European retailer keen to source sustainable supplies from Vietnam
VOV.VN - Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien held a meeting with a number of large French businesses, including Europe's largest retail group Carrefour on the sidelines of a forum on trade and investment between France and Southeast Asia which recently took place in Paris.
Talking with Carrefour leaders, Minister Dien highly appreciated Carrefour Group for co-operating with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to carry out a broad range of activities aimed at bringing Vietnamese goods into supermarkets in Carrefour's system around the world, as well as organising such events like Vietnamese Goods Week, Lunar New Year Week, and Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival in France over the past three years.
The Minister emphasised that these meaningful events mark the positive start of a new tripartite co-operation between retail distributors, importing companies, and Vietnamese trade representative agencies abroad with a view to bringing a rich and diverse choice of high-quality Vietnamese products to French consumers.
At the meeting, Patrick Lasfargues, vice president of Carrefour Group, said that along with purchasing, Carrefour is working alongside a number of Vietnamese producers to export to their system in Europe and is expected to promote this export model in the near future.
Minister Dien hopes that Carrefour will move to increase support given to Vietnamese businesses in building production and business strategies to be able to develop products that are capable of meeting European standards and suit Carrefour's needs and consumer goods supply chain in France, as well as quickly adapting to changes occring in the European market and France in particular.
The Minister also encouraged Carrefour to enhance links with Vietnamese businesses in order to produce a variety of consumer products aimed at supplying the European market.
As a means of continuing initial successes in terms of collaboration, the Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to work alongside Carrefour to organize purchasing delegations to Vietnam in the near future, especially to attend the Vietnam International Sourcing event which will be hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade from June 6 to June 8, 2024 in Ho Chi Minh City. The function is expected to see a wide range of trade activities held in connection with the world's leading wholesale and retail distribution systems.
As many as 500 Vietnamese businesses with 10,000 export standard products will participate in the event with the ultimate aim of connecting with trading delegations and buyers from 25 countries around the world.
With more than 65 million people, France is viewed as a potential market for Vietnamese exports. Some of the nation’s key products which are favoured by the French market include seafood, garments and textiles, footwear, household goods, and electronics.
Along with cultural and historical connections, many French people also love Vietnamese culinary culture.
Modern Vietnamese cuisine is also famous for its sophistication, which is consistent with the responsible and health-oriented consumption trends of European customers. This will open up a very potential market for Vietnamese food products at the Carrefour supermarket system.
According to experts' statistics, demand for Asian food in distribution systems in France reached US$650 million, of which Carrefour accounted for about 25% of the market share.
Currently, T&T Foods is one of the leading suppliers of Asian food in the Carrefour system, of which T&T Foods' revenue from Vietnamese goods hit roughly US$6.5 million in 2020.
