Mr. Loc Thanh Phan

Vietnam Food Joint Stock Company, 2A Phan Ke Binh Street, Tan Dinh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam

Title: APPLICATION OF BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SHRIMP BY-PRODUCT PROCESSING INDUSTRY

Loc Thanh PHAN1, An Van NGUYEN1, Phong Hoang CAO1, Ty Van TRAN1*

1 Vietnam Food Joint Stock Company, 2A Phan Ke Binh Street, Tan Dinh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam

*Corresponding author: ty.v.tran@vnfoods.vn

Abstract:

The shrimp aquaculture sector is a major contributor to Vietnam’s agri-food economy, projected to reach an annual production of approximately 1.3-1.4 million tons and USD 14-16 billion in export value by 2030. This rapid expansion generates large volumes of shrimp byproducts, mainly heads and shells, representing 35-45% of total biomass. More than 1,000 tons are discarded daily, often insufficiently treated or downgraded into low-value materials, resulting in nutrient loss, organic pollution, and environmental burden. Addressing the sustainable valorization of this biomass is critical to prevent bottlenecks in the shrimp value chain.

Shrimp byproducts contain proteins, peptides, chitin, lipids, minerals, and carotenoids that can be transformed via biotechnological pathways into high-value ingredients. Chitosan and its derivatives emerge as the central biomolecule, offering antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, elicitor, and biopolymer functions with wide applicability. Shrimp peptides provide multifunctional bioactivities; astaxanthin offers strong antioxidant potential; and probiotics can be produced from nutrient-rich recovered streams. From these core materials, more than 100 functional products have been formulated across human health & care, food ingredients, pet food & care, animal farming, horticulture, industrials, and many more.

This work introduces a holistic, zero-waste production model, integrating controlled bioprocessing, enzymatic hydrolysis, microbial fermentation, and nutrient-recovery technologies. Compared with conventional shrimp and seafood by-product handling practices, such as low-value rendering, simple drying, direct disposal, or current approaches that focus on either shells or protein, this holistic model enables significantly higher nutrient recovery and value creation by transforming biomass into diversified, high-value bioactive ingredients, while also ensuring product uniformity, industrial scalability, and stable raw-material utilization.

Application studies demonstrate broad impacts. In agriculture, chitosan and peptides function as biostimulants, biofertilizers, plant-defense elicitors, and post-harvest protectants. In animal nutrition, peptides, astaxanthin, chitosan, and probiotics enhance growth, health, pigmentation, and disease resistance. Nutrient-recovered streams and probiotics further strengthen nutrient circularity and microbial stability. Notably, chitosan-based separation, flocculation, and biopolymer-assisted clarification greatly improve nutrient capture efficiency, reduce organic load in wastewater, and transform previously lost nutrients into feedstocks for downstream bioprocessing. Chitosan also enables biodegradable bioplastics, bio-textiles, microencapsulation, and water-treatment innovations.

Collectively, this work demonstrates that a holistic biotechnological production model, built on a zero-waste framework can fully valorize shrimp by-products, advance renewable biomaterials, enhance nutrient circularity, and accelerate the circular bioeconomy.

Key words: Shrimp byproducts, bioprocessing, nutrient recovery, circular bioeconomy

Key messages:

  1. Shrimp byproducts are abundant and require sustainable valorization.
  2. Shrimp byproducts contain diverse bioactive compounds.
  3. A holistic zero-waste bioprocessing model outperforms traditional methods.
  4. Shrimp bioactive ingredients enable sustainability across agriculture, nutrition, biomaterials, etc

Biography of the presenting author

Mr. Loc Phan is the Co-founder and Managing Director of Vietnam Investments Group (VI Group – VIG), and the Co-founder, Chairman, and Managing Director of Vietnam Food Joint Stock Company (VNF). He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School (USA) on a Fulbright Scholarship and a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Baku Institute of Oil and Chemistry (Azerbaijan, former Soviet Union).

Mr. Loc has more than 30 years of international experience across management and consulting roles. He previously served as Director at United Technology (UTC F&S – Australia), where he led Supply Chain Management and Strategic Sourcing for the Australasian region, overseeing a US$400 million annual procurement budget and a network of over 40 warehouses. He also worked at A.T. Kearney as a Senior Advisor across multiple industries and financial services, and earlier managed procurement projects for PetroVietnam, including the first offshore gas pipeline system valued at US$80 million.

In 2007, Mr. Loc returned to Vietnam to establish VI Group, a private equity firm managing over US$600 million in high-growth investments.

In 2013, recognizing the underutilized value of Vietnam’s shrimp coproducts, he founded VNF with the mission of upcycling discarded biomaterials into sustainable, circular bio-based solutions. From securing raw materials to designing a green, zero-waste biotechnological production model and commercializing a portfolio of over 80 multifunctional products, Mr. Loc has spearheaded VNF’s expansion into applications spanning water treatment, bioplastics, horticulture, animal farming, pet nutrition, food ingredients, and pharmaceuticals – addressing critical environmental and societal challenges.

Presenting author details

Full name: PHAN THANH LOC

Company: Vietnam Food Joint Stock Company

Position: Chairman
Contact number: +84 908 781 504

Email: loc.phan@vigroup.com.vn
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Category: Oral Presentation

The 16th AFOB REGIONAL SYMPOSIUM: BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT