Recently, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) reported that in the first half of this year, Japan's frozen raw scallop exports to Vietnam increased dramatically.

VASEP cited data from the Japanese Ministry of Finance as saying that in the first 6 months of 2024, the export price of frozen raw scallops with shells was JPY 239/kg (USD 1.51/kg). In June alone, the price of scallops in this country reached JPY 278/kg, a significant recovery compared to the previous month and a sharp increase compared to the bottom of JPY 155/kg in March.

Notably, Japan exported 13,075 tons of shell-on scallops to Vietnam in the first half of this year. Compared to the same period last year, the amount of Japanese scallops entering the Vietnamese market increased dramatically by 2,078%, but the average price reached 231 JPY/kg, down 49%.

In particular, June recorded a record high order of 5,256 tons of scallops, a sharp increase of 1,110% compared to the same month last year.

In fact, Japan is trying to diversify its export markets for this type of seafood. Previously, China was Japan's main export market for scallops. On average, China imports about 95,000 tons of raw scallops from Japan every year.

Japanese Mirror
Japanese scallops imported to Vietnam increased by 2,078%. Photo: Huy Seafood

However, since China imposed a ban on Japanese seafood due to the discharge of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean in August 2023, Japan has been diversifying its scallop export markets.

Accordingly, Vietnam, the US, Taiwan (China) and some countries in Southeast Asia have become Japan's main scallop consumption markets.

In Vietnam, scallops are a familiar dish for "gourmet" diners, but Japanese scallops are quite expensive.

On the market, live imported Hokkaido scallops in shell are sold for 700,000-850,000 VND/kg. This type of seafood is considered the "quintessence of the sea" of Japan. Scallop meat costs from 1.2-1.4 million VND/kg. For frozen scallops, the price ranges from 150,000-300,000 VND/kg depending on the type.

A few years ago, some stores in our country were selling dried Japanese scallops for up to 10 million VND/kg.

Scallop meat is the most delicious and precious part of the scallop with a sweet, cool taste. Scallop meat is ivory white, delicious but not tough. In Japanese cuisine, scallop meat is often used to make many delicious dishes such as sushi and sashimi. In addition, this type of seafood is also processed into steamed, grilled dishes...

Recently, to introduce this quintessential Japanese seafood dish, a restaurant in Ba Dinh (Hanoi) also held a party to introduce and try high-class scallops. Accordingly, scallops were processed into sushi, sashimi and many traditional Japanese dishes for guests to enjoy.

Vietnam is not only a large consumer market but also a target for processing this famous Japanese seafood.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Vietnam has many seafood processing factories, including scallops, so it has experience in production. Therefore, Japanese enterprises choose Vietnam as a processing location, from which they export to the US and ASEAN countries.

Since the beginning of this year, Japanese seafood companies have begun piloting the processing of Hokkaido scallops in Vietnam. A shipment of about 20 tons of shell-on scallops has been brought to Vietnam for processing, then exported back to Japan for sale to restaurants and retailers.

According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, in the first 7 months of 2024, our country spent 101.5 million USD to import seafood from Japan, including a large amount of scallops.

Scallop meat 10 million/kg: Rich drinkers, watching football matches, eat 1kg

Scallops are listed as a luxury dish for the rich. On the market, fresh Japanese scallops cost 1-1.7 million VND/kg, dried scallops can cost up to 10 million VND/kg.