Tet products hit market but buyers keep away

The newly opened South Korean supermarket Lotte Mart in District 7. With Tet approaching consumption normally surges at this time but not this year.

With just over 20 days to go for Tet (Lunar New Year), businesses are busy churning out new products for the year’s top shopping season, but things are duller than normal.

Many food businesses in and around Ho Chi Minh City remain confident demand will be high for their products despite the global economic meltdown.

Huynh Gia Huynh De Limited Company has processed around 500 tons of poultry, 20 percent more than last year.

The company bred the birds itself, vice chairman Chau Nhut Trung said.

Phu An Sinh Food Processing Company has set up a slaughterhouse meeting hygiene and safety standards at Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

Its director, Pham Van Minh, claimed Phu An Sinh would have 400 tons of free-range, chicken meat.

It is raising another 100,000 chickens, he said.

The new abattoir will also supply sausages and pork paste.

Minh promised that his company’s products, sold through 110 retailers in the city, would be 10-20 percent cheaper than its competitors’.

CP Vietnam has promised to supply 7,500 tons of frozen chicken for Tet and 500,000 eggs a day.

The Dong Nai Industrial Food Corporation said its D&F brand products do not contain growth hormones and only permissible quantities of antibiotics.

Vissan Limited Company said it has faced problems recently but would still increase supply by 15 percent compared to last Tet.

Farmers in the Mekong Delta’s Tien Giang and Long An provinces expect to supply 1,200-1,500 tons of seedless watermelons at between VND12,000-15,000 a kilogram.

The Mat Troi Do (Red Sun) brand of watermelon is said to be sweeter than others and keeps for seven to ten days.

The farmers have harvested 30-35 tons of the fruit per hectare, earning VND180-200 million ($10,300-11,400) each.

Beverage prices in HCMC have remained stable ahead of Tet.

“In the past, shops would hike prices several times within a month before the holiday,” the owner of a beverage shop in District 8 said. “No one dares do so this year.”

In Hanoi retailers said products are already in the market but there has been little buying, with consumers still waiting for promotions.

At the Nguyen Van Cu Supermarket, few customers even glance at the Tet gift hampers containing cookies, candies and beverages, whose prices have only increased slightly since last year.

A supermarket employee, Do Thi Hoa, said, “I think consumers are waiting for prices to be lowered or for promotions.”

At Vinaconex Supermarket, the gift hampers are not even displayed due to the low demand.

The supermarket said it would launch a promotion only two weeks before Tet.

“Consumers are waiting for big promotions,” it said, adding sales are expected to rise next week.

Electronic and electrical supermarket Pico Plaza has also seen little buying though it launched a promotional campaign two weeks ago.

A supermarket employee said demand for household appliances would rise a few days before the Tet holidays.

Bad season for clothes

At the apparel section at large HCMC shopping malls like Parkson, Diamond Plaza and Zen Plaza, the common refrain is that prices have not been increased. They also sold a lot at 30-70 percent discount in the last two months.

While this should be the busy period for garment businesses, many said business has been dull. Many will continue their sales programs until Tet.

Ngo Thi Bau, general director of Nguyen Tam Garment and Textile Company which owns the popular FOCI brand, said the number of items sold has not decreased much but the profit has dried up.

“The primary concern now is to prevent losses and any business that can do that can be considered successful,” she said.

Ngo Tu Tam, director of Son Kim Company, owner of WOW brand and distributor of Elle and Jockey products, said sales during the recent Christmas season only increased 15-18 percent instead of the normal 30 percent.

“We probably would not have sold anything if we had not offered discounts,” she said, adding that top-range products have the lowest demand.

She said producers should cut costs and focus on convenience rather than fashion.

There are only 20 days to go for Tet but many dressmakers are only working in the day. In other years they would have to stay up late, sometimes overnight, Hoa, a seamstress who sells her products at Tan Binh and An Dong markets, said.

“It has never been so bad,” she said.

Reported by Quang Thuan – Mai Phuong

Students take a Tet vocation

A student (L) works as a product promoter for a company at a Ho Chi Minh City supermarket.

With the shortage of funds a chronic reality as students, many who study in big cities work hard to pave their way home for Tet.

Tet is above all a time for the entire family to get together, so it is a homecoming season that has people from all over the world making a beeline to their homes in Vietnam, typically to the provinces and villages.

Students from the provinces who are studying at big cities are no different in making plans to go home for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays. However, since it is an expensive proposition for them, many are now busy doing part time jobs to save enough money to get home in time.

