The March 2023 report, released by iPOS.vn, a company providing food and beverage management solutions, and its partners, said that of every three Vietnamese, two follow "street-food" trends.

The report, based on research about 4,000 consumers nationwide, 3,000 eateries and cafes, interviews of 100 experts, and data from prestigious market analysis firms, found they spend VND41,000-70,000 each time.

About 65 percent of Vietnamese consumers follow trends when choosing food and drinks.

As of the end of 2023, Vietnam had 317,299 eateries and cafes, an increase of 1.26 percent over the year before. The growth rate was lower than predicted in early 2023 because of the shutdown of small and medium sized food and beverage shops, and large enterprises’ strategy to scale down their business.

Positive signs in business expansion came from small-sized shops as a result of the strong influence of trendy food products. Some new players, with powerful financial capability, have expanded in well-located retail premises in Hanoi and HCM City.

Salt coffee was No 1 among new food trends in Vietnam in 2023, with 35 percent of polled people. No 2 was custard-apple tea (19.5 percent), followed by oolong tea with strong flavor.

However, the food trend in 2023 that did not last long was coin pancake. Investors had to spend big money on equipment to make the pancake (VND4-6 million for one machine) and on expensive materials, such as Mozzarella cheese. 

Economic difficulties did not affect Vietnamese people’s habit of going to cafes. More than 42 percent of surveyed people said they go to cafes once or twice a month, while 30.4 percent go once or twice a week, up 10 percent over 2022. Dating couples go to cafes more often than married people (four times higher).

In 2023, Vietnamese spent more on lunch with 50 percent of those surveyed saying they paid VND31,000-50,000 for a meal, up 5 percent. 

Meanwhile, the number of Vietnamese spending VND51,000-70,000 increased slightly by 2 percent. 

A sharper increase, 100 percent, in the number of people spending VND70,000 or more was reported, while the number of diners spending more than VND100,000 on dinners increased by four times.

Nearly 30 percent of people ate out 3-4 times a week in 2023, higher than the 18 percent in 2022.

Tam An