Lunar New Year goods for 2025 are ready.

As the beginning of October in the lunar calendar approaches, many food and consumer goods manufacturers are already preparing their business plans for Tet (Lunar New Year).

The market did not see many positive developments in the last quarter of 2024, and sluggish purchasing power made businesses hesitant to aggressively plan their production and business for Tet 2025.

Prepare in advance.

According to observations by reporters from the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, food manufacturers using domestic agricultural products and distribution companies have started preparing for Tet (Lunar New Year) very early.

However, recent typhoons No. 3 and No. 6 have affected the supply of agricultural products, forcing businesses to coordinate with suppliers and growing regions to ensure sufficient quantities and stable input prices for production and business.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thang, Deputy General Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Commercial Cooperative Union ( Saigon Co.op ), said that the unit has coordinated with growing regions, providing financial support for cultivation and guaranteeing the purchase of products.

According to Mr. Thang, this year Saigon Co.op is investing more financially in purchasing agricultural products and has planned for 3-6 months to jointly provide quality products at reasonable prices to consumers. In addition, Saigon Co.op is also coordinating with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade to implement the "Green Tick for Responsibility" program to bring green, quality products to consumers.

"This year, we anticipate strong demand for goods catering to ordinary workers and vulnerable groups, so we are focusing on boosting the supply of goods at lower prices than usual. Saigon Co.op has planned to coordinate with manufacturers and suppliers to increase inventory by 30%-40% compared to normal days for vulnerable customer groups, while also implementing many attractive promotional programs to stimulate purchasing power and support suppliers in developing the market," Mr. Thang said.

Businesses are cautious about their Tet holiday production and business plans.

Specifically, Saigon Co.op will prepare approximately 10,000 billion VND worth of goods for Tet (Lunar New Year), an increase of 20%-50% depending on the product group compared to a normal business month. The majority of the budget will prioritize stockpiling price-stabilized goods including rice, sugar, cooking oil, pork, poultry, eggs, processed foods, vegetables and fruits, seafood, etc., with the remainder allocated to food, non-food items, and Tet specialties. In the days leading up to Tet, Co.opmart supermarkets will organize more mobile delivery trips to remote areas and regions affected by storms and floods.

Unpredictable purchasing power, focus on maintaining price stability.

According to many businesses, the purchasing power during the upcoming Tet holiday is basically difficult to predict because consumers are more cautious in their daily spending and especially more sensitive to prices. To maintain price stability for essential consumer goods in the last months of the year, distributors have been continuously working with suppliers of meat, fish, shrimp, eggs, etc., to agree on the quantity and prices of Tet goods.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong Ngoc, Purchasing Director of the fresh produce section at the Bach Hoa Xanh chain of stores, said that they have just signed a strategic cooperation agreement with CPV Food to ensure the supply of high-quality, fresh chicken meat at stable prices to meet consumer demand during the year-end period.

"Every day, Bach Hoa Xanh consumes about 250 tons of chicken meat, of which more than 30 tons/day (about 1,000 tons/month) comes from CPV Food. It is expected that during peak seasons such as Christmas and Lunar New Year, the import volume will increase by 30%-50% and prices will remain stable," Ms. Ngoc informed.

From the supplier side, many manufacturing companies report abundant supply, including both domestically produced and imported goods. Ms. Phung My Linh, Director of Sales for Southern and Central Vietnam at CPV Food, affirmed that CPV Food still has significant production potential.

Currently, CPV Food's factory in Binh Phuoc is slaughtering approximately 100,000 chickens per day, while its designed capacity is 167,000 per day. "The company will stabilize prices for its products. In addition, we will introduce more processed meat products to diversify Tet holiday dishes for customers," Ms. Linh informed.

Regarding plans to launch new, health-friendly products for the Tet market, Mr. Nguyen Dang Hien, General Director of Bidrico Company, believes that competition in the modern market requires businesses to constantly innovate and bring more added value to customers. "With a green production approach, Bidrico has launched products made from Ngoc Linh ginseng and red ginseng, which have initially been quite well received by the market," Mr. Hien stated.

This Tet season, Bidrico has increased its production by approximately 12% compared to the same period last year, anticipating improved purchasing power as consumers continue to reduce their consumption of alcoholic beverages, replacing them with other soft drinks.

"There are also many difficulties, especially when the price of sugar and some raw materials for production, plastic packaging, etc., increases, pushing up product costs by 6%-7%," Mr. Hien worried. With over 30 years of experience in the food industry, Mr. Hien said that if businesses increase selling prices corresponding to the increase in production costs, it will be difficult to compete in the market because consumers will not accept it.

Meanwhile, a representative of a business supplying vegetables and fruits to several large supermarket chains is worried about the difficulty of selling goods during this Tet holiday. "Since the beginning of the year, supermarkets have been competing to lower prices to attract customers, causing suppliers to be caught in a cycle of low prices, which greatly affects sales and profits."

"Recently, the supermarket posed a difficult challenge: to create affordable fruit platters for Tet (Lunar New Year) celebrations, given the shortage of many fruits commonly used for Tet such as papaya and pomelo, which could lead to price increases during the holiday season. Facing these difficulties, the company set a target similar to Tet 2024, rather than pushing for sales figures without profit," a representative from the company stated.

Source