photo: Supermarket in Danang
Since 1986, when economic and political reforms were launched, rapid economic developments turned Vietnam from one of the poorest nations into one of the fastest growing economies in Asia today. Its GDP is estimated at US$216 billion in 2017 and has achieved an average annual growth rate of six percent. Vietnam is indeed showing the hallmarks of a developed country.
Vietnam is the leading producer of agricultural products including rice, coffee, pepper, cashews, and fish products. Vietnam also imports significant quantities of a wide range of agricultural and food products totalling at $24.7 billion in 2017 of which, $13.9 billion were consumer-oriented products. U.S. market share of consumer-oriented products was registered as $807 million in 2017 or approximately 6 percent.
Small traditional family owned businesses still predominate in Vietnam’s retail food sector. However, major supermarket chains are rapidly increasing their market share with rising urbanization and rising consumer incomes. There were 897 retail outlets in 2012; this has increased to 3,272 retail outlets in 2017. Best market prospects for U.S. consumer food products include poultry and poultry processed products, tree nuts, fresh fruit, processed vegetables, dairy products, beef and beef products, chocolates and non-alcoholic beverages.
Tags: Vietnam Special 2019