Nearly 80 percent of Vietnamese shoppers do not bring their own bags, resulting in the increasing use of plastic bags. (Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn) HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - Sustainability has been a growing topic of interest to Vietnameseconsumers in recent years though awareness levels remain well below the globalaverage.
According to Kantar’s lateststudy on the environment done on a global scale, environmental issues such asplastic waste, water pollution and air pollution are among the top fiveconcerns of Vietnamese in addition to food safety.
Facing increasing climatechanges along with escalating levels of pollution, especially in the two keycities of Hanoi and HCM City, there is an increasing environment consciousnessamong a group of Vietnamese consumers who are willing to take action to improvethe situation such as reducing plastic waste, recycling and opting forhealthier and sustainable lifestyles.
But such people only accountfor 35 percent whereas the global rate is 59 percent, Vo Thi Kim Nhu, senioraccount manager, Worldpanel Division in Vietnam, told a recent webinar.
Moreover, nearly 80 percent ofVietnamese shoppers do not bring their own bags, resulting in the increasinguse of plastic bags, the study found.
Nhu also listed the reasonsthat prevent Vietnamese from living ‘green’ as knowledge barrier sinceauthorities and enterprises do not propagate environmental protection, a beliefthe situation is not too bad, which requires an emphasis on the alarming state,and the fact that sustainable and environment-friendly products are hard tofind and are expensive.
In fact, one of the activitiesthat has been promoted and encouraged by the authorities and enterprises inVietnam recently is recycling.
But Vietnamese consumersremain very vague about which products can be reused, recycled and replaced,where these products can be collected, how products are recycled, and what willhappen to them after recycling, Nhu said.
Furthermore,a quarter of the study respondents said recycling is inconvenient.
Vietnamese consumers wantmanufacturers and authorities to take the lead in reducing environmentalimpacts and do not expect retailers to take action in limiting environmentaldamage.
In the past few years theGovernment has been undertaking environmental protection projects with the aidof local and foreign businesses, organisations and individuals.
For instance, nine leadingcompanies in the fast moving consumer goods and packaging sectors formed theVietnam Packaging Recycling Alliance (PRO Vietnam). They include TH Group,Coca-Cola, Friesland Campina, La Vie, Nestle, Nutifood, Suntory PepsiCo, TetraPak, and Universal Robina Corporation.
The establishment of thisalliance promises many practical green initiatives and actions.
Besides, many initiatives havebeen taken by businesses such as using paper and recycled plastic straws andpackaging in coffee and tea shops and supermarkets and food to non-food brands.
However, surprisingly, only 5percent of participants could name manufacturers or brands that are takingenvironment-friendly initiatives.
“To foster more revolutionarychanges towards a shared sustainable development, perhaps we need to considerconveying more green messages along with activities to inspire various consumergroups,” Nhu said.
Kantar's Worldpanel data alsofound that a majority of the aware consumer group stopped buying certainproducts and services because of their impact on the environment or society.
This implies the importance ofthis group of consumers. By involving and engaging with them brands will haveopportunity to achieve a sustainable development in the future.
Doan Quoc Tuan, seniormarketing executive at Tetra Pak, said: “Sustainability is no longer just anice thing to do or trend. It is a licence to do business in the long term.”/.
VNA
