VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese consumers are now saying ‘no’ to imported food and returning to home-grown products as they fear the quality of foreign goods.
Petty merchants at markets in HCM City all say that the number of buyers of imported pork, beef and chicken has been decreasing. A chicken seller at Tan Dinh Market in HCM City said that previously she could sell 15-20 kilogrammes of imported chicken wings and legs per day, but now she sells 5-7 kilogrammes only.

Imports unsalable

Vu Thi Hien, the owner of a fresh food shop in Binh Thanh district, complained that she cannot sell meat imports recently as consumers have shifted to eat Vietnamese meat. When asked why she had stopped purchasing imported meat, Ha Phuong, a housewife in Tan Binh district, related that she did not trust the expiration dates on the packages. Moreover, she said that the products might contain food preservatives.

At Long Bien wholesale market in Hanoi, since local newspapers reported the case in which fresh cuttlefish imported from Taiwan was soaked in chemicals, this kind of food has disappeared from the market. Now there is only dried food like dried fish, shrimp and cuttlefish made in Thanh Hoa and Hai Phong city available at the market.

Domestic products the top choice

According to the management board of Han Market in Da Nang city, some 45 million tonnes of domestic vegetables, fruits and meats are selling at markets in Da Nang city every day.

Markets in HCM City have also reported higher sales of domestic food. Huong, the owner of a meat stall at Ba Chieu Market, said that pork sales have increased by 10-15 percent, while sales of chicken, beef have increased very sharply. Big C, Co-op Mart and Maximark have also reported sharp increases in fresh meat sales.

In the afternoon on July 29, at Hoang Van Thu Supermarket in Hanoi, customers were seen standing in a long queue, waiting to buy meat. Pham Thi Lien, one of the customers, said that previously, she purchased meat at traditional markets, but now she purchases from supermarkets, because she does not want to get low-quality imports and she can only get information about product origins at supermarkets.

The higher demand on the market has helped push fowl prices up again. Nguyen Van Nghia, the owner of a fowl farm in Binh Duong province, said that the chicken price, after decreasing to 19,000 dong per kilogramme, has surged again to 25-26,000 dong.

Time to regain the market

“The recent information about a company selling expired imports on the market has prompted Vietnamese housewives to turn their backs on imported meat and brought a golden opportunity to domestic food producers to lure customers,” said Huynh Van Minh, Deputy Director of Phu An Sinh Food Processing Company in HCM City. He said that Phu An Sinh’s chain has seen sales increase by 10-20 percent.

Phan Nhu Yen, director of Intimex Da Nang, said that the retailer has asked the supplier not to raise products’ prices or launch promotion campaigns to stimulate demand. This has successfully convinced consumers to come back to use domestic goods.

Duong Thi Quynh Trang, Foreign Affairs Director of Big C, has organised a pork trade fair, during which pork price reductions of 5-20 percent were offered.

VietNamNet/DV