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Photo: Stockfile/FIS
US Soybeans Fuel Vietnam's Sustainable Export Push
VIET NAM
Tuesday, November 18, 2025, 00:10 (GMT + 9)
Driving the "Green" Transformation with Sustainable Feed
The Vietnamese aquaculture industry is accelerating a "green" transformation, focusing on sustainability and high-quality, traceable feed ingredients to unlock the full export potential of its tilapia. Despite its advantages, Vietnamese tilapia has yet to achieve a significant market breakthrough, making the shift to sustainable production an increasingly strategic imperative. Tilapia, particularly monosex tilapia and red tilapia, remains one of the most popular freshwater fish in the country.
Photo: GreenFeed
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Environmental Benefit: Utilizing US soybeans and soybean meal is emerging as a critical solution for reducing the carbon footprint of aquaculture feed. Using US soybeans in feed production can reduce emissions by approximately 200 kg of CO2 per ton of feed, significantly contributing to emission reduction goals across the production chain.
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Traceability and Standards: The move toward ingredients with international standards and clear origins, such as US soybean meal with Sustainable Soybean certification, helps local producers meet the stringent requirements of major export markets, including the United States, the EU, and Japan.
Global Standards Elevate the Supply Chain
 This shift is heavily influenced by evolving international certification standards, which now place a stronger emphasis on environmental responsibility and sustainability.
"We are witnessing a clear green transformation trend in agriculture in general and the aquaculture industry in particular... International certifications such as: GlobalGAP, BAP, ASC... are constantly being improved, with increasingly high requirements for raw materials." — Mr. Bui Ngoc Thanh, Director of Aquaculture - Vietnam, US Soybean Export Council (USSEC).
Mr. Thanh highlighted a key upcoming change:
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ASC Mandate: By 2025, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standards will stipulate that farms must use ASC-certified feed to gain product certification. This requires all feed ingredients used at a rate of over 1% to have clear traceability and meet sustainability criteria, demonstrating a strong transformation across the entire aquaculture production chain.
US Soybeans: A Decade-Long Commitment to Sustainability
The US soybean industry's focus on sustainability is not new, with sustainable cultivation practices in place since the 1980s. This long-term commitment ensures a raw material source that is highly sustainable, has low carbon emissions, and has achieved international sustainability certifications—all essential requirements for today's global markets.
Beyond environmental advantages, US soybeans offer technical benefits for feed quality:
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Improved Digestion: US soybeans boast a higher digestibility compared to many other soybean sources. This allows fish and shrimp to absorb nutrients more effectively, which in turn reduces waste discharged into the environment, helping to improve the quality of the aquaculture environment.
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Fishmeal Replacement: While some still believe fishmeal is indispensable, the aquaculture feed industry has shifted. Soybeans and soybean meal have become a crucial ingredient, capable of effectively replacing fishmeal in aquaculture feed formulas. This is vital given the massive growth in global aquaculture.
Photo:YouTube
Aquaculture's Growth and the Need for Alternatives
The reliance on sustainable alternatives like soybeans is driven by the explosive growth of the global aquaculture sector.
This increase reflects the continuous and strong expansion of the industry. The total global aquaculture feed production has reached nearly 60 million tons, a demand that the natural supply of fishmeal can no longer meet.
Viet Nhat Group Leads the Way in Hai Phong
A successful example of this "green" export production chain is the 7-hectare tilapia farm operated by Viet Nhat Group in Tu Ky district, Hai Phong. This model demonstrates that applying aquaculture feed with sustainability certification can improve tilapia quality, reduce costs, and meet stringent market demands, paving the way for other Vietnamese producers to follow suit and promote the farming of brackish and saltwater tilapia.
The Origin of the 200 kg of CO2 Reduction
The claim that using U.S. soybeans in feed production can reduce emissions by approximately 200 kg of CO2 per ton of feed is based on its significantly lower Carbon Footprint (CF) compared to other global sources, as demonstrated by rigorous Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies.
The key factors for this low footprint are:
1. Prevention of Land Use Change (LUC)
The most defining factor is the protection against deforestation. U.S. laws and the U.S. Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP) verify that the soy is not grown on lands obtained by recent deforestation or the conversion of sensitive grasslands. Avoiding this Land Use Change (LUC) prevents the massive release of carbon into the atmosphere, an impact that drastically raises the total CF of soy from other regions.
2. Adoption of Conservation Practices
The U.S. soy industry has invested in continuously improving agricultural practices:
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Conservation Tillage: The widespread adoption of conservation tillage and no-till farming minimizes soil disturbance. This reduces the fuel consumption of farm equipment and maximizes carbon sequestration in the soil.
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Efficiency: These practices have enabled the CF of U.S. soy meal to be reduced by approximately 43% between the years 2000 and 2021.
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Fertilizers: Soy, as a legume, requires less synthetic nitrogen fertilizers than other crops, which reduces emissions of nitrous oxide N2O, a potent greenhouse gas.
3. Higher Digestibility
Additionally, the higher digestibility of U.S. soy means that fish absorb nutrients better, resulting in less organic waste in the water. This contributes to a better aquaculture environment and reduces pollution, complementing the benefit of CO2 reduction in feed production.
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