Asia Food & Beverages Report (May/June 2021 issue)

Regulations News
VIETNAM
FOOD BEVERAGE
Vietnamese food brands ‘stolen’ in
overseas market
Unlike its Thai counterparts, Vietnam lacks
trademark registration and protection with a
slew of its products ended up being ‘stolen’
by other manufacturers or distributors in other
countries.
One example is Meet More Coffee products
from Vietnam. According to its CEO Nguyen
Ngoc Luan, in 2018 the company wanted to
export its products to Korea but ended up
surprised when faced with difficulty in registering
the brand as the same name seemed to have
been registered by another company. Luan
later found that it was the distributor of Meet
Me products in South Korea which registered
the brand. At that time, Luan had to submit
documents to prove that Meet Me was a
Vietnamese brand with the registrant being the
distributor and buyer of its products in South
Korea. It was only when the distributor agreed
to withdraw its intellectual property registration
which paved the way for the registration
approval by the relevant Korean agency.
Many Vietnamese companies are still
reluctant to register their brands as they have no
intention to compete in the international market,
in addition to the hassle of engaging advisers
or lawyers to go through the registration
procedures.
Luan did a mini supermarket survey in
Australia in 2020, and he found that a lot of
Vietnamese food brands had been stolen. He
said, “Vietnamese pho has been stolen by the
Chinese, while fish sauce by Thai businesses.
Losing brands to foreign hands is no longer
a surprise. The inappropriate attention to
branding puts Vietnamese businesses at a
disadvantage in international trade channels.”
A lawyer from HCMC Bar Association said the
application for IP registration is implemented in
accordance with the principle of ‘first come, first
served’ basis with latecomers having to submit
documents to prove that the products belong to
them. Indeed, losing brands is the heavy price
that Vietnamese enterprises will pay for their
inappropriate attention to trademark register.
Brand registration is a hassle as the law
stipulates that a particular brand is only
protected in the territories where the owner
registers. As such, when these brands go
overseas, they also need to be registered
again for international protection. It cost a few
thousand dollars to get the brand registered in
any market, still much cheaper than going into
possible dispute settlement.
Another of Vietnam’s product, ST25 Rice
is also at risk of falling into the hands of
US companies which have filed for brand
registration.
Tran Le Hong, Deputy Head of the National
Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP), said
that national brands need to be protected.
However, Vietnam is lacking agencies in the
international market that can help Vietnam
businesses register their trademarks. There is
a significant red-tape in brand registration for
Vietnamese products. In most of the developed
countries, brand protection certificates will
usually be issued within 6 months from the date
of application, whereas in Vietnam, it might take
2 years or more to obtain the certificates.
Packaging & Technology News
GLOBAL
New cutting, dicing solutions from Urschel
CUTTING EQUIPMENT
Urschel, the global leader in industrial food cutting technology, has recently launched 2 new
equipments particularly for the cheese (dairy) and fruits/vegetables segments.
Affinity® Integra-D Cheese Dicer
Integra-D is Urschel’s latest addition to the Affinity
Urschel Affinity@ Integra-D Cheese Dicer
line. The high-performance dicer features operation
at the push of a button. The machine is designed
with the cutting zone completely separate from
the mechanical zone. Hinged access panels ease
maintenance and part changeovers. The dicer is
powered by a 10 horsepower (7.5 kW) motor.
According to Scott Klockow, Mechanical
Design Manager, “Superior sanitation, quick part
changeovers, and heavy duty are terms customers
use to describe the new Integra-D cheese dicer.
Customers replacing an RA machine with the Integra-D have experienced 20 to even 50% higher
capacities due to the larger infeed and increased horsepower.”
The new 3-dimensional dicer accepts products up to 4.5 inches (114 mm). Product is delivered to
a feed hopper and enters a rotating impeller. Centrifugal force holds the product against the inside
of the case. Impeller paddles carry the product past the slicing knife. An adjustable slice gate at the
top of the case determines the slice thickness.
Slices pass between the rotating feed drum and feed spindle and then enter the circular knives
where they are cut into strips. The strips pass directly into the crosscut knives where the final cut
is made to create a precision dice. The stripper plate removes product from the spaces between
the circular knives and acts as a shear edge for the crosscut knives. Strip cuts can be produced by
removing the crosscut knife spindle.
Tim O’Brien, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing concluded, “Following the success
of our large Affinity® cheese dicer, the new Integra-D offers processors all of the advantages
in a scaled-down footprint. The Integra-D provides the latest in precision cutting, and a turn-key
upgrade for processors with Urschel RA series machines. Updating a line could not be simpler, and
the benefits derived from higher yields is a bonus.”
TranSlicer® 2520 Cutter
Building on the original TranSlicer that revolutionised the commercial, fresh-cut salad industry,
Urschel introduces the new TranSlicer 2520 Cutter. The TranSlicer 2520 processes a variety of
products for the food processing industry such as leafy vegetables, celery, leek, carrots, cucumbers,
and fruits.
Anthony (Tony) McCracken, Urschel
engineer behind the machine design
said, “Customers really appreciate the
savings. On average, TranSlicer 2520
customers report saving 25 minutes
per washdown/cleaning procedure
compared to the machine that they
replaced.”
Tony added that the overall design of
the 2520 sets itself apart. McCracken
explained, “The concept encompasses
the next generation of sanitation to greatly
reduce cleaning times. Accessibility to
every area of the machine expedites
washdowns. All surfaces are engineered
to promote water drainage. Stand-offs
located throughout minimise overlapping
Urschel TranSlicer® 2520 Cutter
joints and improve inspection and
decrease cleaning times. IP69K rated IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) electrical
components incorporated throughout machine withstand high pressure, high temperature
washdowns.”
Urschel designs, manufactures and markets precision, high capacity cutting equipment for the
food processing industries since 1910. Urschel delivers a complete network of sales and service
around the globe wherever food is commercially processed. Urschel machinery and the bulk of all
critical parts are manufactured on-site, under one roof to maintain optimal quality.
Urschel remains dedicated to providing the latest in food cutting technology to benefit regional and
global scale customers. Urschel also offers free test cutting. Customers may witness test cutting of
their product in-person, via video, or live remotely. A comprehensive report is generated for each
test cut for customer consideration.
Contact Urschel at info@urschel.com to learn more.
Asia Food & Beverages 38