Fermented fish in sauce hits local markets

Fermented fish in sauce hits local markets

Products of the Houngheuangsin fermented fish sauce factory are hitting local markets after they were certified as One District One Product (ODOP) by the Department of Promotion and Goods Development last year.

The factory's Director, Mrs Vilaysin Teuntan, said she was selling about 400 kilogrammes of fermented fish in sauce per day from 2007 to mid 2013.

But since her factory has been recognised as ODOP, she sells 700 kilograms per day.

“It is quite a big sales number, but my products don't reach all the provinces across Laos yet. My big market is in Vientiane and some provinces,” she said.

Mrs Vilaysin said she has customers in Savannakhet, Khammuan, Borikhamxay, Oudomxay and Xieng Khuang, but her products are not on sale at local markets yet.

“Many big restaurants in these provinces are my regular customers. They come to buy directly at my house. I don't sell in retail at many Vientiane markets. I only sell in retail at Suanmon market in Sisattanak district,” she said.

In the future she plans to expand her fermented fish products to more local Vientiane markets and to more provinces.

So far, Mrs Vilaysin's products are sufficient for supplying local markets in Vientiane. If she wants to expand to more provinces, she will need to be well prepared to meet high demand from the new customers.

She is able to pr oduce 240 bottles of cooked fermented fish in sauce per day. Each bottle holds one litre. There are 18 kinds of fermented fish sauce in her factory; four kinds have been ODOP-approved by the department, which operates under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Apart from the fermented products, she also makes a sauce to eat with grilled fish, beef, pork and chicken.

The cost of fermented fish sauce ranges from 5,000 to 100,000 kip per kilogramme. Most people like to buy fish in sauce to cook with papaya salad and other food.

There are both raw and cooked versions of the fermented fish on offer for customers.

“I invest about one billion kip to buy raw fish in a year and I get a handsome profit from producing fermented fish in sauce. The smell of fermented fish in sauce is strong, but it is okay for me,” Mrs Vilaysin said.

She buys 500 kilograms of raw fish every day from fishermen in Vientiane and Borikhamxay provinces.

The Houngheuangsin fermented fish in sauce factory was established in 2007. It is the first factory of its kind in the country. The Mrs Vilaysin's family started producing fermented fish sauce in 1990, in Chomphet village, Sisattanak district, Vientiane.

Mrs Vilaysin said both Lao people and foreigners were interested in her products.

“I want to export Lao fermented fish in sauce to foreign countries in the future to promote Lao products to global markets,” she said.

I am currently looking for ways to export them because many people living in foreign countries, including Lao people, are interested in buying my products.

vientiane times