Thai consumers crave Vietnam fish sauce: Central Retail exec

Vietnamese fish sauce is the best in the world because it is produced based on long-standing tradition, so Thai people love it, said Paul Le, vice president of Central Retail, a member of Thailand's Central Group.

Paul Le recently spoke to the The Investor and the press about the story of Vietnamese goods and the GO! retail chain on the sidelines of the "Business Matching and Vietnamese Product Introduction Week" in Ho Chi Minh City.

Central Retail currently has 34 GO! supermarkets around the country.

Could you share about the presence of Vietnamese goods at GO! supermarkets?

Currently, Vietnamese agricultural products account for 95% of GO! Vietnam's total agriculture products. Every time we organize a networking event like this, we discover many other good Vietnamese products, and then find ways to bring them into GO!. We also help Vietnamese businesses tweak their products a bit, such as packaging, product names, and eye-catching colors, because customers only take two seconds to decide what to buy.

If a product has a story, we will be able to tell that story and bring those products to provinces and cities where we have supermarkets domestically and internationally.

How does GO! introduce Vietnamese products to consumers through telling stories?

We have a story about purple rice with its ingredients from Bac Lieu, a place with a special cultivation history that includes both rice and shrimp. Bac Lieu also has many good products. At the end of the year, we will open a center in Bac Lieu, and gather good products from the province for our supermarket network.

What are the outstanding features of Vietnamese products in GO! and what needs to be improved?

The Vietnamese goods we sell at GO! are high-quality products. But not only that, the products are also cheap because we want 100 million Vietnamese people to buy high-quality products at good prices so that all consumers have the opportunity to access them.

You mentioned bringing Vietnamese products to the world. Can you share any specific stories?

We led 13 Vietnamese businesses from Phu Quoc to Thailand two years ago. In two days, no fish sauce was left because Vietnamese fish sauce is the best in the world. We tell consumers that Vietnamese fish sauce only has two ingredients: salt and fish. Vietnam’s fish sauce has a long tradition and a very natural taste.

We also want to bring fish sauce from the northern and central regions to the world. We want to bring the best to overseas Vietnamese and foreigners.

Two years ago, GO! brought Phu Quoc fish sauce to Thailand. How is Phu Quoc fish sauce currently sold in Thailand?

When we introduced Vietnamese fish sauce to Thai consumers, it was like planting seeds in the ground and watching flowers bloom. Vietnam also has many other good products, such as lychees. This year there was a crop failure, but we still exhibited in Thailand. Bac Giang province’s lychees are delicious.

What other potential products does Vietnam have besides fish sauce and lychees?

Cashew nuts, noodles, rice paper, spices, coffee, and many other products are very good. In addition, products from craft villages, other than food, are also excellent.