Big "battlefields" such as the US and EU markets may not help export businesses get large orders, but they are valuable in building rice brands.
At the meeting to propose the establishment of a National Rice Council chaired by the Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan recently chaired, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien told a very thoughtful story. That is, although the authorities have to spend a lot of effort to open up difficult markets for rice Vietnam is like the US and EU markets, but many businesses miss out and are not interested in these "battlefields".
Explaining this, the “Commander of the Industry” of Industry and Trade shared that Vietnamese rice exporting enterprises still prefer to export to easy-going markets that have less stringent product standards and are willing to buy in large quantities. As for demanding markets, even though the prices are high, enterprises must meet very high standards, paying attention to everything from packaging and design to product quality… This may be the reason why enterprises are “afraid” and do not want to find ways to export to these markets, even though Vietnamese rice has been licensed.
First of all, it must be affirmed that opening the door for a Vietnamese product to “legitimately” enter a foreign market is not easy. Some products have taken decades, with hundreds of inspections, from the source of land, water, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides… to the color, flavor, quality of the product… Along with that are the sweat and efforts of the Trade Offices, foreign diplomatic agencies, domestic ministries and branches. In particular, it is impossible not to mention the huge costs for these activities.
However, as Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said, no matter how difficult it is, the authorities will try their best to do it! Because the story of Vietnamese rice is not only the story of the farmer's bowl of rice, the story of domestic food security, but more than that, it is the story of the Vietnamese brand - a country that has gone from poverty, hunger, and having to import rice, to now becoming one of the rice exporting powers, joining hands to solve the problem of food security for the whole world.
Not to mention, Vietnamese rice is currently of the world's top quality, as evidenced by the fact that every time it competes, it wins. ST25 rice has been honored as the world's best rice twice in a row. Vietnam can be completely proud of that to the world.
With quality, output, and a beautiful story behind it, only Vietnam doesn't have a national rice brand!
This is the reason why the authorities must do everything they can to open the “door” for Vietnamese rice to enter demanding markets. Because only when appearing in large markets such as the United States, the EU, etc. in the form of 5kg, 10kg bags of rice, with clear business logos and clear Vietnamese origin, will Vietnamese rice have the perfect stepping stone to successfully build a brand. These are very large markets, requiring very high standards, so if successfully entering this market, even though the output is not high, Vietnamese rice will be known to many consumers. Once known, consumers in these markets will not hesitate to pay high prices for the product.
Previously, in an interview with a reporter from the Industry and Trade Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Duy Thuan, former CEO of Loc Troi Group, revealed the extremely high price of Com VietNam Rice when it was introduced to the French supermarket chain. That was 4,000 Euro/ton - nearly 10 times higher than the average export price of Vietnamese rice. After successfully introducing to the French supermarket chain, Com VietNam Rice often fell into a state of "out of stock" due to the very high demand of consumers.
However, there are not many businesses that can do what Loc Troi does. Meanwhile, sometimes, stories like low bidding prices are exposed by the authorities, becoming "a rotten apple spoiling the barrel", affecting the image of Vietnamese rice.
Obviously, Vietnamese rice is of good quality and highly competitive, but building a brand has never been simple.
Looking at the lesson from Loc Troi, it can be seen that to build a rice brand, it is a long story and certainly costs a lot of money. However, the brand is an intangible value that makes consumers willing to pay a high price for the product. The brand is also an intangible value to affirm the position of the product with the national image in the market.
Although the process of building a brand is not easy, it is certain that on that journey, businesses are not alone. The authorities have made efforts to support businesses in opening up the market. On the journey of building a brand, programs such as the National Brand and the National Trade Promotion Program are also accompanying, creating the best conditions for businesses.
In particular, recently, the two “Industry Commanders” of Industry and Trade, Agriculture and Rural Development also held a public meeting to seek opinions on the establishment of the National Rice Council and received a very high consensus. The National Rice Council will be the unit that plans and advises on major policies, advises on solving arising problems, diplomatic issues and also builds the image of the rice industry for the Government and the Prime Minister to develop the rice industry sustainably.
So, the “springboard” is there. As long as businesses do not abandon the “battlefield”, the story of building a rice brand will certainly be easier. Vietnamese rice will escape the “unknown” status in the world market.
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