On 29th January 2021, the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) organized a seminar on “The importance of registering Geographical Indication products” to deliver the results of the research project “Strengthening European Food Chain Sustainability by Quality and Procurement Policy (Strength2Food)” under the H2020 program supported by the European Commission. The authors assessed the social, environmental and economic sustainability of PDO Phu Quoc Fish Sauce and PGI Buon Ma Thuot Coffee in Vietnam. More than 50 stakeholders, enterprises, policy makers, experts and researchers attended the seminar, whose contents can also be found online on Facebook, the S2F website and other channels with hundred viewers.
The seminar began with a brief presentation of the Strength2Food project and the main general findings by the project coordinator, Prof. Matthew Gorton from Newcastle University. Dr. Ho Kim Lien, Chairwoman of Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association and Chairwoman of Khải Hoàn Fish Sauce Company was then invited to present the importance of PDO in the modern market and practice of PDO in Phu Quoc Fish Sauce case.
The UEH team presented the research results in Vietnam. The outcomes show that both PDO and PGI have had a positive impact on social, environmental and economic sustainability indicators of Phu Quoc Fish Sauce and Buon Ma Thuot Coffee. However, these differences/the difference between traditional and PDO/PGI products are still small. One of the main reasons is that since consumers have not enough information and awareness of PDO and PGI, they are not willing to pay higher prices for PDO and PGI products.
More specifically, Dr. Ho Kim Lien highlighted that PDO and PGI may enhance the prestige and brand name of the country in the global markets, increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese products and sustain the cultural and environmental conditions. Nevertheless, it would take higher costs, more time and effort for enterprises to obtain PDO with a strict valuation process. The traditional, cultural, authentic and sustainable values of Phu Quoc PDO Fish Sauce were discussed in the seminar and emphasized by Dr. Lien with various interesting and useful information.
