Korean food “invading” Vietnam’s market

For the last decade, Vietnamese people have been talking about the penetration of Korean culture to Vietnam. Now they are talking about the “invasion” of Korean food in Vietnam’s market.

Korean food flooding

Food imported from South Korea has been flooding both big and small supermarkets in Vietnam. Though the prices of the products are higher than Vietnamese products, and while retailers rarely offer price discounts, South Korean food still has been selling very well.

The good sale of South Korean food has led to the mushrooming of more and more food shops specializing in selling South Korean food products, especially on Tran Duy Hung, Nguyen Thi Dinh streets and Trung Hoa new urban area in Hanoi.

Nearly all big supermarkets have been selling South Korean food. The most popular products include salmon, kimchi, seaweed, mushrooms and different kinds of noodles. The prices of the import products are 3-4 times higher than the same kinds of products made domestically.

Kimchi, for example, is selling at 150,000-200,000 dong per kilo (made-in-Vietnam kimchi is priced at 60,000-110,000 dong per kilo), and imported mushroom is selling at 39,000 dong per 200 gram pack (18,000 dong for domestic product). Powdered red pepper is priced at 180,000 dong per kilo (50,000-70,000 dong) and beef at 500-600,000 dong (130-140,000 dong).

Despite the “price storm” which has forced many housewives to be frugal, other people are still ready to spend money on expensive food. “I like kimchi and Korean food. I always purchase materials to make kimchi myself. It takes me about 200,000 dong make a kilogram of kimchi,” said Thu Huong in Thanh Xuan district in Hanoi.

Dung, a saleswoman of a mini supermarket, specializing in selling Korean food on Nguyen Thi Dinh street, said that the supermarket has been mainly selling food to Koreans, who are living in Vietnam. However, she said she has been serving more and more Vietnamese people recently.

“Vietnamese people purchase materials to make kimchi, seaweed, mushroom and ginseng,” Dung said.

The high trade deficit risk

Since 2010, Vietnam has been applying a preferential tariff on imports from South Korea under the framework of the ASEAN-South Korea Free Trade Agreement.

In 2010-2011, the tariffs on many products, such as lamb, beef and pork will be reduced to 7-10 percent. Meanwhile, dairy products will have average tax rates of 10-15 percent, and fish and fruit 15-20 percent.

The lower tariffs have paved the way for more and more South Korean products to enter Vietnam. Statistics showed that the turnover from South Korean imports in the first six months of the year increased by 37.16 percent in comparison with the same period of last year.

Analysts have pointed out that it is a Vietnamese habit of preferring foreign products to domestic products which has contributed to the high trade deficit.

“Not every kind of South Korean rice is glutinous, while Vietnam also has many kinds of rice suitable to make kimbab. I would prefer Vietnamese rice,” said Dung from the food mini shop on Nguyen Thi Dinh street. – Vietnamnet

Tags: Korean food