Industry insiders refer to them as a “gold mine” that can generate billion-dollar revenue from leftovers of filleting fish meat for export. Above all, this is also a very valuable input for nutrition, medical and high-class cosmetic industries for human health.

In particular, in the current context of continuously increasing price of imported materials, the use of pangasius by-products as a highly nutritional and price-competitive alternative is considered a “solution” to the input problem of the processing industry.

Trisedco - Leading supplier of new pangasius by-products in Vietnam

Value from by-products

For a long time, pangasius is considered a key product of Vietnam's seafood industry, with about 1.5 million tons exported each year, worth about US$2 billion.

However, most exports come in the form of fillet, which accounting for 30% of the fish weight. The remaining 70% is head, bones, fat, skin and viscera, which used to be discarded before. The amount of by-products is very large and threatening environmental pollution if it is not handled well enough. While, this by-product source is very rich in protein, trace minerals and Omega 3 unsaturated fatty acids.

Combined investment in pharmaceutical, food, and feed research and application will bring significant economic value, both helping manufacturers to reduce input costs and protecting the environment.

Fish meals of Trisedco

These are biodiesel, shortening, margarine extracted from fish fat. Fish meal is made from fish head and bones. In addition, hydrolyzed protein from fish can be used to make organic fertilizers and seasonings.

Currently, our country has about 40 providers of pangasius by-products. The quantity is also very diverse, with nearly 20 products in circulation.

Before dozens of suppliers, producers are certainly confused to a certain extent when they weigh up input efficiency and cost efficiency for their products. So, what is the smart choice for manufacturers?

According to experts, sensory factors are a way to find good pangasius by-products: Reputation and scale of producers, input traceability and modern technology.

Prestige and quality make brand

After more than 14 pioneering years of input supply, including fish meal and fish fat and extremely valuable fish by-products to manufacturers of consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, animal feeds, processed seasoning (edible oil), collagen, high-grade animal protein (from fish), processed canned food (fish stomach, fish fins and swim bladders). Travel Investment and Seafood Development Corporation (Trisedco), a member of Sao Mai Group, is considered a leading supplier of new products from pangasius by-products in the Vietnamese and international markets.

Fish meal production line

The corporation’s 5-ha production factory, located on National Highway 80, Vam Cong Industrial Complex, Binh Thanh, Lap Vo, Dong Thap province, consists of three fish meal and fish fat production lines, capable of processing 470 tons of input materials a day, one pangasius seasoning powder production system, one high-grade cooking oil refinery of 100 tons of fish oil a day, and one shortening, margarine production line. In addition, the company has a warehouse system storing tens of thousands of tons of products.

The company strength is its modern equipment systems, imported from Europe, to make products meeting HACCP and ISO 9001-22000 standards. The production of by-products is also strictly imposed, from raw input and preliminary processing to separation of extract and bones, steaming, drying, fine grinding to cooling and packaging and preservation. Manufactured products will be then sampled by KCS according to TCVN 4325:2007 standards and checked for quality at the factory, including protein, fat, moisture and other basic criteria.

Fat-to-oil refinery

With the motto “All for customers and to customers", Trisedco has conducted constant researches and applied scientific and technical achievements to bring best products to consumers. While the price of imported materials is massively increasing, causing manufacturers to face many risks, the presence of Trisedco will be a "salvation" for food, chemical, pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies. The corporation helps them save production costs, source inputs, close the value-added chain, and improve product quality in the context of a difficult post-Covid economy.