Nguyen Van Vu of the Da Nang Economic University says he is working for a coffee shop as a waiter from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. for the monthly pay of over VND1 million (US$58.62).

“Some days I am exhausted, but I feel encouraged when I think I will not have to call my parents to help with the transportation fares for Tet,” Vu says.

Working part time is also a chance for him to gain experience, he adds.

Some students work as wedding waiters and waitresses for VND100,000 ($5.86) per event.

Female students with a good appearance find work as receptionists at year-end events and parties held by event management companies. This job, according to most students, is rather leisurely but well paid.

In Ho Chi Minh City, during this season, the municipal Student Support Center, along with schools’ youth unions and employment websites introduce hundreds of students to seasonal jobs everyday.

Tuan Hung of the HCMC Open University says he comes to the support center around this time every year to find jobs.

This year he is working as a motorbike guard for a fashion shop on Le Van Sy Street in District 3 for VND50,000 ($2.93) per shift starting from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

“Although the semester exams are coming, I try to arrange time to earn money for going home,” Hung says. “Many days I do not get home until 1 a.m. while I have class at 7 a.m. I am very sleepy during class, but I have to try!”

Not all students work as part time employees, some act on their entrepreneurial spirits.

A group of students from Da Nang City’s Dong A College, for example, have pooled their money for selling flowers as they heard this year flowers are scarce. They have already assigned a student who lives in the Central Highlands resort town of Da Lat to source flowers locally.

“We hope that we are making a good investment. Our money for the next month is all invested into the business.”

Tet away from home

While most students living far from home are busy finding and doing part time jobs, others say they will not go home for Tet due to financial problems and high transportation fares.

The city’s Department of Transport recently said this Tet could see smaller increases than usual in train and bus fares because of the steep fall in fuel prices.

However, it is still not easy for students to afford the fares.

“Usually I pay VND90,000 ($5.28) for a bus trip to my hometown, but the fares increase three to four times during the year-end season,” says Le Anh Minh of HCMC University of Technology from central Quang Ngai Province.

“It will cost me nearly one million dong ($58.62) for a round trip,” Anh says.

“Instead of moving heaven and earth to earn money for my bus fare, my parents can use the money to buy some banh chung [square glutinous rice cakes] and other traditional dishes for Tet,” he says.

Truong Minh Trung, a student of Economic Department at the Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City, says the coming Tet will be the third Tet that he will not spend with his family, staying on at the city to work part time.

Quynh Huong from the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities, meanwhile, says she will stay at the city this Tet not to earn money but to join a volunteer program organized by her school.

“Although I feel sad I cannot meet with my family during Tet, I feel luckier and happier than those children who have no home and parents,” Huong says.

“So, I want to visit, share and do something for them so that I am not sad during the holiday but can also help lessen their feelings about their disadvantages.”

Reported by Thanh Nien staff

Companies eye more affordable Tet gifts

Figures from several supermarkets show that purchases for Tet account for up to 30 percent of their revenues in the months leading up to the holiday.

Companies are trying to squeeze Tet gifts out of their budgets despite the economic downturn as the nation’s biggest holiday approaches in January.

Nguyen Thanh Hung, marketing director of Dai Dong Tien Plastic Joint Stock Company in Ho Chi Minh City, said the gifts are a means to show their respect and appreciation for business partners following a year of hard work.

Figures from several supermarkets show that purchases for Tet account for up to 30 percent of their revenues in the months leading up to the holiday. For food companies, that number could reach 50 percent.

Hung said his company would prefer to reduce the number of business partners on its gift list, but not the quality of the gifts.

“With VND500,000 (US$29) you can’t buy a gift hamper as large as you did last year,” Hung said. “This year we must give priority to our close and strategic partners.”

Bui Quang Thinh, deputy general director of HCMC Tan Tien Plastic Bags Joint Stock Company, said the company has been cutting back on marketing and other costs associated with mid-year festivals like the Mid-Autumn.

For banking, securities and insurance companies – who have been hit particularly hard by the economic turmoil – sending their business partners Tet gifts is essential.

“In case we don’t have enough money to spend on Tet gifts, we can even reduce some of our staff Tet bonuses,” Tran Minh Toan, general director of Sen Vang Stock Company in HCMC, said.

No, thanks

But some companies have said they will follow a policy of “not giving, not receiving.”

Nguyen Minh Hien, director of Thien An Company, which deals in fine art products, said his company has even written to its partners about this policy and got some positive responses.

“We’ve received thank-you letters from our importers in Europe and North America and they say they are not worried about not receiving Tet gifts,” Hien said.

