According to a survey of Vietnam Report, 50 percent of customers have spent more on foods boosting immune system and clean foods due to the COVID-19 (Photo: baodautu.vn) Food and beverages are in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) category. Formany years, this has always been one of the important economic sectors withgreat potential for development, according to the Vietnam Report 2020.
The food and beverage market’s growth rate is forecasted to reach from 5-6 percentannually in 2020-2025.
Despite suffering negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, the food andbeverage industry in Vietnam also has many strong growth opportunities. Atpresent, more and more consumers pay attention to nutritional foods of plantorigin, organic foods or food with healthy ingredients.
A survey conducted by Vietnam Report at the end of 2020 showed due to COVID-19,half of customers have spent more on foods boosting their immune systemand clean foods. Meanwhile, 63.7 percent of customers have cut spending onalcohol and beer. Therefore, businesses in this industry must adjust theirproduction to suit demand.
Food businesses have to increase their production capacity by about 30 percent,while beverage businesses must reduce their production to lower than 80 percentcompared to before the pandemic.
Besides that, Vu Dang Vinh, general director of the Vietnam Assessment ReportJoint Stock Company, said COVID-19 has forced nearly 70 percent of food andbeverage businesses to focus on the digital transformation for survival and development,reported the Vietnam News Agency.
Many businesses have built modern technology processes in production andmanagement. Food and beverage companies have also sped up investment activitiesto renovate the distribution system and adjust the proportion betweentraditional and modern trading channels. They develop applications to enhancethe customer experience when shopping and innovate packaging design,eco-branding and product line development.
Nguyen Dang Quang, chairman of Masan Group, said the COVID-19 pandemic is agood opportunity to promote e-commerce.
The group is building plans to attract more and more people to online shopping,he said.
Vinh said food and beverage businesses need to focus on strategies such asrevenue growth, market development, promotion of research and improving productquality. They should also diversify supply sources with priority for domesticsuppliers and develop online distribution channels on e-commerce platforms.
According to experts in the food and beverage industry, the stable macroeconomyand commitments in free trade agreements signed between Vietnam and itspartners such as the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) andthe Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) would bringexport opportunities and more foreign investment. They would promote thetransfer of technology and technological advancement in the industry.
Along with that, the food and beverage companies need to improve theircompetitiveness and increase investment in infrastructure systems andmodernisation of production processes and corporate governance./.
VNA
