Fish buying patterns

· Purchasing frequency

This section examines how households acquire fish. Around 70 percent of the respondents reported that fish accounted for more than 50 percent of the total meat consumed. The fish component of a meal tended to be higher for rural people than for urban consumers (Table 58).

Women are often in charge of purchasing food for family consumption. In this study, 84 percent of the families reported that the wife takes care of the kitchen and goes to the market to purchase fish (Table 57). In other families, fish purchasing may be the task of the children or other family members. Therefore, women should be the main target group for fish market studies and fish consumption promotion campaigns.

TABLE 57
Family members that usually go to buy fish by areas of residence

Fish purchasing patterns are similar in all locations surveyed. Table 58 shows that people went to buy fish every two days. Each time, around 1 kg of fish was purchased. However, the financial resource at disposal for each purchase of fish was different. In the cities, people were would spend an average of VND 20 000 per fish purchase, while in the suburban and rural area the figures were VND 15 and 10 000 respectively (Table 59). The size of fish should not exceed 1 kg, which corresponds to the preference of consumers. The size of the fish product was important affecting price and purchasing decision. The willingness of consumers to pay varied with location, therefore, city markets should be supplied with higher price products, and the suburban and rural markets with lower price products.

TABLE 58
Purchasing pattern for fish products

TABLE 59
Frequency of fresh/alive fish products consumption by areas of residence

· Fish species/products purchased

Various forms of fish products are available in the market. Fresh fish was most frequently consumed (Table 59) followed by dried products (Table 60). Canned, frozen or ready-made products are rarely consumed at household level, especially in the rural area where these forms are hardly consumed (Tables 61-63).

TABLE 60
Frequency of dried fish products consumption by areas of residence

TABLE 61
Frequency of canned fish product consumption by areas of residence

TABLE 62
Frequency of frozen fish products consumption by areas of residence

TABLE 63
Frequency of ready-made fish product consumption by areas of residence

There was a variety of fish species available for consumption from fresh or marine waters. When asked which fish species people liked most, it was found that shrimp, squid, crab, snakehead, major carps, common carp, mackerel, tilapia, shellfish and scad were the ten most preferred species among consumers (Table 64). In addition, rural consumers also preferred catfish and dried fish.

TABLE 64
Fish species preferred by consumers by areas of residence

However, there are several species that people do not like to eat. The reasons for the dislikes are diverse. Table 65 shows that 88 percent of the consumers reported that they did not like fish because of organoleptic and nutritional reasons mentioning taste, smell, look, fat and bones. In addition, economic and health reasons should be considered. 47 percent of the respondents referred to health problems when eating fish such as, allergies, itching or getting poisoned. Twelve percent said that they had economic problems with eating fish since fish due to high prices, or they had a low income and could not afford the consumption of fish products.

TABLE 65
Reasons for fish dislikes by respondents by areas of residence

The preferred species, were also the most frequently consumed species namely shrimp, snakehead, squid, major carps, mackerel, scad, common carp, crab, tuna and tilapia. There was a difference as shellfish and catfish are not in the list of the most frequently consumed species, instead they are replaced by tuna and scad (Table 66). This situation was similar in the list of the ten most purchased species where shellfish and catfish are not found, and anabas, scad and other types of mackerel replaced shellfish, catfish and tilapia (Table 67).

TABLE 66
Species consumed by households
(kg/month)

TABLE 67
Household expenditure of fish products by species (VND x 1000)

Fish sauce was the most common fish product consumed in almost every family. Table 68 shows that the average quantity of fish sauces consumed monthly per household was 2.2 litres, corresponding to a monthly expense of VND 18 470. The consumption of fish sauce was slightly different according to location; consumption in rural areas tended to be higher (2.5 litres) than in cities (2.0 litres). Even though, more fish sauce was consumed in the rural areas, the monthly expenses on fish sauce were less than VND 14 727, while the figure for cities was VND 19 470. This indicates that urban consumers purchased fish sauce at a higher price than those in rural areas.

