InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA - Vietnam is one interesting country to get trade in food services. With the population more than 93 million men, would keep increasing, and the increasing buying capability, Vietnam shows the big potential. It is divided in some main sectors, such as, restaurant with complete services; café and bar; groceries by the street, fast food, and restaurants that provide home service. In 2020, food services in the country reached US$ 24,62 billion or equal to 0,7% of food services in the globe.
But Covid-19 pandemic significantly delivered impacts in this sector. It decreased 2,8% in 2020 or to be US$ 25,3 billion in 2019. Nevertheless, it started to recover in 2021. This sector could be strongly recovering and developing for the next years.
Rina Mariati Gustam and Muhammad Kharibi from Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) mentioned, one fast increasing segment was fast food. It expands the fast-food networks and franchises from popular brands, for instance, KFC which is one biggest fast-food restaurant network in the country.
“The consistent economic progress in Vietnam would be the main factor to encourage and be interesting to make multi-national scale fast-food chain. The western culture influenced and raised fast-food culture in the country. Some multinational – scale fast-food restaurants massively got more for the past years. The trend could be always increasing,” Rina Mariati Gustam and Muhammad Kharibi noted in their reports.
The increasing food consumption, out of home, and the increasing fast-food restaurants namely from the increasing work – class population, need affordable fast food. Besides, the millennial generations that want to eat within affordable budgets, also contribute to expand this sector. The fast, increasing tourism sectors also become the main factor to escalate food service – industries in Vietnam.
The foreign fast-food restaurant networks face close competition with the local ones. It happens for many consumers are fond of local taste and being cheaper. But the other brands, for instance, Jollibee, Lotteria, and KFC successfully showed better performances than the new comers, for instance, McDonald's, Burger King, or Subway.
With the strong economic fundamentalism and the increasing people’s buying capability, food service sector in Vietnam would have the brighter prospect. The increasing economy, diet consumption, and food service – technology development would encourage this sector to expand. Even though the challenges exist, namely in competition and local preference, the big potential trade makes the country as the interesting one to invest in food service sector. (T2)
