HCM City (VNS/VNA) - With increasing incomes, consumers are payinggreater attention to products of high quality and health foods, and producersand distributors need to focus on such products, a forum on Vietnamese highquality foods and agricultural products heard in Ho Chi Minh City on December20.

Nguyen Huy Hoang, commercial director of market research firm Kantar WorldpanelVietnam, said a survey by his company had found food safety and health to bethe top concerns of Vietnamese consumers.

With higher incomes, consumers tend to spend more on new kinds of goods, butfresh foods and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) remain their main items ofpurchase, accounting for 26.8 percent of total spending in urban areas and 25.9percent in rural areas.

Consumers spend around 27 billion USD on fresh foods annually, with “a greaterfocus on consumption of products that are good for their health, especiallyorganic products”, he said.

Nguyen Quoc Toan, acting director of the agriculture ministry’s Agro Processingand Market Development Authority, said: “Consumers tend to have higherrequirements in terms of product quality, origin and distribution methods.”

The country’s farm produce exports are expected to reach 40 billion USD thisyear, higher than the target set by the Government.

Vietnamese farm produce is sold to many markets around the world, includingfastidious ones such as the US, EU and Japan.

But in the 97 million people domestic market, the agricultural sector and otherrelevant sectors as well as authorities need to focus on improving the qualityof farm produce and food products, he said.

Hoang said producers and traders need to supply products with clear origins,labels and manufacturing and expiry dates and carrying the health benefits.

Producers need to diversify their products, especially fruits, vegetables andwhite meat (such as fish and seafood), which consumers tend to consume more, hesaid.

With more and more people having a busy life, distributors need to increase thesupply of semi-processed and ready-to-eat products or invest in convenientstores and services to offer greater shopping convenience, he said.

Finally, producers and traders need to capture the high-end segment, targetinghigh-income families and families with small children, thereby boosting salesof organic and nutrient-rich products, he added.

Vu Thanh Hoa of the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority said toguarantee sales and ensure proper quality of farm produce, all cities andprovinces have developed supply chains for clean and safe farm produce.

Hoa said there are nearly 1,100 supply chains for safe farm produce includingvegetables, fruits, tea, pork, egg, rice and seafood across the country, withmore than 1,420 products and nearly 3,180 points of sale placed in supplychains for greater control.

But demand for safe farm produce is much higher and the country has set atarget of at least 50 percent of key farm produce in each locality being placedin supply chains by 2020, she said.

To develop more safe food supply chains, she said relevant agencies and localitiesneed to enhance dissemination of hygiene and food safety regulations andapplication of good agricultural practices, and persuade enterprises to enhancelinkages with farmers.

The Government should have policies to help stakeholders in safe food supplychains obtain certificates and promote their products, she said.

Organised by the High Quality Vietnamese Products Business Association and theAgro Processing and Market Development Authority, the forum also discussedmeasures to promote export of Vietnamese farm produce.

Vu Kim Hanh, chairwoman of the association, said to ensure export success,enterprises must firstly assess market demand to come up with appropriateproducts and market strategies.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Group, said marketinformation is an important factor in boosting export of farm produce becauseeach market has its own regulations.

Tung said market orientation, planning cultivation areas, ensuring productquality, and building brands for Vietnamese farm produce are among factors thatwould help Vietnamese farm produce penetrate developed markets.

The forum was followed by a direct meeting between producers of food and farmproduce and retailers including VinCommerce, Saigon Co.op, Big C, Trung NguyenCoffee HyperMarket and Vina T&T to explore business cooperation. — VNS/VNA