VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese food suppliers are really dying for becoming the links of the global food chains, but they still cannot find the way to join them.

Subway Vietnam said most of the materials needed to make products for Subway shops in Vietnam are imported, from bread to vegetables. 

“Only a few of materials are sourced from Vietnam,” the representative of Subway Vietnam said, adding that the fast food chain cannot find reliable suppliers in Vietnam.

Under the current laws, using locally sourced materials is not a must for foreign food chains.

Nguyen Huy Thinh, managing director of McDonald’s Vietnam, said it took one year to find the egg supplier who can satisfy McDonald’s global standards. Eggs must be cleaned and then covered by an oil layer for protection.

Lotteria Vietnam, which has been in the market for 17 years, still cannot find suitable beef suppliers.

“When opening the first shop in Vietnam, we used Vietnam’s beef. However, as the fat concentration was unstable, we could not ensure the quality of our products,” a Lotteria representative said.

“Therefore, we decided to build a factory, and decided to import Australian cows for domestic slaughter,” the representative said.

Hoang Tung, a branding expert, said that Vietnamese businesses still have not found the right way to approach the chains.

“Vietnamese businesses, with abundant domestic material sources, domestic workforce and domestically run production lines, have great advantages in supplying fresh materials,” he said, adding that Vietnamese are capable of ensuring the quality of the materials to be supplied.

However, whether they have opportunities to cooperate with global food chains will still depend on many other factors, including their skill in persuading foreign partners and the ability to provide materials for the long term.

Pham Viet Anh, also a branding expert, said one cannot say Vietnamese materials cannot satisfy the quality requirements set by foreign partners. Vietnamese products are available all over the world, and there is no reason to say they cannot provide materials to fast food chains.

Do Thanh Nam, director of Win Win, a consultancy firm, noted that in many cases, foreign food chains have their own supply chains and therefore, there is no room for Vietnamese suppliers.

Meanwhile, the director of a Vietnamese business, said that he does not intend to squeeze into foreign fast food chains because this seems to be impossible.

“All of them (fast food chains) set strict requirements on products. In order to satisfy the requirements, we will need huge investment capital. Meanwhile, we will surely take loss if we cannot find other consumers,” he explained.

PL TPHCM