Expanding the market for local products

​In the past time, many programs have promoted sales channels for local products from supermarkets to retail points and showrooms. However, those were mainly promotional channels in general, while the purchasing power was still limited.

Consumers, especially in remote areas still do not have many opportunities to access clean products, OCOP products (One Commune One Product) of the locality.

People choose to buy OCOP products of Dong Nai at a supermarket in Bien Hoa City.

Ms. Hoang Ngoc (living at Trung Dung Ward, Bien Hoa City) said that many times going shopping at Coopmart Bien Hoa and Big C Tan Hiep supermarkets, she paid attention to the counters and shelves of local products of Dong Nai displayed in the "front" area, the payment counter... However, those products were still quite simple, there were not many imprints on "appearance" as well as advertisement and promotion programs enough to impress customers, especially young people.

To connect and bring local products and goods into retail channels to be effective, it is necessary to have synchronization from the places of production, the businesses supplying goods and the units and retail chains under the support and connection from relevant departments, sectors and localities.

Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Tien Sy shared that: over the past time, departments, branches and localities in the province have also increased many activities to support trade promotion, connecting supply and demand to bring agricultural products of the province, especially strong products, clean and organic agricultural products into retail channels, traditional markets, e-commerce platforms... However, for market development both in domestic and export to promote efficiency, the role of the State and enterprises investing in agriculture is very important.

The market development for local products needs to take into long-term plans, innovating forms of supply-demand connection to raise the level from introducing and promoting products to a sustainable product consumption channel, reach high revenue for local products.

Mr. Ho Duc Tan, representative of the Dau Giay Agricultural Food Wholesale Market Authority (Thong Nhat District) said that the output of goods consumed at the market was quite stable at about 210-250 tons per day, of which agricultural products of Dong Nai accounted for about 35-40%. In addition to trading agricultural products and foodstuffs, the locality has also deployed one more point to sell OCOP products recently, strong products of the locality at the market. That opened up more opportunities to promote and introduce local products as well as open more consumption channels for people to consult and shop OCOP products, l specialties of the locality.

According to the survey results of the provincial Steering Committee for the movement of Vietnamese people to give priority to using Vietnamese goods (Steering Committee 264) conducted in 2022, nearly 30% of the survey respondents were that consumers often faced some difficulties in finding Vietnamese shops when they needed to find or buy products and goods manufactured by Vietnamese enterprises.

Besides, 14.5% were that Vietnamese goods and products also displayed at hidden places; 25.2% were that it was difficult to find information about Vietnamese products; 22.6% were that the after-sales service of many products was still small and 7.7% were that sellers did not encourage buying Vietnamese products. In addition, there were some other comments such as: high price, few items; few sent to the countryside, low confidence in the products.

Regarding the work of supporting local businesses as well as developing the market for Vietnamese goods in general and local products in particular, Deputy Chairman of the Provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, Deputy Head of the provincial Standing Committee  264 Vu Dinh Trung said that members of the provincial Steering Committee 264 would continue to coordinate in the implementation of trade promotion, industrial promotion programs, to step up forms of cooperation and association in the development of raw material areas in association with the production, processing and consumption of agricultural products in the coming time.

Many opinions shared by consumers, it was necessary to develop more OCOP selling points, local products at traditional markets, and remote localities in the coming time to improve identity and help consumers to have more places to buy local products…