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Introduction
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- Thailand is the world's
largest exporter of canned tuna, yet the home market is
small (1.8% of export earnings).
- Tuna is canned in a variety
of ways (solid, chunk, flake, shredded) and packed in
different styles (vegetable oil, brine, broth or sauce).
- A range of seasoning,
jellying and flavoring additives are used in canning
including salt, monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed protein,
gums and modified starch.
- Most commercially important
tuna species for the Thai tuna industry and markets
include: skipjack, yellow-fin, albacore, and to a lesser
extend tongol and some tuna-like species such as little
thunny and frigrate tuna.
Skipjack
- Skipjack is the leading
species of tuna in terms of abundance and international
trade.
- It is one of the smaller
tuna species having a length of between 18 -32 inches and
weight between 3 to 7 kg.
- This species inhabits
regions where the water temperature is 15 to 25 degree
Celsius.
- Skipjack is generally
considered a lower quality tuna than yellow-fin or
albacore owing to its darker flesh color and lower
meat/whole fish yield to processors.
Yellow-fin
- Yellow-fin is the second
leading tuna species for the Thai industries.
- Yellow-fin tuna generally
vary in length and weights ranging usually from 27 to 60
inches and 7 to 25 kg.
- They generally inhabit
water with temperature ranging between 18 -30 degree
Celsius.
- The meat is light in color
and is preferred for canning.
- This species also produce
higher yield than skipjack or other species used for the
production of canned tuna.
Albacore
- Albacore is the third most
important tuna species to the Thai industry.
- This species vary in length
from 15 to 36 inches and in weight from 4 to 15 kg.
- This species is commonly
distributed in water with a surface temperature ranging
between 15 - 19 degree Celsius and in deeper water with
temperature ranging 13 - 25 degree Celsius.
- Albacore is the only tuna
species that can be used to produce canned white meat
tuna.
- This species is usually
regarded as the highest quality tuna for canning purposes,
mainly because of its very light colored flesh.
Big-eye
- Big-eye tuna follows
albacore in importance but only a small quantity of this
species is canned since most are consumed fresh.
- Most is exported to Japan
for the fresh fish (sashimi) market.
- Size varies from 35 to 72
inches and the weight 4 - 16 kg.
- They are found mostly in
waters with temperature ranging 13 - 29 degree Celsius.
Blue-fin
- Blue-fin tuna is of
relatively minor importance in Thailand.
- This is the largest tuna
species. Common Southern blue-fin is 60 -80 inches in
length and 40 - 130 kg in weight. In contrast, the
Northern blue-fin is substantially larger up to 750 kg.
- Northern and southern
blue-fin inhabit waters further north and south,
respectively, than other tuna species.
- The flesh of these species
is considered too dark for canning and most commercial
catches are mostly destined for the Japanese fresh fish
market.
Tongol
- Tongol is relatively
important to Thailand as they are found along the Thai
coastlines.
- Tongol is one of the
smaller tuna species commonly ranging from 70 - 130 cm,
and weighing 1 - 5 kg.
- The flesh of this fish is
much whiter than yellow-fin and is comparable to albacore
in whiteness and taste.
- It is classed as light meat
tuna.
- Markets for canned tongol
are generally small and often fluctuate. Some North
Americans prefer tongol for its color and flavor.
Bonito
- Bonito is a tuna-like fish
that is of minor importance in Thailand despite being
harvested along the Thai coastline.
- These fish are small
commonly between 18 -32 inches and weighing 1 to 4 kg.
- Fresh and frozen tuna is
marketed:
- Chilled
- gilled and gutted or beheaded and gutted
- Frozen
- gilled and gutted or beheaded and gutted.
- Most frozen tuna is
eventually canned.
- A small quantity of tuna is
used in the preparations of pet foods or to extract oil.
- Important
products from tuna processing include tuna flavor, fish
calcium and Vitamin E.
