However,
enterprises have not paid attention to the construction of brand names for
Vietnamese food. As a result, many products do not have stable positions in the
global market. Therefore, the construction of brand names for Vietnamese food
industry is a concerning matter for enterprises.
Not focus on creating
brand names
According
to the survey of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnamese food is highly
natural and different from those of other nations. However, the food industry
in Vietnam has not exploited this advantage. Indeed, the quality of the
products has not been upgraded, since the food industry only focuses on the
number.
By
the end of 2014, the Department of Trade Promotion (the Ministry of Industry
and Trade) officially kicked off the national branding program of the
Vietnamese food industry with the aim of positioning the overall brand for the
industry. However, many export products are not known to consumers as
Vietnamese ones, because Vietnamese products tend to be branded with foreign
retailers.
Customers at Vietnamese Product exhibition in Hanoi.
Deputy
Director of the Hanoi Trade – Investment – Tourism Promotion Center Nguyen Thi
Mai Anh said: Currently, Vietnam has had hundreeds of food and processed
agricultural products that have participated in the export market. However,
only a few brands such as Trung Nguyen coffee, Vinamit, and Acecook noodles are
known to the world. “In reality, at the week of Vietnamese products at the
supermarket chain AEON (Japan), Chinese enterprises imported large quantities
of lychees from Vietnam, then exported the fruit to Japan under the brand name
Made in China. Furthermore, Korean market is importing 90% of Vietnamese
coffee, but the majority of consumers of this country mistakenly think that
those products are from Brazil,” Ms. Mai Anh provided some examples.
In
reality, Vietnamese enterprises that sell agricultural products mainly export
raw materials. In particular, vegetables and fruits are largely unprocessed and
either preliminarily processed or remain as raw materials. The products are
packaged in cans, fruit juice or dried fruit. Some enterprises, although focused
on branding for Vietnamese food, but are still in the process of rebuilding. As
a result, they encounter many difficulties when their business partners do not
pay the same attention to creating a common brand. In addition, Vietnamese
companies are currently lacking linkages, so there are not any standards set
based on common ground, making it difficult for the food industry to build a
strong brand.
Brand positioning
In
order to support enterprises in fields of agro, forestry and fisheries
developing brand, Ministry of Trade & Industry, Centre for the Promotion of
Imports from Developing countries (CBI) of Netherlands and the EU – Vietnam
Multilateral Trade Project (EU - MUTRAP) have jointly developed Vietnam food
branding strategy. As such, from the period 2018-2020, the program will carry
out public relations promotion and advertisement for Vietnam food.
According
to the country director of CBI Koos Van Eyk, developing food branding is a
right direction, which has been applied successfully in Asian countries such as
Thailand and Korea. Food branding is supposed to support enterprises looking
for international partners in product distribution. However, besides developing
brand for the whole sector, enterprises should also focus on building their own
brand, in turn developing suitable production strategy.
Vice
Director of the Trade Promotion Department – Do Kim Lan said, enterprises in
fields of agro, forestry and fisheries looking for brand development, should
change their awareness to meet the market demands, such as: putting priority on
the product quality and product diversification; modern technology application
in production; improve linkage with retailing enterprises in distribution
channel expansion.
The
Vietnam food branding strategy to support enterprises in promoting their
products and brands are being initiated and expected to help Vietnam food in
accessing international market. However, this is only the beginning, while in
the long term, during the process of brand building enterprises must identify
targets, trends, demands and even study competitors, and the logo meaning.
By Hanoitimes