In the Australian market, MCQ supermarket chain and AusViet Company are implementing a programme entitled ‘Vietnam, Land of the World's Best Rice’ from August 18 to September 27, aiming to present 10,000 bags of Vietnam’s Ban Mai Cung Dinh rice to consumers in Australia. The rice will be distributed via the M-Import company and MCQ supermarket chain.
In addition, the AusViet company is also offering hundreds of promotional gifts of Vietnam’s ST25 and Jasmine Vilaconic rice trademarks in Melbourne.
Established by a Vietnamese expat, the MCQ supermarket chain has conducted a number of campaigns to promote Vietnamese agricultural products in Australia such as lychee, longan, dragon fruit, mango, and frozen durian.
Previously in mid-June, the trade office of Vietnam in the Netherlands and the LTP Import Export BV company organised a tasting programme entitled ‘Vietnam fresh golden lychees – Taste it, love it’ at Thanh Hung Supermarket in Spijkenisse city, attracting the interest of visitors.
Van Anh, owner of the Thanh Hung supermarket, said that her business is willing to support the consumption of lychees in the host country, adding that as Chinese lychees are priced at EUR 22-25 per kilo, Vietnamese lychee with the lower price of EUR18 per kilo will definitely attract more customers.
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A booth showing farm produce from Vietnam at the Rungis International Market in Paris in 2018. (Photo: VNA)
Overseas Vietnamese communities have provided strong support to bring Vietnamese goods to the world market, helping them be sold at supermarkets in their host countries.
Vietnamese supermarkets can be seen in most cities in France, including the Thanh Binh - Jeune supermarket in Paris or Tien Hung supermarket in Strasbourg . Vietnamese agricultural products and processed foods, such as rice, rice paper, and fish sauce, have also appeared on the shelves of French supermarket chains like Auchan or Carrefour.
Dong Xuan market in Berlin, Germany and SAPA market in Praha, Czech are big commercial centers serving as gateways to bring Vietnamese goods into the German and Czech markets. Vietnamese products at these markets are sold at cheaper prices than in other markets, making them a popular shopping placesfor both Overseas Vietnamese as well as local people.
President of the Union of Vietnamese Business Associations in Europe Hoang Manh Hue said that Overseas Vietnamese people in the EU currently have very good facilities to develop the trading and consumption of domestic products. Moreover, overseas Vietnamese enterprises have a certain understanding of European customs and tastes after years living abroad.
“We are willing to act as sales agents and representatives of Vietnamese goods in Europe,” Hue said.
In early August, the first batch of Vietnamese lychees was shipped to the Netherlands by sea by LTP Import Export B.V. The fruit still retained its original pink color and fragrant flavour after a five-week sea voyage, helping the lychee be sold at a price one-third lower than those shipped by air.
Pham Van Hien, Director of LTP Import Export B.V. said that in the coming time, his company will grow the import of goods from Vietnam. Currently, 50% of the company's imports are from Vietnam.
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Visitors at a stall at the SAPA shopping centre in Prague, Czech (Photo: VNA)
In order to further promote Vietnamese agricultural products in foreign markets, domestic businesses should boost efficiency in cooperation with overseas Vietnamese enterprises, which can help to reduce costs and increase the opportunity to penetrate foreign markets.
In addition, domestic businesses should also take measures to improve their product quality, maintain price stability, and upgrade the infrastructure serving exports.
Director of LTP Import Export B.V. Pham Van Hien said that in the long term, exporters and localities need to work together to improve their growing areas, particularly areas meeting VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards, in order to increase productivity and competitiveness.
Notably, businesses should make further investment in preservation technology so that fruits can be shipped abroad by sea, which can help reduce costs and increase competitiveness, he added.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has initially built a database of Overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs, creating conditions for domestic and Overseas Vietnamese enterprises to connect and establish business partnerships, contributing to supporting the consumption of Vietnamese goods abroad.
