Mango is one of key fruits that have been exported to France. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

PARIS (Biz Hub) — Nearly 30 Vietnamese enterprises have brought Viet Nam's food products to the Paris international food industry expo - SIAL Paris 2016, which kicked off on October 16 at the Paris Nord Villepinte convention centre.

Vietnamese products, including rice and products from rice, pepper, cashew, vegetables, honey and coconut, are displayed in an area of 250sq.m.

Viet Nam's participation in the four-day expo was part of the strategy of building recognition of the national brands for Viet Nam's food industry in the global market, especially in Europe and France, and to promote exports of Vietnamese food products throughout the world. Viet Nam's Ambassador to France, Nguyen Ngoc Son, said at the opening ceremony of Viet Nam's pavilion, that the exhibition was an important gateway for Vietnamese enterprises to introduce their products and penetrate into French and EU markets.

The European market is one of the most stringent markets in the world and has had high requirements for quality and food safety, Son said, so attending the exhibition would help Vietnamese enterprises to improve standards on food safety and hygiene.

This year, Viet Nam has displayed many kinds of products with new product designs, packaging and high-tech production processes to meet the demand of foreign customers, he said.

Nguyen Vu Loc, general director of Western Export Food Processing Joint Stock Company (Westfood), said his company has displayed frozen and canned fruit products, including mango, pineapple, papaya and guava.

Of those products, mango was one of the key exporting products to other countries, accounting for 70 per cent of Westfood's total fruit export volume, he said. Meanwhile, other kinds of export fruit products still face stiff competition from fruits exported from Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.

To enter the global market, Westfood has improved production and processing lines to ensure the quality of those products, he said.

Stephane Horvil, a representative of French Distri Plus Company, said his company has done business with Westfood for 12 years, along with 40 other Vietnamese enterprises, to import frozen products to France and Europe, as well as find partners and markets for Vietnamese firms and farming products.

He highly praised the prospects for exports, though Viet Nam started later than firms in Thailand and China. Some Vietnamese firms have built reputations and brands on exports to the European market, so they can now compete with Asian firms to export fruits to France and the Europe.

Distri Plus has gained success in investments in Viet Nam, with average export volumes of 100 containers of food per month, earning US$80 million per year.

He said Viet Nam still has opportunities to increase revenues for the export of food products in the future.

SIAL Paris 2016 takes place every two years, drawing some 7,000 enterprises from over 100 countries. The food industry is one of France's key industries, with annual revenues of 170 billion EUR ($187 billion). — VNS