- Product diversification
includes - tuna ham and sausage, and various value added
canned product.
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Description
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- Most internationally traded
tuna is eventually canned.
- Thai producers use both
imported frozen fish and chilled domestic fish as raw
material.
- The process includes:
- Selection of species
and size.
- Frozen fish is stocked
in the cold store according to size, species and
incoming date.
- Frozen fish are thawed
in water to an internal temperature of 0 to 5 degree
C, are eviscerated by hand, sorted by size and loaded
onto trays that are stacked on movable shelf racks and
transported to a pre-cooker.
- Pre cooked fish is
cooled by water spray and later air-cooled.
- After cooling, fish are
transferred to a cleaning area for loin cleaning.
Head and skin are removed and loin fillet is separated
from the skeleton.
- White (light) meat that
is used for human consumption is further separated
from the red (dark) meat (used for pet food).
- Meat is packed in
water, brine or oil in hermetically sealed tin cans.
The cans are then subjected to heating process in a
steam retort, water- cooled, stacked and labeled.
- There are 19 canned tuna
processors in Thailand. Most are small-scale.
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Size
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- In terms of daily tonnage,
it is estimated that the total production of canned tuna
decreased from an average of 1,600 metric tons per day in
1995 to 1,200 metric tons in 1996. In 1997, 1,400
metric tons/day were produced.
- Compared to Tuna exports of
US$670 million/yr the domestic market is small, valued at
only US$12.04.
- Five-year forecasts project
a 68% annual growth over the next five years leading to a
domestic market of US$53.54 million.
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Major players
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- Three main canners account
for 70% of Thailand's total production.
- Thai
Union Frozen Products (PLC) (accounts for 40%
of Thai exports of canned tuna){this company
incorporates Thai Union Manufacturing Co. Ltd. and
Songla Canning Co. Ltd.}
- Narong
Canning Co. Ltd.
- Chitiwat
Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Domestic market
- Pataya
Food Industries Co. Ltd produces
"nautilus" brand for domestic consumption and
export. This brand has 40% of the domestic canned
tuna market, with US$4.8 million in sales. A further
US$72.28 million is earned from exports. The company
also contract manufactures for Nestle, Nishin, and Marks
& Spencer.
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Raw material issues
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- A large proportion
(80-100%) of tuna must be imported, sources are mainly
Indian and Pacific Oceans.
- Imported tuna can account
for up to 70% of production costs.
- Supply problems have
occurred in recent years.
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International trade
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- Internationally, tuna is
traded fresh, frozen or canned.
- Japan remains virtually the
only major market for fresh tuna much of which is consumed
as sashimi..
- Tuna for sashimi is
deep-frozen to temperature below -40 degree Celsius.
- Exports of canned seafood
are worth Bt63 billion /yr (1998) of which canned tuna is
worth Bt 23.32 billion. Historically canned tuna
exports have been: (1995) 188,464 tons; (1996) 203,763 ton
and (1998) 227,319 ton.
- Major market for Thai
canned tuna are USA, Europe, Japan, Canada, Emerging
markets include Australia, Argentina, Brazil; the Republic
of South Africa, Egypt and Eastern European countries.
- Some of the Tuna canners
capable of attaining the quality level required by the
Japanese market prefer this destination, as the Japanese
market will buy premium quality products at a higher
price. The US and European markets are not as
willing to pay for additional quality.
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Trends/ recent news
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- Health awareness by Thai
consumers is on the increase, this is driving demand for
canned Tuna in the domestic market (average growth for
domestic market given at 68%/yr).
- Competitive measures
adopted by the industry to ensure continued success
include:
- Improving yield and
efficiency in all areas of production
- Controlling or reducing
labor and administrative costs.
- Utilizing new advanced
technology for production and warehousing.
- Promoting existing
value-added products and developing new products and
markets.
- Adopting environmental
protection measures
- Improving consumers'
awareness of the value of tuna.
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