Vietnamese food tastes turn local

Business Asia, March 17, 2000

Many State-owned and private food processing companies in Vietnam are stepping-up investments in modern production technology to capitalise on the growing preference of Vietnamese consumers for domestically produced, export-quality goods.

During the recent Tet holidays, sales of domestic processed foods soared due to the increased consumer confidence in product quality and hygiene standards.

"All of our employees worked under high pressure to guarantee supplies as sales rocketed to an amazing level during the holidays," said Doan Van Phuc, director of Ha Long Canned Food Joint Stock Branch.

Phuc said in the month preceding Tet, the company posted 3 billion Vietnamese dong in revenue (US$213,000), 150 per cent more than December's figure and about 40 per cent higher than the company's target for Tet.

Local company Vissan is reportedly the biggest supplier for the Tet market, having sold almost VND80 billion worth of processed foods.

Cau Tre Food Processing Factory reaped a turnover of around VND2 billion from the sale of 80 tonnes of processed food during the holiday, double last year's amount.

To meet the demand of the domestic market, Vissan will invest in livestock breeding and imported canning equipment this year.

With these improvements, the company plans to boost its production to 4200 tonnes of processed food in 2000, a year-on-year increase of 2000 tonnes. Up to 90 per cent of this total will be consumed domestically.

Boasting a product quality management system meeting European and American standards, the Seafood Speciality Import Export Company (Seaspimex) offers consumers a wide-range of export quality products at affordable prices.

The company holds a large percentage of the market share. To increase production this year, it will invest US$300,000 to import processing equipment. Its goal is to increase quality while keeping prices low.

-- Asia Pulse