Quality management of shrimp value chain in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Abstract

Quality assurance systems have become of increasing concern for suppliers in both developed and developing countries. Shrimp produced in Vietnam often do not satisfy the expectations of Western consumers with respect to the desired quality. Small-holders are not acquainted with the wishes and demands of the foreign consumers of the products, and therefore cannot gear their production methods towards the desired product quality. Moreover, production chains do not always operate efficiently and effectively, adding an additional hurdle to successful market penetration. The scientific challenge with respect to the improvement of the quality performance of Shrimp supply chains implies the structural incorporation of the important elements in the process of food production, which are based on current scientific research for quality-orientated product development, namely a coordinated chain approach to the production to deal with the complexity of optimising food production systems; and incorporation of extrinsic food quality parameters into the production and supply chain.