Vietnamese products: Conquering foreign customers in supermarket systems

Many Vietnamese products are sold at supermarkets in the US. Photo: Internet

Building consumer’s trust

Vietnamese goods are exported through distribution systems and demanding markets both traditionally and through cross-border e-commerce. This shows that domestic products have met the criteria and requirements of foreign partners.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Duc, General Director of Saigon Co.op, said that in addition to improving the quality of goods supplied in the domestic system, Saigon Co.op also promotes exports, bringing Vietnamese goods to conquer many markets with typical products.

Recently, Saigon Co.op Distribution Company Limited (SCD) and STC Natural Vina Company have delivered 2 containers of Co.op Select private label goods for export to the US market.

These are domestically produced products, selected by Saigon Co.op from fast-moving consumer goods, imbued with the identity and quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine such as dipping sauce, vermicelli, pho, spices, tea, coffee... with an order value of nearly US$70,000.

In the last 3 months of the year, SCD plans to complete the export of 20 containers to foreign markets and in 2025, it is expected to export 120 - 150 containers, with an estimated value of VND120 billion.

Along with that, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hoang, General Director of Bibica Joint Stock Company also said that, not only maintaining market share in the domestic market, Bibica has exported its own branded products to 17 international markets including Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, China, Mongolia...

Bibica's confectionery products have met the strict standards of demanding markets such as Japan, South Korea... and become a direct supplier to a number of large supermarkets in the world.

Notably, recently, Bibica has reached an agreement to bring confectionery products to the world's leading retail system Walmart with high room for increased sales.

Catching export trends through e-commerce

Regarding investing in building products to participate in export trends through e-commerce, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Dung, Sales Director of An Viet Nam Company, said that e-commerce exporting is a common trend and businesses are seizing the opportunity to bring Vietnamese goods to the world market through Alibaba and Amazon.

The change in strategy starts from zero, because the company is exporting in the traditional way, exporting pepper to China, rice to the Philippines market. Grasping the trend of digital transformation and enhancing value, profit as well as positioning the brand to consumers, e-commerce retailing is the fastest way.

Therefore, in parallel with traditional exports, the company is investing in the export sector through e-commerce such as investing in products, packaging, research on support from e-commerce platforms, consumer tastes and trends in the destination market, transportation, etc.

“The opportunities are wide open for Vietnamese businesses, but the challenges are also huge in investing in digital transformation and products. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I expect that when products and brands are built, positioning the market and with the support of authorities and e-commerce platforms, new markets will be expanded, product value will increase, profits will be greater than traditional sales and consumers will know about Vietnamese branded products,” said Ms. Dung.

In addition to the success, many businesses also believe that there are still many challenges for businesses, especially when participating in the e-commerce market.

According to Mr. Tran Quoc Bao, Deputy General Director of KIDO Group, currently, Vietnamese enterprises are facing problems with technology and digital transformation, but the level of adaptation of enterprises is still quite limited; perseverance; previously, the brand of high-quality Vietnamese goods was a sign of Vietnamese goods development, but now it is necessary to build a recognition sign from a state agency with a larger nature and scale to bring Vietnamese goods to the world.

From the perspective of e-commerce, Mr. Nguyen Lam Thanh, representative of TikTok in Vietnam, said that if enterprises ignore digital transformation, they will fall behind and consumers will leave.

Therefore, to adapt, Mr. Tran Quoc Bao said that previously, the brand of high-quality Vietnamese goods became a sign of Vietnamese goods development in offline channels, now it is necessary to show Vietnamese goods on e-commerce channels.

There needs to be a large-scale signal from state agencies and associations to promote communication and bring products to consumers.

Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), said that in recent times, the trade promotion activities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade have contributed a lot to Vietnamese goods.

“Vietnamese goods with Vietnamese brands, which were not available in the international market before, have now appeared a lot and have proven their position. Many Vietnamese products are placed on the shelves of large supermarkets in countries such as the EU, the US, and foreign supermarket chains, which shows that Vietnamese goods are favored and loved not only in the supermarket system, domestic market and international market”, Mr. Phu said.

This result is a great effort of businesses and authorities, including trade promotion work.