At the Discussion Session on Connecting Local Product Consumption Through Domestic Distribution Channels within the framework of the Conference on Connecting Trade between Suppliers in the Northern and North Central Regions with Export Enterprises and Trade Promotion Organizations, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Phuong - Purchasing Manager of Fresh Food Industry - Central Retail Vietnam shared that since entering the Vietnamese market, Central Retail Vietnam has accompanied and supported farmers, especially those in remote areas and mountainous areas, to guide them in production and consumption of products, starting from sowing to packaging, thereby helping their products enter the retail channel. Thanks to that, many farmers and cooperatives have become major suppliers of Central Retail Vietnam.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Phuong, like other retail systems, in addition to being required to meet the requirements and regulations of the State management agency, Central Retail always cares about the quality and transparency of the products. "Regarding quality, Central Retail currently also sets the lowest standard, which is that the product must meet VietGap standards, to ensure strict management from the management agency. Setting the criteria for transparency is to create peace of mind for consumers when they buy a bunch of vegetables or a kilo of meat at the system" - Ms. Phuong said.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Tran Trong Hung - Deputy General Director of Hanoi Import-Export and Consumer Retail Company Limited (HCRC) - BRG Group Joint Stock Company also emphasized that after the pandemic, there have been two changes in the shopping habits of Vietnamese consumers, which are towards quality products, beautiful designs and transparency in the origin of the products. Therefore, distribution systems, including BRG, always pay attention to and prioritize these criteria for domestic products.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Phuong - Head of Northern Region - MM Mega Market Vietnam Company informed that MM Mega Market always wants products to be in a closed chain, which is to bring products from the growing area, the farming area to the consumer's table. And to achieve that criterion, domestic supply is the top priority because of the convenience in storage and diversity of supply sources. Therefore, according to Mr. Phuong, this is also the reason why up to 90% of products sold at MM Mega Market are domestically produced.

Regarding the difficulty of putting products on the shelves of MM Mega Market, Mr. Nguyen Anh Phuong said that, like other retail chains, to meet consumer criteria, this unit always requires products to ensure the regulations of state agencies, such as ensuring food hygiene and safety, traceability of origin and ensuring consumer benefits until the last stage.

According to Mr. Phuong, MM Mega Market currently has a number of professional customers, hotels and restaurants, who are always interested in tracing the origin to the growing and raising areas. Therefore, the goods of cooperatives and farmers are trying to connect to distribution units. " We need to continue to nurture and connect this. Because in addition to being on the shelves of distributors, we must find a way for consumers to buy products so that supermarkets can continue to order and create a supply chain, avoiding disconnection " - Mr. Phuong said.

In the current competitive context, in addition to support from distribution channels to consume products, Mr. Phuong added that the manufacturer must have a marketing policy and consumption policy so that consumers can see the superiority and advantages of the product, so that they can consume the product more sustainably.

Representative of Lotte Vietnam - Ms. Le Thi Huong - Director of Supermarket - Lotte Vietnam Trade Center Joint Stock Company shared that many suppliers have reported that it is more difficult to bring goods to Lotte Vietnam than other distribution systems, however, according to her, all Lotte Vietnam's offer documents have the same regulations as the state's regulations. "The fact that suppliers find it more difficult may be due to Lotte Vietnam's document control process being quite strict because customers are now interested in the quality and origin of products, so Lotte Vietnam " - Ms. Huong said.

In the process of approaching Lotte Vietnam's distribution channel, Ms. Le Thi Huong also noted that the documents of manufacturers and businesses often do not stand in the sample form, so when submitted, it will take a lot of time and be returned. In addition, the packaging of the business's products has not caught up with the market trend, has not met the needs of customers, so it is difficult to pass the product review stage at Lotte Vietnam; on the other hand, many small and medium enterprises have difficulty ensuring the transportation stage as well as the output does not meet the requirements of the distributor regularly and sufficiently.

Discussion session on connecting local product consumption through domestic distribution channels

Currently, the consumption of products through e-commerce channels is a trend. Mr. Nguyen Lam Thanh - Representative of Tik Tok in Vietnam said that compared to other distributors in the country, Tik Tok Shop is very young (1 year of establishment) but on average, Tik Tok Shop has more than 1 million orders sold and purchased in Vietnam every day. " The special thing about buyers on Tik Tok is the joy and happiness when buying products. Consumers buy products because they love the seller or the story of the production of that product. From this trend, it is creating fair opportunities for all small producers such as households, farms and buyers are also fair" - Mr. Thanh said.

In order to support the consumption of goods through digital platforms, as well as bring businesses into the online economic market, recently, according to Mr. Thanh, Tik Tok has signed with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to implement a support program for businesses to have the opportunity to access new online consumer groups through cash subsidies, digital skills training programs and advertising credits.

At the same time, recently, Tik Tok has also coordinated with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to organize training programs, improve trade promotion capacity, and sell products via livestream on the Tik Tok platform for local businesses and manufacturers... With the cooperation that has been and is being implemented, Tik Tok hopes to bring many consumption opportunities for domestic goods in the near future.

In addition to the sharing of representatives of distribution channels, from the management agency, Ms. Le Viet Nga - Deputy Director of the Domestic Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade said that through monitoring the consumption of goods in the domestic market, the Domestic Market Department found that manufacturers and enterprises need to assess the market of consumers, on that basis to know where to put the goods; at the same time, it is necessary to grasp the needs of distributors, to know whether the goods put here are suitable or not, will the "big guys" choose new enterprises or cooperatives that are not yet complete in terms of marketing, production, packaging or not?

The representative of the Domestic Market Department also recommended to domestic manufacturers and businesses that consumers are currently interested in products that ensure health, have the most reasonable prices; as well as the cultural and regional stories contained in each product.

“ These are also things that Trade Promotion Centers and local Departments of Industry and Trade in the country need to pay attention to in order to support farmers and businesses in the area in the process of producing and consuming goods: - Ms. Nga emphasized.