PHNOM PENH – A woman-led enterprise is making an impact in the fish processing industry by turning one of the most consumed meats into ready-to-eat food, making it easier for those with less time to cook and boosting its flavor.

Leb Mary owns UNICA, a enterprise that produces dried and processed fish meat.  

From year to year, these products have built the trust of more and more customers through their processing standards and high quality. UNICA’s products are distributed to major supermarkets such as Makro, Lucky, Aeon, Chip Mong and Bayon. 

The enterprise is piloting its products with two new dealers in South Korea and New Zealand and is moving to other overseas markets. 

As the business grows, Mary has added ready-to-eat fish jerky to her range. 

Leb Mary establishes UNICA in 2014. Photo_ Torn Chanritheara

She said that the idea to develop fish jerky came when she saw that her two sons did not like fish despite its many advantages and richness in nutrients and vitamins.

She said that the fact that fish is hard to eat due to bones, its smell and that it cannot be cooked into many meals made it unpopular among young people.

Mary decided to make fish a premium and quality ready-to-cook product which is easy to consume for children while helping parents who want them to grow healthily.  

She saw at the market that customers want the product to be more convenient as they have little time to cook. She then turned to ready-to-eat jerky.

Processing fish into the jerky is not only for local customers but follows a worldwide trend as this kind of food has been cheap and popular.

“If we want to compete, we must be flexible and develop ourselves,” she said.

Morm Elene is a reseacher involved in developing fish jerky. Photo_ Torn Chanritheara

Mary started developing fish jerky during the COVID-19 pandemic with her partners in Siem Reap to maximize all resources which they were unable to sell. 

With support from Food Technology, Research and Innovation Platform under EU-funded CAPFISH-Capture, the enterprise went ahead with research on jerky.

Morm Elene, a researcher from the Institute of Technology of Cambodia who took part in the project, said there was demand for the fish jerky while the enterprise also want to diversify.

Elene said UNICA’s fish jerky is produced from snakehead​ fish. It retains the amount of protein since fresh sliced fish is directly used in production and no chemical is added.

“Just have rice or porridge and you can eat it,” she said.

Elene said the preparation was in many stages from slicing it the same size, marinating, drying and baking.

UNICA was able to obtain locally recognized standard Cambodian Quality Seal after technical assistance from the CAPFISH-Capture: Post-harvest Fisheries Development project. Photo: Torn Chanritheara

UNICA was established in 2014 and is processing dried fish, fish fillets, fish, prahok and fresh fish. 

All processed fish are raised by about 300 farming families living along the Tonle Sap Lake and along the country’s coast. Half of the employees are women. 

Mary’s business has expanded to three other branches. In the first stage, her enterprise was able to supply to the markets but as demand grew, challenges arose including more demand, less production of processed fish and quality control.

UNICA was able to obtain locally recognized standard Cambodian Quality Seal after technical assistance from the CAPFISH-Capture: Post-harvest Fisheries Development project. 

“It’s the stepping stone to move forward. The first step is always hard,” Mary said.

Mary said UNIDO had guided her enterprise in production, ensuring quality and standards. UNIDO also provided other facilities including a drying room and cool storage.

With support from CAPFISH-Capture, UNICA’s sale has increased 20% while income rose 30%. About 50% more jobs were created and these were taken by women.