The demand for middle-class consumers is increasing

The marketing director of a resort in Phan Thiet City in the central region of Vietnam told reporters on the sidelines of a recent workshop that the resort saves a lot of money by buying products from a new Vietnamese candle supplier instead of importers. 

An analyst said that many products imported by high-end hotels, spas and resorts in the country are made in Vietnam, exported to the US, Japan and Europe and then brought back to Vietnam.

Vietnamese candles made in craft villages by households are made from unsafe materials. By contrast, it requires more investment to make high-end products, but the candles can sell easily in Vietnam and overseas.

My Anh, the owner of a souvenir shop in HCM City, noted that demand from middle-class families has been increasing rapidly. High-end candles are seen as safe.

Anh said some years ago, the candles provided to high-end hotels and resorts were mostly imports because domestic products could not meet the requirements. But retailers now sell more Vietnam-made products with prices around 1/3 of imports.

Duong Hoang Thong, the owner of an artistic candle workshop in Hanoi, said the output of the workshop is not high enough to satisfy all the orders.

Thong’s citron candles can burn for four days, give a light aroma and have no black smoke. They are priced at VND100,000-150,000 per product. 

Thong is considered the pioneer in producing "clean candles" in Hanoi. "Clean candles” are not made from recycled grease, low quality by-products, or lead-containing wicks.

Thong can also make high-end candles. While imported candles are sold at $50, or VND1.2 million, Thong’s products are 50 percent cheaper.

Ngo Quang Hao in Binh Tan district, HCM City, is also a well-known candle producer. He was an apprentice in Japan and later returned to Vietnam. Now he earns several billion dong a year from his exports to Switzerland, Australia and the US.

After 20 years of making products for export, Quang Minh, a 100 percent Vietnamese owned company, is paying higher attention to the domestic market. Quang Minh’s director Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh said Vietnamese producers understand the market well and have lower labor costs.

US$1=VND22,000

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