Made-in-Vietnam goods to dominate supermarkets?

Though the import tariff on materials used for making dairy products has increased by 14%, Hancofood, a domestic dairy producer, does not intend to raise sale prices.

The dairy producer plans to cooperate with nursery schools in HCM City on a dairy product sales programme, under which it will offer a 30% price decrease for children in suburban areas using Hancofood products.

Hancofood is considered an enterprise which has been very creative in encouraging Vietnamese consumers to use Vietnamese goods.

Retailers all said that Vietnam-made goods have seen many changes in design and quality, which has helped the sales of domestically-made goods increase by 30 percent. At Maximark Cong Hoa, domestic goods account for over 70 percent of the products displayed on shelves.

Vietnam-made processed food is now favoured by Vietnamese consumers. Ground crab, which was previously only sold at traditional markets, is now available at supermarkets in vacuum packs. Co-op Mart, Big C, Maximark and Citimart all say that pork and processed beef of Vissan are favoured by many housewives.

Binh Tay market in district 6 in HCM City has been well known as a big import product seller. However, 100% of fresh food and fine arts available there are made in Vietnam. 80 percent of processed food displayed there is also made in Vietnam, while the figures are 50% for footwear, confections, apparel and 70-80 percent for china, plastic and home products.

Maximark on February 3 Road is also considered a supermarket which sells many foreign-made product items. However, domestic fresh and processed foods still dominate the shelves.

On confectionary shelves in the supermarket, though Thai, Singapore and Malaysian products have been popular, domestic products of Kinh Do, Bibica, URC and Pham Nguyen brand names still account for 50% of the displayed products.

PR Director of L’oreal Vietnam Nguyen Dinh Lien Chi said that as she once studied and lived in Thailand, the US and Singapore, she has the habit of using foreign-made products, especially clothes. However, her habit has changed a little as she has realised that many made-in-Vietnam products have good quality and prices just ½ of import prices.

“I believe that in the time to come, Vietnam-made products, especially clothes and footwear, will see more diversified designs. At that time, Vietnam-made goods will be my top choice,” she said.