Foreign retail chains can be a new channel to sell abroad

Delegates visit an exhibition booth on the sidelines of the seminar on April 21. VNA/VnExpress News Photo Xuân Anh.

HÀ NỘI — Many Vietnamese firms are trying to display their products in foreign supermarket chains to sell them abroad, but it is not an easy task.

Tô Huỳnh, a leading member of Surifarm Organic Vegetables LTD., anticipates that his firm’s dry foods would easily satisfy customers in other regional countries.

However, it was quite difficult to export the foods to those countries via supermarket chains, due to stiff local competition and high logistic costs.

“High logistic costs put obstacles in the way of small firms trying to enter foreign markets”, he said.

The firm leader also said that big companies would copy small firms’ strategies once they saw the latter earning high profits in the markets.

As a result, small firms entering new markets via retail chains would end up competing with both local producers and big names.

“We are a small firm, so we will target niche markets. That’s our way to survive”, he added.

Nguyễn Thị Thu Hiền, external relations manager of Central Retail Vietnam, underlined technology as the key to cost optimisation and better supply chain management.

She recommended that Vietnamese firms accelerate technology applications to cut costs further and improve product quality to boost their coverage in foreign retail chains.

“Health, environmentally-friendly and local products are becoming more appealing to customers of all segments”, she said.

The manager also mentioned some popular Vietnamese names in Thai supermarkets, including Bibica, Trung Nguyên and Chinsufoods, to show that Thailand is not that demanding a market.

Trương Tố Uyên, director of the purchasing department of a foreign retailer, revealed that Vietnamese firms had to go through four stages before their products could be put on sale in foreign supermarkets.

The four stages include dossier approval, negotiation and signing contracts, adding the supplier data to the system, and order and delivery.  

Trần Phú Lữ, deputy director of the HCM City’s Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC), underlined foreign supermarket chains as a sustainable exporting channel for small and medium-sized firms.

He urged trade promoting agencies frequently hold trade meetings and fairs to link Vietnamese firms with big retailers, increasing Vietnamese products’ presence on foreign shelves.

“These linkages would help Vietnamese firms better understand the needs and tastes of foreign customers and know how to improve quality management to meet exporting standards”, he said.

In this regard, ITPC and Central Retail Vietnam co-organised a trade seminar on April 21 to promote Vietnamese exports to Thailand via GO! supermarket chains.

“Thailand remains the leading trade partner of Việt Nam in the ASEAN with bilateral trade of over US$18.7 in 2021”, Lữ said at the seminar. — VnExpress News