Consumers afraid as Chinese products “disguised” as domestic products.

Supermarkets are increasingly attracting consumers. Picture: H.Dịu.

On 23 February, 2017, the Business Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods (BSA) held a workshop: Announcement of 2016 Vietnamese Consumer survey and Consult to a voluntary set of standards for food quality.

Mr Truong Cong Nghia, Advisor of the program survey says, to connect enterprises with consumers, enterprises must understand the demands of consumers and understand the capacity and ability of enterprises themselves. Thus, a Vietnamese consumer survey will help these enterprises accomplish this purpose, then they will have plans to research, develop, produce, and advertise their products on the market better.

The 2016 Vietnamese consumer survey was carried out on 16,000 consumers in 12 provinces and cities in the entire country with all products in 37 goods and nearly 3,000 enterprises.

A report on the survey result in 2016 shows that the levels of concentration of consumers in all distribution channels are not as active as previous years, the traditional channel (markets) has decreased its position, because supermarkets are increasingly attracting consumers.

Moreover, Vietnamese consumers are still accustomed to direct shopping and transactions; the online distribution system has been brighter but it mostly concentrated in some sectors: fashion, cosmetics and electronics.

For enterprises, the report shows, Vietnamese enterprises are facing a big challenge of “pressure” and “gap” in the retail system in the domestic market. Enterprises which have an extensive distribution system will prevail in the market.

In particular, the problems of counterfeit and pirated goods, unlabeled goods remain a permanent concern of enterprises as the status is increasingly common. Eventually, there are enterprises losing market share and going to bankruptcy due to counterfeit goods.

The survey report of the BSA also shares alarm about the situation that many enterprises do not produce but only buy Chinese products to label and put them on the market.

According to the survey results, the cause of this phenomenon is that consumers are increasingly cautious, and even boycott Chinese goods, especially in a number of products in the food, textile industries and fresh agricultural products. Thus, Thai products has been quickly taken opportunities and tried to replace by increasing the levels of market access, organizing various types of marketing to hit the Vietnamese psychology of fondness for foreign goods.

“In the coming time, domestic products will face tough competition with products of ASEAN’s countries, especially Thailand. Currently, though consumers still use Vietnamese products, they are increasingly demanding quality products,” emphasised Mr. Truong Cong Nghia.

Besides concerns about counterfeit goods, consumers still concern and worry about the situation of “dirty foods”, according to the survey result, the biggest concern of consumers in this issue is that there are no more safety foods to replace in the market, and the use of toxic chemicals in production.

From the concerns of consumers, the BSA has published criteria of Vietnamese high quality foods – standards of food industry integration to protect the rights of consumers and create motivation for enterprises to maintain the quality of goods. The set of criteria is built on the basis of cooperation with agencies, domestic and foreign accrediting organizations, chosen from criteria in the sets of criteria recognized by the world, especially the main import markets of Vietnam.

According to Ms Vu Kim Hanh, Chairman of the BSA, Vietnamese high quality goods need a comprehensive and scientific management system on quality. Thus, in order to be recognized as meeting the standards, enterprises, products must get the confidence of consumers, strictly comply with the regulations on food safety in the country and internationally, and standards of social responsibility of enterprises (for workers and environment).