Goods suppliers ready for Tet

Van Duc Muoi, general director of Vietnam Meat Industries Company (Vissan), said the company expects to provide 3,000 tons of fresh meat, including pork and beef, and around 3,200 tons of processed food for the market during Tet.

Vinh Thanh Dat Food Joint Stock Co. in HCM City is stocking up on ten million poultry eggs per month from the beginning of the final lunar month to the end of the first lunar month, its director Truong Chi Thien said.

The volume is equivalent to that of last Tet and egg prices are expected to stay stable during the coming holiday season.

If the market has further demand, Vinh Thanh Dat can still provide more but Thien said he is afraid that consumption may not be that high.

Nguyen Cong Thua, head of Anh Dao Agriculture Cooperative in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, said the cooperative will launch 350 tons of products per day on the market during the last ten days of the old lunar year.

Due to unusual weather this year, the volume of vegetables in Lam Dong’s farms has fallen 20% year-on-year, Thua said and predicted that the market can fall short of farm produce.

Prices of vegetables may rise 30% in wet markets during Tet but will stay stable at supermarkets, he said.

The volume of goods prepared for Tet at supermarkets is higher than that of last year.

The Saigon Union of Trading Cooperatives, or Saigon Co.op, the operator of Co.opmart stores, has prepared more than 110,000 tons of goods, up 15% over last year, with the volume of products under HCM City's price stabilization program rising 5-30%.

Saigon Trading Corporation, or Satra, is expected to put on sale 21,300 tons of products, surging 29% compared to the level it registered with the city’s government.

Companies joining the price stabilization program will cut prices of many products in days near Tet. Supermarkets participating in the stabilization program will extend opening times in days before Tet.

In particular, from January 17 to 24, they will be operating from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day. From January 24 to 26, they will open at 6 a.m. and close at midnight. On the 30th day, or the final day of this lunar year, they will close at noon.

After Tet holiday, which falls on January 28, supermarkets will resume operation from the second day of the first lunar month, opening at 8 a.m. and closing at noon.