What products are Nordic importers looking for at Sourcing 2024?

The trend of more sustainable and responsible production and business is increasingly gaining attention. Sharing at the seminar "Participation of distribution corporations and international purchasing contacts at Viet Nam International Sourcing 2024" recently organized by the Department of European - American Markets, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy, Vietnam Trade Counselor in Sweden and concurrently in charge of Nordic countries, said that at the end of the Sourcing Fair 2023, large corporations in the field of furniture and household goods such as FH (Denmark), IKEA (Sweden), or key Asian food import enterprises such as Scanesia (Norway), East Asia (Sweden) ... have had a more positive view of the Vietnamese market in general and Vietnamese exports in particular. Notably, a number of contracts were signed right after the fair. Many new products were introduced to the market from frozen Vietnamese bread to shredded green papaya ...

Các nhà nhập khẩu Bắc Âu tìm kiếm sản phẩm nào tại Sourcing 2024?

In addition to the usual standards, exporting businesses must also comply with sustainability initiatives; have environmental certifications, social responsibility, etc.

In addition, the group of intermediary brokerage enterprises in the service sector also had some initial positive results such as Nordic Apiary and Frends enterprises signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation with Vietnam's FPT Group.

Regarding further information about attending the Sourcing Fair 2024 event series, Ms. Hoang Thuy said that currently, it is expected that IKEA, CTFood, Asia Lien and a Latvian business delegation co-organized by the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Trade Office will enter Vietnam to attend the Sourcing Fair 2024 in June 2024.

Sharing about the requirements and expectations for Vietnamese businesses, Ms. Hoang Thuy emphasized that for IKEA, the furniture and interior products group, they choose suppliers who share the same values and ambitions to create a positive impact for humanity and the planet. IKEA has built the IWAY standard - a Code of Conduct for Responsible Purchasing and Supply - as a core premise in business operations for IKEA suppliers.

Accordingly, IWAY is how IKEA and its suppliers ensure responsible sourcing of products, services, materials and components, by defining clear expectations and ways of working for suppliers, ensuring that business operations are always environmentally, socially, workers’ working conditions and animal welfare. Implementing IWAY standards is also a prerequisite and mandatory for all supply partners and service providers when working with IKEA. The IWAY Code seeks to provide meaningful work for all workers and contribute to positive change in local communities throughout IKEA’s global value chain.

For FH, in addition to the usual basic standards, this unit emphasizes finding suppliers with BSCI/Amfori (Business Social Compliance Initiative) certification. Thus, for food businesses, products must not only meet mandatory EU requirements such as product safety, pesticide residues, etc., but also meet very strict requirements of buyers such as environmental certifications, social responsibility, etc.

“In general, for all product groups, the trend of more sustainable and responsible production and business is increasingly of interest. This trend is related to many aspects in the supply chain , including working conditions, water use, waste management, emission reduction... The products of enterprises will be accepted by Nordic buyers if they comply with sustainable initiatives,” Ms. Thuy emphasized, affirming that Europe is still a potential market, however, the requirements are increasingly strict and enterprises need to change to meet the EU's requirements.

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