Workers can baby cucumber for export at GOC Food Processing Co. Food producers and distributers plan to work together to reach out to foreign markets. — VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh

HCM CITY (Biz hub) — Retailers met with nearly 130 enterprises, co-operatives, and craft villages in HCM City and southern provinces yesterday to exchange information and seek business partners.

Participants included Aeon, BigC, Saigon Co.op FairPrice, Metro and Weixin Cargo Services Co., Ltd, which owns the online supermarket Golmart. Thu Duc and Hoc Mon wholesale markets were also represented.

The meeting was organised on the sidelines of the high-tech agriculture and food processing fair of the HCM City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre.

Ho Xuan Lam, the centre's deputy director, said the event would help create stable outlets for Vietnamese farm produce.

Nguyen Huu Nghi, an executive with Thai Binh Investment Trading Corp, said his company wanted to seek suppliers of agricultural products to export to the South American market.

His company exports many Vietnamese products to Cuba, with export revenue reaching US$70 million a year in the region, he said.

Greg Matthews, a representative of online supermarket Golmart in Australia, said he was looking for Vietnamese food products to import to Australia.

Seafood and vegetables are in high demand in Australia, he said.

To penetrate the Australian market, Vietnamese goods must meet requirements set by the market, including requirements on quality and packaging, he said.

At the meeting, Weixin Cargo Services Co., Ltd, which owns online supermarket Golmart, signed agreements with four enterprises - Truong Son Co.operative, Linker Viet Nam, Cho Gao Cocoa Company and Tan Lam Long Co., Ltd.

Under the agreement, Weixin will market and distribute their products, including coffee, cocoa powder, butter and hibiscus tea via its agencies and e-commerce website, said Le Thanh Canh, business development director of Weixin Cargo Services Co.

The company has distributed Vietnamese goods to many overseas markets, including Australia, the US, and France, she said.

Hoang Van Nhan, managing director of Truong Son Co.operative, which owns Con Soc coffee and tea brand, said currently his products were available in many supermarkets, including Aeon, Lotte Mart, Maximark and Co.opmart as well as in many airports in Viet Nam.

He said the Golmart agreement would help promote his products to more foreign customers as well as increase sales.

A fruit trader at the Hoc Mon Wholesale Market also signed a memorandum of understanding with Viet Thuy Phat Organic Vegetable Company on consumption of pear-shaped melons.

Pham Thanh Phuong, director of the Viet Thuy Phat Organic Vegetable Company, said his company began planting the melons in 2011 in the HCM City Hi-tech Agricultural Park. It uses VietGap standards to grow the fruit.

He said he also plans to expand the cultivation area to 8ha from the current two hectares. — VNS