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Tet shoppers opt for cheaper snacks
The higher prices for locally produced, better quality confectionary items with registered trademarks are benefiting less popular brands as people do their shopping for the coming Tet holiday.
A sales agent in Binh Tay Market, District 6, says that the trademark is relatively new, and products carrying it for the first time are not familiar to customers who are not sure about their quality.
However, the products that are cheaper than those with famous brand names and trademarks by about 50 per cent are winning customers over with their prices, he says.
The cheaper products are consumed in larger quantities as Tet gifts for relatives and partners in the city’s rural districts and neighbouring provinces.
Made in Vietnam
Meanwhile, another parallel development in the local market is that domestically-made products, packaged in eye-catching designs and carrying the Viet Nam brand logo are being preferred over Chinese goods.
According to Luong, a confectionery salesman in Tan Dinh market, District 3, the news that Chinese confectionery products were contaminated with melamine has prompted most supermarkets and shops in Viet Nam to stop importing them.
Luong says the volume of orders from supermarkets for these products has decreased by 50 per cent compared to 2007.
This has beefed up demand for locally made confectionery products, especially in the lead up to the Tet holiday, he adds.
Prices down for other imported products
In Binh Tay Market, suppliers of imported products are offering prices 10-15 per cent lower than those for domestic ones.
For example, the price of a foreign biscuit tin of 375g is only VND39,000 ($2.2)-42,000 ($2.4) while customers have to pay VND55,000-65,000 for a domestic one.
A representative of the Hoang Mai Company, a confectionery distributor in Viet Nam, says although the imported products have seen prices decrease, customers are still hesitant to buy them because of the fears generated by the melamine scandal.
Besides, customers are also unsure about the origins of the imported products that they feel could be using fake labels, the representative says.
Some officials have advised that in order to feel assured of the quality of confectionery products, consumers should buy them from supermarkets because the distributors have considered and selected the confectionery suppliers carefully to ensure compliance with regulations on food hygiene and safety.
VNS
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