More than 90 per cent of its goods are made in Viet Nam and are provided by more than 600 local suppliers. — Photo vov.vn

HCM CITY (Biz Hub)  — Local producers and distributors discussed ways to enable more locally made goods to enter large distribution systems during a seminar organised in HCM City last Saturday.

Nguyen Thanh Nhan, deputy director of Saigon Co.op, said that the chain had given priority to Vietnamese goods ever since it had opened its first store in 1996.

Currently, more than 90 per cent of its goods are made in Viet Nam and are provided by more than 600 local suppliers, he said, adding that the company planned to use more local suppliers.

If firms want their goods to be distributed in supermarket systems, they should meet certain requirements. In particular, goods should be of consistent quality, he said.

To do so, companies must upgrade their technology to improve quality and productivity, as well as transportation and storage.

In addition, producers must supply goods popular with consumers' tastes and trends in the market, and maintain a stable supply of their goods.

Nhan said that every six months Saigon Co.op conducts a survey on consumers' taste and market trends. It then shares the findings with producers to help them manufacture suitable products.

Ly Anh Sinh, director of Minh Long Hung, said consistent quality had allowed companies to survive.

He said that producers should be more active in developing their own sources of input materials as a measure to maintain product quality.

Besides consistent quality, firms also need to pay attention to logistics and product design, many conference participants said.

With so many goods of similar quality, products with a unique design will be given priority by distributors, they said.

They also said that producers and distributors must work closely to prepare sources of goods and deal with issues related to transportation and storage.

At the seminar, producers said they wanted to get support from distributors to make their products available on supermarket shelves.

Several others want to co-operate with supermarkets to make products under the latter's own brands.

Enterprises also suggested that the Government strictly deal with fake and copied goods, which have negatively affected local production. — VNS