Big C Vietnam, a subsidiary of Casino Group, reported that the company has annually shipped 1,000 containers of Vietnamese goods worth more than US$17 million.

Vietnamese staples including coffee, rice, seafood, cashew nuts, furniture, handicrafts, household utensils, electronics and footwear, are now seen on the shelves of Casino supermarket chains in nine countries.

Big C said that its export turnover in 2011 increased by 20 percent over the previous year, adding that there was a growing demand abroad for seafood, coffee and garments from Vietnam.

A representative from Lotte Mart Vietnam said that the retailer has so far brought 89 brand-name products from 31 Vietnamese companies to supermarkets in the Republic of Korea (RoK), including processed foods such as Trung Nguyen coffee, Vinamit dried fruits, Vifon and Acecook noodles, and Vinamilk products.

The volume of Vietnamese products exported to the RoK surged roughly 25 percent compared to the first shipment, the representative said, adding that the company was pleased to see sales rising up to 40 percent as expected.

He said that Vietnamese products accounted for around 15 percent of the total imported goods sold in Lotte Marts.

Lotte Mart said it was planning to distribute Vietnamese products to 94 supermarkets in China and 28 in Indonesia

Global retailers said they preferred bringing Vietnamese products to supermarkets worldwide as they meet quality standards required by importing countries but cost less than other similar products available.

However, they cautioned Vietnamese producers to pay more attention to logistics and delivery times as stated in their contracts.

To increase the sales of Vietnamese products in supermarkets worldwide, the retailers have launched many promotional programmes.

In November last year, Big C introduced nearly 200 Vietnamese products to French consumers at the Casino's Geant Massena supermarket in Paris . Lotte Mart also organised a trade fair to display 117 Vietnamese products in Seoul last November.

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