Today, March 8, the Steering Committee of the Campaign "Vietnamese people prioritize using Vietnamese goods" in Ho Chi Minh City held a Conference on Connecting to build a sustainable supply chain, improving the quality of Vietnamese goods. Mr. Nguyen Ho Hai - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, Head of the Standing Committee of the Steering Committee of the Campaign "Vietnamese people prioritize using Vietnamese goods" in Ho Chi Minh City - chaired the conference.
Difficulty conquering the domestic market
In recent times, Vietnamese agricultural products have successfully penetrated many large markets, including demanding markets in the world. However, safe, quality goods are struggling to compete with fake, counterfeit, and poor quality goods.
Telling the story of melons, Ms. Huynh Thi Thu Trang, CEO of An Phat Green Agricultural Products Company, compared: Melons grown in greenhouses are strictly quality controlled, ensuring safety, and the yield is only 1/3 compared to melons grown in the field, which use chemical fertilizers indiscriminately.
However, the selling prices of the two types of melons on the market are not much different. "Genuine producers are having difficulty when their products have to compete with low-quality goods," said Ms. Trang.
An Phat Green Agricultural Products Company is supplying some types of "clean" fruits to supermarket systems, food stores in the Southern region and for export. In the domestic market, the company took a long time to build its brand.
"It takes 5 years for clean papaya, with superior quality and a higher price than other types to be accepted by the market. Papaya grown naturally, without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides, is often susceptible to fungus, has an unattractive skin, and is spotted when ripe. In the first 3 years, customers are not used to it, so a lot of the product is discarded," said Ms. Trang.
Ho Chi Minh City will strengthen solutions to control food quality.
Dong Xanh Farm Company Limited also faces the problem of exporting good products to demanding markets such as Japan and Europe but having difficulty in the domestic market. Ms. Huynh Ngoc Bich Dao, general director of the company, said that the company produces according to GlobalGAP standards but sells at prices not significantly different from the general level so that consumers can access high-quality products. With dozens of hectares specializing in growing leafy vegetables, tubers, and fruits, in the beginning, the company had to both sell and give away to get acquainted with consumers.
Mr. Bui Trung Kien, Director of Xuan Thai Thinh Company Limited, is also concerned about the output for products in the domestic market, despite having successfully exported to demanding markets such as Japan and Europe.
Joining hands to improve the quality of Vietnamese products
According to statistics, Vietnamese goods currently account for 90% - 95% of total products at supermarket systems belonging to Saigon Co.op, Satra, Bach Hoa Xanh... This rate at some supermarket systems of foreign retail enterprises such as AEON, Central Retail, Mega Market... is 80% - 90%. At markets and convenience stores, the rate of Vietnamese goods is also 80% or more.
Despite accounting for an overwhelming proportion, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, the current commercial activities of Vietnamese goods in the market still face many challenges. Although the functional sectors have increased coordination in inspection and supervision, there are still cases of counterfeit, fake and poor quality goods circulating in the market, especially on e-commerce channels. In addition, there are cases of manufacturers intentionally reducing quality to compete on price...
Providing safe vegetables and fruits to the Ho Chi Minh City market for many years, Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong, Director of Phong Thuy Agricultural Products Production and Trading Company Limited, pointed out that the more floating and substandard products appear on the market, the more difficult it is for genuine producers. The burden of quality control is weighing heavily on every step in the entire production - distribution - consumption system and causing great difficulties for businesses that want to create high-quality products.
According to businesses, there needs to be better control to create room for good manufacturers, stimulating new manufacturers to invest in making high-quality products. When genuine manufacturers build a solid market share, consumers get used to quality products, then substandard products will be gradually eliminated.
From a state management perspective, Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the city has a plan to connect manufacturers with distributors, creating a common playground for distributors to join hands to say no to unsafe products, thereby eliminating these products.
The Department of Industry and Trade is working with retail businesses to implement a joint program to control the quality of Vietnamese goods according to common standards of retailers, under the direction of the Department of Industry and Trade, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Department of Food Safety of Ho Chi Minh City.
The general idea is that supplier information and product quality testing results will be shared among participating distribution systems. Products that violate quality commitments and do not ensure food hygiene and safety will be re-evaluated by all distribution systems in the program, with the risk of losing the market completely.
Linking quality control is the basis for building a sustainable supply chain, a lever to maintain the growth of Vietnamese trade both domestically and internationally, helping the market to be resistant to poor quality, counterfeit and fake goods.
"When there is a sustainable supply chain, manufacturers only focus on improving quality and product innovation to maintain consumer trust without trying to compete on price," said Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong.
6 retailers join affiliate program
According to the plan, in the joint program to control the quality of Vietnamese goods, 6 major retailers, namely the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Trading Cooperatives, Saigon Trading Group - One Member Limited Liability Company, Central Retail Vietnam Group, MM Mega Market Vietnam Co., Ltd., AEON Vietnam Co., Ltd. and Bach Hoa Xanh Trading Joint Stock Company, will coordinate to protect consumers' interests and promote the quality control capacity of each distribution system. The systems will also coordinate to prevent unsafe food from being brought into distribution systems in Ho Chi Minh City.
In the immediate future, the pilot program will be applied to a number of products in three groups: fruits, vegetables and meat.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/chuoi-cung-ung-ben-vung-cho-hang-viet-196240307202733325.htm
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