Vietnamese prefer fresh food by far to processed items

A family in urban Vietnam spends about VND1.1 million ($47.12) on fresh food a month, according to the recent survey by market research firm Kantar Worldpanel Vietnam.

The survey polled over 2,000 households in Hanoi, the central city of Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and southern Can Tho City, and over 1,000 households in various rural areas across Vietnam.

Fruits top the spending category in fresh food, accounting for 19 percent of the total, while vegetables come second at 11 percent. The rest goes to meat, seafood and rice.

The traditional market remains the favorite shopping outlet for Vietnamese people, accounting for 85 percent of total spending on fresh food.

Vietnamese people spend VND930,000 ($39.81) per week on fresh food at traditional markets, mostly on meat and seafood.

Although locals spend only VND220,000 ($9.42) per week on fresh food at supermarkets, the figure shows a 28 percent growth over last year. Most of the supermarket spending is on fruits and processed food.

Fresh food and FMCG make up the majority of Vietnamese people’s spending at 26.8 percent last year in the cities and 25.9 percent in rural areas.

With rising incomes, Vietnamese people, especially in the cities, have been spending more on education and health, the report finds.

The share of spending on education by urban families increased from 10.8 percent in 2012 to 12.9 percent last year, while spending on health grew from 3.5 percent to 3.9 percent in the same period.

The report also finds that Vietnamese consumers accord top spending priority to food safety, health and environmental issues/disease.

The majority of survey respondents, 96 percent, are confident that their spending capability will be stable or increase in upcoming months, and 86 percent expect the Vietnamese economy to be stable or grow stronger in the near future.

(By Dat Nguyen, VNEXPRESS)