TABLE 68
Monthly consumption of fish sauce per household by areas of residence

The total quantity of fisheries products consumed per household/month was also investigated (Table 69). The median monthly quantity consumed per household was 3 kg, with corresponding expenses of VND 60 000 (Table 69). According to NIN (2002), in 2000, the per capita fish consumption per year was 18.72 kg including all kinds of aquatic products. Variation of fish consumption by region was considerable, but the amount of fish consumed per household was similar to that of 10 years before. From the study, it was also found that there was a slight difference among locations. Urban consumers consumed less fisheries products than those in rural areas. The median of the quantity consumed in cities was 3 kg, while the figure for the rural was 5 kg. However, the median of the expenses in cities was higher than that in the rural area.

TABLE 69
Monthly consumption of fish products per household

TABLE 70
Proportions of fish products among other total meats consumed by areas of residence

Consumers’ access to fish

Fish products are available in most market places throughout the study areas. The median of distance for consumers in cities to travel to purchase fish products was one km compared with a mean of two km for rural consumers.

Fish consumers can have access to various fish suppliers at the same time. Findings show that 95.6 percent of the consumers purchased fish from fish retailers with large proportion of the purchase often accounting for more than 75 percent of the total purchase. Apart from getting fish from retailers, consumers purchase fish from fish farmers or fisherfolk, fish wholesalers, processors, or even supermarkets. However, the proportion of these purchases was minor. Table 75 shows that those who purchased from primary producers mostly lived in rural areas, while those who purchased from wholesalers, processors and supermarkets, lived in cities or sub-urban areas.

Consumers’ preference in selecting suppliers was based on reasonable prices, trusted and assured quality of products and a nearby location (Table 77). The suppliers should also offer various kinds of products so as to allow choices for consumers (7.8 percent of the respondents).

Promotion of fish consumption

· Image of fish and promotion of fish consumption

According to Table 77 price, quality of the products and their freshness are the major factors influencing the buyer’s decisions. Therefore, it was necessary to provide information of the fish product traded in the market in order to affirm purchasing decision of consumers; particularly in view of recent concerns related to the safety of products and natural, free of chemicals and disease.

Regarding brand name of fisheries products, the majority (74.7 percent) of consumers do not focus on brand names (Table 71). This was due to either unavailability of fish products with band-names or lack of impact. However, a higher proportion of urban consumers reported that their purchasing decision was based on the products’ brand names only related to fish sauce and frozen or canned products. Various brand-names of fish sauce were mentioned by consumers namely Cat Hai, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Hai Dang, Nam O, Muoi Thu, Cua Hoi, or Phuong Trang fish sauce, while only frozen and canned products of Ha Long Cannery were mentioned. Some other respondents referred only to products of factories in general without specific brand names. The study also examined how a brand name of a fish product could favour a firm image of products with consumers. Consumption experience was the most common way to establish an image as reported by 65.6 percent of the respondents (Table 72). Advertisements, availability of the product, introduction by other consumers or the salespersons to the product were only means leading to the first consumption. This implies that in order to have a good image of the product, quality and price are those that could strengthen the image.

TABLE 71
Brand names used in fish purchasing decision by respondents by areas of residence

TABLE 72
Motivation and product preference by area of residence

Hence the image of fisheries products was not strong in consumers’ impression, i.e. fisheries products did not have a clear-cut distinction against other kind of meat products in the domestic market. Fisheries operators should build up their image in the market aiming at sustainable market development. In order to attract more consumers to fish consumption, the study also searched for the most preferred promotion activity as seen by consumers. Discounted prices were the most indicated, and the behaviour of the salespersons was also considered important for attracting consumers (26.6 percent of the respondents; Table 73). Other factors like gift, cooking guidance, packaging or preliminary processing, quality assurance, and home delivery service are widely appreciated.

TABLE 73
Preferences on fish trade promotion by final consumers by areas of residence

· Problems or constraints to fish consumption

In examining fish consumption at consumer level, various problems were identified. Many consumers complained about price of fish products being high or changing. Around one third mentioned low income as a constraint to fish consumption (Table 74). However, fish scarcity and limited information on fish products were problems recorded by many consumers, especially those living in urban areas. It was high time to improve the retailing network and meet the increasing demand for fish. In addition, around half of the respondents complained about the safety and quality of fish products, several people referred to ethical issues related to the salespersons, e.g., cheating when weighing fish.

TABLE 74
Problems and constraints perceived for fish consumption by respondents by areas of residence