HCM City is co-operating with companies, distributors and neighbouring provinces to prepare goods for the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays, ensuring stable supply and prices, according to the city's Department of Trade.

In a virtual forum on product supply and prices during Tet held on Tuesday, Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of HCM City’s Department of Industry Trade, said that amid COVID-19 prevention the market will not be as hectic as in previous years.

Vu, however, predicted that consumption during Tet will slightly increase as many workers will stay in the city to enjoy Tet due to the limited transport conditions caused by the pandemic.

And many of the city’s residents will stay at home instead of going abroad as they did in previous years, pushing spending up during Tet.

To meet demand, Vu said the department was co-operating with provinces, cities and companies to ensure goods supply and is now ready to serve consumer demand at Tet.

Vu said the city’s companies have allocated VND19 trillion to prepare for Tet.

In addition, to ensure stable prices at Lunar New Year, the city has worked with companies that will spend over VND7 trillion to stock goods for the holidays. Thanks to that, prices will be stable for about one month before and after Tet.

Ly Kim Chi, chairwoman of the HCM City Food Association, confirmed that although facing difficulties due to the pandemic as well as higher raw material prices, "our members have made all-in progress to ensure stable prices and supply during the Lunar New Year holidays".

Companies are ready

Joining hands with the city, companies in HCM City have announced that they are ready for Tet. The preparation for the biggest festival of the year has been going on for months with the main aim of bringing diversified products to the market at stable prices.

The Tuong An Vegetable Oil Joint-Stock Company reported a 30 per cent increase in production to meet demand for the Lunar New Year period.

Mentioning the increase, the company quoted FMCG’s report which predicted that purchasing power would increase two-three times at Tet compared to normal days.

“2021 has been a year with many memorable events due to the fourth COVID wave, which has had an impact on all aspects of social and economic life. We started Tet planning in early October in order to meet demand,” said Bui Thanh Tung, general director of Tuong An.

Tung told Viet Nam News that supply will jump by 30 per cent year-on-year with diversified products to meet demand from business partners and individual consumers.

Mondelez Kinh Do said Tet is always an important and special festival for all Vietnamese. This year's Tet season is even more special as it closes a year of difficulties and fluctuations. Although there are still many worries and uncertainty caused by the pandemic, everyone will still want to have a meaningful Tet holidays with their loved ones.

Understanding the difficulties faced by small businesses in the past year, the company is implementing a programme to help them boost their image and appearance on social media channels.

The programme will help shops attract more buyers and, at the same time, consumers will be able to more easily access the shops they need.

The support from Mondelez Kinh Do is intended for traditional small businesses and business households specialising in products for Tet. Leveraging a digital platform with media initiatives via location and contextual targeting, different customised shop banners will reach consumers during their Tet journey.

Through the campaign, it is expected that more than 1,000 business shops will be supported and more than 20 million potential customers nationwide will be reached.

The company said that its Tet products are now presented early on major online shopping channels such as Tiki, Shopee, Lazada, Grab and supermarkets, convenience stores, and grocery stores nationwide.

“Right after the mooncake season, we started to prepare for the ramping up of production for the Tet season as the demand from our distributors for Mondelez Kinh Do’s products is high. Consumers will find our 40 new products this year at over 200,000 physical locations in all provinces or they can shop for our products on major online channels such as Tiki, Shopee, Lazada and Grab." said Hemant Rupani, managing director of Mondelez Kinh Do Vietnam.

"Keeping in mind the impact of the COVID-19 on the pockets of consumers, we have built a variety of value choices in our portfolio that remind us to stay hopeful through these difficult times. We will also be actively working with our small retail partners to help them grow their businesses through digital interventions,” said Rupani.

In the Tuesday virtual meeting, Pham Thi Huan, chairman of Ba Huan Company, said that the stockpiled volume has reached 90 per cent of the demand for Tet.

There will be no shortages at holidays, she confirmed.

Vissan Deputy Director Pham Van Dung said his company will prepare 2,800 tonnes of meat, up by 4 per cent year-on-year. The volume of processed food is 4,200 tonnes, up by 6 per cent compared to the same time last year.

With this volume, the company has committed to a sufficient supply for the city as well as the country, he said. VNS