People enjoy Vietnamese pho at the Vietnamese Pho Festival held in Singapore - Photo: HUU HANH
They said "Oh! Vietnamese Pho. I love it" and asked for more information, showing their love and interest in Vietnamese cuisine , especially pho and banh mi.
Hopefully this festival will not only have the presence of the Vietnamese community in Singapore but also many international friends. This will open up opportunities to promote Singapore's investment in Vietnam as well as Vietnam in Singapore.
When talking about pho, we are talking about an entire ecosystem with many products and services surrounding it, so the story of the supply chain and distribution so that Singaporean consumers and foreign guests can also cook Vietnamese pho needs to be raised.
We have great potential and in the future we can expand that supply chain. Thereby raising the status of Vietnamese pho in Singapore, from Singapore to other countries.
Talking about Singapore, some people think it is a very small country with 6 million people. But if you look at the number of international visitors to Singapore and foreigners living and working here, you can see that it is a very potential market.
By 2025, Singapore expects to welcome more than 18 million international visitors. This will make Singapore a market that does not stop at 6 million people.
From here, companies and commercial corporations operating in Singapore will also bring Vietnamese products to their home markets. We must pay attention to exploiting the strengths that are available in Singapore.
Long lines of people patiently waited to buy pho from early morning on October 19, the second day of the Vietnamese Pho Festival held in Singapore.
Firstly, the Vietnamese community in Singapore is quite large and many people are working in the culinary field.
They are key contacts, understanding local market needs, regulations on food import and distribution, and the most effective ways to bring products to market.
Second, Singaporeans and international visitors have a deep affection for Vietnamese cuisine here. This is an advantage that not every country is lucky enough to have.
Singapore is a high-end market with one of the highest income levels in the world . The demand and requirements for cuisine are very high.
There are many Michelin-starred restaurants as well as fine dining restaurants.
However, Vietnam currently lacks restaurant chains that meet this standard in Singapore. This is both a weakness, a gap, and a huge untapped opportunity. If there is a Vietnamese unit that invests in international standards and fine dining, we will win.
If we look at some countries that have done very well, such as Thailand, South Korea, Japan and China, we can see that in the early stages, they all received great support and investment from the state, not only in policies but also in mechanisms, capital and many other resources.
Building a national brand requires proper attention and investment from government agencies. Why don’t we have fine dining restaurants here? Because individual resources are limited; while companies and businesses with resources are not interested in this market. They are busy exploiting and cultivating the domestic market.
We should rethink this story comprehensively to come up with a comprehensive strategy. For example, Korea does very well in culture, cuisine, art, music ...
Vietnam has recently begun to pay more attention to the cultural industry. Cuisine is an important pillar of it. We are on the right track but need more investment.
Vietnam has many advantages, but the solidarity and unity to go together and go firmly and with vision are not really clear.
A recent typical example is the Vietnamese Banh Mi Society brand, which is very methodical and professional. Although it has only been operating in Singapore for a few months, it shows potential and is on the right track. We should learn from such models and invest in them, instead of going it alone.
Our ancestors used to say "a piece of betel leaves is the beginning of a conversation". Now, with a bowl of pho, all stories can begin because pho is not only popular in Vietnam and Asia but also around the world.
When it comes to pho, they know it is Vietnam. We have to exploit that existing advantage. Many other countries want that strength but cannot get it. The problem is that we need investment and a clear strategy.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/to-pho-mo-dau-cau-chuyen-20251019081837351.htm
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