As a result of the belt-tightening by some companies, imported wines, high-priced food products and some other items could see a fall in sales from last year.

Nguyen Van Thang, director of wine distributor Minh Anh Company Ltd, said his company has imported fewer expensive wines and more of those priced below VND1 million ($59) from countries like Chile, Portugal and Thailand.

The recent melamine scare from Chinese products might make local confectionary products more appealing this year.

Hoang Nhan Nam, deputy marketing director of Bibica Joint Stock Company, said his company plans to distribute around 5 million chocolate and confectionary boxes and expects sales to hit VND180 billion ($10.6 million).

Duong Thi Quynh Trang, public relations director for Big C Supermarket chain, said her supermarkets would offer free delivery and discounts on Tet gifts.

Online electronics retailer Golmart has sent out catalogues to customers, focusing this year on gifts priced VND500,000 to VND1 million.

Le Thi Duy Linh, Golmart sales director, said, “Golmart wants to help customers find more affordable gifts but still maintain the Tet tradition of giving gifts.”

Source: TBKTSG

Cutbacks extend to Tet holidays, wedding celebrations

Workers from Binh Duong Province’s Song Than Industrial Park buy vegetables for their daily dinner at a nearby market.

Thousands of workers are feeling the pinch after their employers stopped paying salaries, forcing them to make cutbacks on things that used to be considered ’necessities’

Nguyen Thi Hang, a worker at Vietnam Garment Technology Company in Ho Chi Minh City, won’t be returning to An Giang Province for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday in January.

Like many other factory workers in HCMC and surrounding provinces, Hang lost her job after the director of her employer disappeared. Garment-making companies across Vietnam have been hit hard by the global economic crisis.

“I had expected to meet my family after a hard working year,” Hang said.

“Everyone misses their hometown. I don’t want to upset my parents by telling them I didn’t make enough money this year.”

Hang said finding a new job at the end of the year was difficult. “I am thinking of finding a temporary job as a waitress at a café or restaurant,” she said.

Worker Le Thi Thuong from Quang Sung Vina Company in HCMC’s Go Vap District has received only a small portion of her monthly VND2.8 million (US$165) salary over the past few months.

Thuong said some residents living nearby her lodging had given her some rice, but she still owed money for food and rent.

Her co-worker Nguyen Thi Kieu from Dong Thap Province is in an even worse situation, unable to pay for medical treatment for her cancer-stricken daughter.

Low acts

To make matters worse, those just scraping by have become a target for thieves, who have stolen everything from rice, salt and clothes to money, bicycles and motorcycles. The thieves seem to be focusing on neighborhoods with a high concentration of cheap housing.

Workers from Nguyen Van Tiet Street in Binh Duong Province’s Thuan An District said they had been targeted by thieves since early this year.

Nguyen Thi Linh of the 3/2 Garment Company said she had been robbed several times within one week.

She said a carton of milk she left on the floor to take a phone call had vanished. The same day, Linh’s jeans were stolen. There was VND500,000 ($29.50) in the pocket.

And just a few days later, her bicycle disappeared from the front of her building.

Worker Nguyen Thieu Trang, who lives nearby, said he has had three bicycles stolen.

Many thefts have also been reported in Binh Hoa neighborhood in Binh Duong Province’s Thuan An District.

Worker Tran Thi Kieu said she had lost her salary of VND2 million ($118) and a piggy bank. She said many of her neighbors had also lost property, from cooking pans to a motorcycle.

Scrimping extends to weddings

The financial difficulties are forcing many couples to make compromises on their wedding celebrations, with many cutting back on photography and video services.

Owner of Kim Phuong restaurant in Binh Duong Province’s Di An District said he often supplied complete wedding packages, including makeup, photography, music and gown rentals – and the cost-effective packages have been very popular recently.

“Since October, there have been up to 14 weddings at a time here on Sundays,” he said.

One couple, Truong Van Ha from Thanh Hoa Province and Pham Thi Thu Hue from Hung Yen Province, said they chose the cheapest options possible for their wedding later this month.

“Our income from a hard-working month with overtime totaled VND3 million ($177),” Ha said. “It’s just enough for daily expenses. We are really afraid of holding a wedding ceremony.”

“I will hire a suit for VND60,000 ($3.50) and my fiancée will hire a wedding gown for VND100,000 ($6),” he said.

Bride Thanh Nga said for her recent wedding, like many other couples, she and her husband had to rely on money given as gifts to pay for the wedding banquet.

Source: TN, Agencies