The size of Vietnam's fresh food market, such as vegetables, fruits, meat and fish, is estimated at $27 billion a year and continues to grow. Fresh food sales are forecast to grow 4.3%/year.
According to Kantar Worldpanel Vietnam, Vietnamese people spend about one-third of their income on fresh food and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). In particular, spending on fresh food is 3 times higher than that on FMCG with an estimated amount of VND 1.1 million per week.
The survey by Kantar Worldpanel also shows that 85% of Vietnamese consumers buy fresh food at traditional markets whereas only 15% buy from modern distribution channels.
When investing in Vietnam, foreign retailers have focused on fresh products and used it as a magnet to attract consumers. The modern distribution channel is growing at a rate of 28% per year, so fresh food businesses should pay attention to the standards and conditions to sell in this channel along with the traditional channels.
Nielsen’s report shows that consumers are more open to shopping for fresh food online when they are offered a wide range of purchasing options and have a certain level of quality assurance.
The meat market is worth $18 billion and had a CAGR of 3.11% in the period of 2016-2021. The domestic livestock industry is achieving an average growth rate of 4-5%/year and there are 10 million small-scale breeding households that provide half of the meat consumed in the domestic market. However, this still cannot meet the demand, so imported meat is increasing day by day.
The productivity of domestic livestock is decreasing and domestic meat products are quite costly while the price of imported meat is 30% lower, so the volume of imported meat is increasing. The current average pork consumption is 33.5kg/person. However, this figure for 2020 was estimated to be 39kg. Therefore, the market still has great potential to exploit.
The fruit and vegetable market had a CAGR of 2.88% (2016-2021). Vietnam is a country with the potential to develop both temperate and tropical vegetables and fruits. Over the past years, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable production has experienced strong growth in both cultivation area and output.
Accordingly, the average growth rate of cultivation area over the past 15 years was 28%. Specifically, in 2005 it was just over 300 thousand hectares while by 2017 it reached over 880,000 hectares. In 2010, the output of vegetables and fruits reached approximately 13 million tons while the figure for 2017 was 16.5 million tons, an increase of 3.53% compared to 2016.
In particular, the export value of vegetables and fruit in recent years has experienced a sudden growth. The export growth rate in the period 2011-2016 was 32.7% per year. In 2017, the export turnover of vegetables and fruits reached about $3.5 billion, an increase of 43% compared to 2016, in which, export of fruits accounted for 80% while that of vegetables and flowers accounted for 20%.
The seafood market had a CAGR of 3.85% (2016-2021). According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), with favorable natural conditions, Vietnam's seafood industry is developing rapidly, along with seafood export activities are being promoted. Seafood exports always account for more than 30% of export value.
In addition, the exploitation, processing and export of seafood products in Vietnam has grown substantially, which significantly contributes to the growth of seafood export turnover, opening a promising opportunity for offshore operations.
The export turnover of seafood has grown rapidly in the past two decades, increasing from $355 million to nearly $2.7 billion. However, because seafood prices in the world market fluctuate a lot, the value of Vietnam's seafood exports in the past 20 years has not been stable.
The year 2022 is expected to see a reversal in many of the trends that have dominated the fresh food market as the threat posed by the pandemic is expected to wane. However, for most fresh foods, it will take several years for sales to recover.
In 2022, consumers spending less time at home will undermine retail demand for fresh food, and the hoarding that occurred in the early stages of the pandemic is unlikely to be repeated. On the other hand, retail demand for fresh food will increase as the economy revives. For this reason, pork is projected to experience a higher growth rate in total production than poultry during the forecast period.
Increased consumer interest in health may help drive retail sales of fruits and nuts this year, but this will likely hinder growth in retail sales of sugar and sweets.
Source: Kantar Worldpanel Vietnam, Nielsen. VASEP, Babuki
Compiled by VietnamCredit
