Sao Mai Group Builds Pangasius Values

The Vietnam Pangasius Cuisine and Trade Promotion Festival was recently opened at the Agricultural Exhibition Centre, Hanoi. International Development & Investment Corporation (IDI) and Asia Fish Oil Corporation (AFO), two members of Sao Mai Group, attended and introduced unique products from Vietnamese pangasius to consumers.

Pangasius is a national product that has been present in more than 150 countries and territories in the world, including notoriously high-standard markets such as the United States and Europe. Every year, this fish brings billions of US dollars from exports to the country. Recently, China, ASEAN, the Middle East, Brazil and Mexico have rapidly increased their imports of pangasius products, showing the popularity of this fish in the world. In Vietnam, pangasius has been added to the National Product Programme to 2020. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held this significant event to introduce pangasius values, not only in the popular form of fillets but also other product categories for domestic and export markets, to central and local authorities, domestic and foreign enterprises and northern consumers.

IDI, member of Sao Mai Group and member of the Vietnam Pangasius Association, is currently a Top 3 export seafood processor in Vietnam. The corporation brought to this festival dozens of dishes cooked from pangasius, called the billion dollar fish.

To foreign customers, IDI has confirmed the “clear origin” of pangasius traceability, organic farming and processing practices according to international food safety standards, from breeding to feeding and environment. This is the way IDI in particular and Sao Mai Group in general have boosted the image of Vietnamese pangasius in the global market.

Ranee premium cooking oil came into the limelight at the Vietnam Pangasius Cuisine and Trade Promotion Festival. Purely made from pangasius, Ranee is an exceptional cooking ingredient, a product made by Sao Mai Group and solely distributed by AFO.

Powered by most modern refining equipment imported from Europe, the self-contained production process does not use chemicals to ensure absolute food safety and hygiene. As a result, Ranee’s nutritional values including unsaturated fatty acids, Omega 3, Omega 6, Omega 9, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), and other trace minerals essential to human body are wholly retained. Ranee premium cooking oil features light yellow and characteristic aroma. The product not only provides energy to sustain physical activity but also replenishes natural nutrients through daily meals to protect human health, supplement micronutrients and treat pathophysiological and cardiovascular diseases.

According to studies from the National Institute of Nutrition, EPA, DHA and Omega 3 nutrient compounds are good for improving IQ for children, brain health for the elderly, physical health for pregnant women, as well as strengthening the digestive system. Recently, researchers at the School of Medicine, the University of Nottingham based in the United Kingdom (UK), in cooperation with scientists at King's College London (UK), added a long list of Omega-3 benefits, e.g. relieving rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, enhancing bone health and preventing cognitive decline and dementia.

Speaking at the festival opening ceremony, Mr Le Thanh Thuan, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Pangasius Association (Vinapa) said, “Vietnamese pangasius is a treasure that needs to be cared more. After rice, pangasius - indigenous to the Mekong River downstream - has made impressive imprints, with 99 per cent of products exported to the world market. Sao Mai Group pioneered to establish a self-contained farming, processing and exporting process for pangasius. The group has also applied advanced technologies and cooperated with Vietnamese scientists to produce high quality cooking oil from pangasius. Ranee oil is recommended for use by the National Institute of Nutrition. It is included in the micronutrient supplement strategy for Vietnamese children from 2015 to 2020.”

Dang Tuan