Some 14 tonnes of Hidasan Wagyu have been sold across Hanoi, Danang, Nha Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City.
According to the Hanoi Police Department, on October 14, the suspects were charged with producing and trading counterfeit food products.
Investigators said Tran Hoang Phuoc, Director of SK Foods Vietnam, admitted to contacting Hida Food JSC, led by CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, to produce imitation Wagyu beef because the demand for the premium Japanese meat with marbled fat was high.
Thao allegedly purchased low-quality buffalo meat imported from India at around VND 120,000 (approximately USD 4.70) per kilogram. She then injected a chemical mixture to create artificial marbling, packaged the meat, and labelled it as Japanese Wagyu beef. The fake products were later sold for between VND 400,000 and VND 600,000 (approximately USD 15.70-23.50) per kilogram.
From May 2024 until their arrest, the group is believed to have produced and distributed 14 tonnes of fake beef across Hanoi, Danang, Nha Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City.
On September 19, Hanoi police, in coordination with market surveillance forces, raided Hida Food’s facility in Hoai Duc District, catching workers in the act of injecting the so-called marbling essence into buffalo meat labelled as Hidasan Wagyu.
Authorities seized 65 tonnes of buffalo and fake beef, along with machinery used in the counterfeit production process. They also confiscated 17 tonnes of powder used to create the marbled fat patterns mimicking imported Wagyu beef.
Testing by the National Institute for Food Control confirmed that 24 out of 29 seized beef samples contained buffalo DNA.
Investigators are continuing to analyse the 17 tonnes of chemical powder to determine whether it poses health risks.
