Customers shop at Co.op Mart supermarket in Quang Ngai. The confectionary market is ready to provide quality products for Tet this year. — Photo baodongnai.vn

According to the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade, the city is expected to consume around 18,000 tonnes of confectionary, 10 -20 per cent higher than the previous year.

Leading confectioner Kinh Do company will launch three major products for Tet: special gift, traditional gift, and gift hamper.

For its popular products like cookie can, the company has invested in high-quality materials and packaging to take on imported products.

It also plans a slew of communications and marketing programmes like sending mobile shops to other provinces and organising folk games in malls in HCM City and Ha Noi.

Bibica Corporation will produce around 1,600 tonnes of confectionary, almost three times last year's volume, with the prices of 30 per cent of them remaining unchanged from the pre-Tet period and those of the rest increasing by 5-10 per cent.

There will be 20 products made especially for Tet, including soft, fruity and gold-shaped candies.

Its two major biscuit brands, Goody and Lac Viet, are popular in the premium segment with their superb packaging, outstanding quality and prices that are 20-30 per cent lower than imports.

At the lower end, other local manufacturers like Hai Ha, Hai Chau, Bao Hien Rong Vang, and Minh Ngoc in the north and Quang Ngai in the central region are expecting a 5-10 per cent increase in sales.

At wholesale markets in HCM City like Binh Tay and An Dong, most confectionary products are local, and Chinese products are not popular like in the past.

It appears local confectionary makers will account for 80 per cent of the products bought during Tet.

Limited imports

In foreign-invested super markets like Lotte Mart, Aeon, and Metro, though imported confectionary products are displayed in separate areas, sales of local products match theirs.

At French-owned Big C and Co-op Mart supermarkets, local confectionary accounts for 70 - 90 per cent of sales.

The imports come mostly from South Korea, the US, France, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

"Customers more and more prefer local products rather than imported ones because of good quality and attractive packaging," Ho Quoc Nguyen, Big C's public relations director, was quoted as saying by Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper.

At many shops, local products account for 90 per cent of the display thanks to their low prices and good taste.

"I do not intend to sell imported products any more because clients now prefer local ones," Tong, who has a shop in D2 street, Binh Thanh District, said.

According to the customs department, imports of confectionary fell 4.46 per cent in the first 11 months of 2015.

Indonesian products accounted for a full third of the imports at US$62.6 million, a followed by Thailand at $32.2 million, a drop of 12 per cent.

A recent study found that by 2018 the local confectionary industry will reach VND40 trillion ($1.8 billion) in sales.

The potential for development is huge because a Vietnamese only consumes 2kg per year against the world average of 2.8kg. Realising this, many foreign confectionary companies are expected to make a beeline for the country. — VNS