VietNamNet Bridge - In order to be able to display products at supermarkets, manufacturers have to satisfy many requirements set by supermarkets, including extremely unreasonable ones.

A businessman said he has got ‘tired of modern retail channel’ and he has decided to withdraw products from supermarkets’ shelves.

NTC, director of a small business, could reached an agreement with C Supermarket to display his products – cha hoa -  a kind of specialty food of Tra Vinh province at the supermarket chain. 

However, after several years of cooperation, the director has decided to stop the cooperation with the retailer, just because of the water faucet.

Earlier this year, after a periodic examination, C Supermarket decided to stop distributing products because the enterprise did not satisfy the safety requirements and it would only resume cooperation when the problem was settled.

There was no water faucet in the production area. The director tried to explain that faucets were installed in the past, but he later ordered the closure of the faucets after he found the faucets were not necessary. 

In fact, the director said, the requirement about the faucets was just the ‘final straw’. “We got tired of them and we decided to stop cooperation,” the director said. 

“They always make claims, requesting us to offer higher discount rates, cut the selling prices and run sales promotion campaigns,” he said.

Meanwhile, it is nearly impossible to cut selling prices unless the company reduces the quality.

B, another supermarket chain, once also invited the director to sell cha hoa at the chain. However, he refused because he could not offer the high discount rate of 35 percent requested by B.

And now the director said he is satisfied with selling products at shops, sales agents, restaurants and hotels.

Some months ago, the public was stirred up by information that two famous cosmetics and pottery manufacturers withdrew their products from M Supermarket because the retailer repeatedly made requirements, even though the two companies knew that M supermarket is powerful retailer and a good distribution chain.

Nguyen Tuan Phuong, director of the Dong Nai Food Processing Company, said he does not intend to increase the proportion of products to be distributed through supermarkets.

Phuong noted that it is less profitable to distribute products through supermarkets than through traditional channels, though it is safer.

“We can make a profit of 5 percent with supermarkets, just half of that with traditional channels because we have to cover too many kinds of expenses, including ‘unnamed’ expenses,” he said.

PL TPHCM