently introduced beef from cows raised in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, adding heat to the market. Vissan has also said it is replacing Australian beef at its stores with meat from Australian cattle raised in Vietnam. But Minister Ritz is confident that Canadian beef can beat out rivals thanks to its high quality. He said the world-class quality of Canadian beef is based on such grounds as food safety, origin traceability, breeding technology, and sustainable environmental protection. The Canadian government will also continue supporting the beef industry to enter the Vietnamese market in the future, he added. The Ho Chi Minh City seminar was co-organized by Canada’s Beef Cattle Research Council and the Canadian Embassy in Vietnam. TUOI TRE NEWS