Vietnam's retail giants to ensure sufficient supply, steady prices of Lunar New Year holiday goods

Saigon Co.op has stockpiled more than 12,000 tons of essential goods traditionally consumed for the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday in late January, or 30-50% higher than normal.

Most of them are goods meant for the market stabilization programme, like rice, sugar, cooking oil, pork, poultry meat and eggs, processed foods, vegetables, fruits, and seafood. The rest include other foods and Tet specialties.

Nguyen Ngoc Thang, the cooperative’s deputy general director, said: "Saigon Co.op expects Tet 2025 sales to increase by 5%.

“In 2024 Saigon Co.op opened several new retail outlets catering to various segments, like Co.opmart, Co.opXtra, Co.op Food, Co.op Smile, and Finelife.

“With 800 outlets nationwide and ongoing expansion across all retail segments, Saigon Co.op has a strong foundation to place large orders with strategic partners, thereby ensuring steady prices for all Tet goods.”

To ensure quality, hygiene and food safety, Saigon Co.op will increase the frequency of quality checks by two- or three-fold from normal days.

It has recruited more than 3,500 seasonal employees as sales staff, cashiers, marketers, gift wrappers, security guards, storekeepers, warehouse assistants, and home delivery staff.

In addition, Co.opmart, Co.opXtra, and other stores under the Saigon Co.op umbrella are running promotions that will go on almost until Tet, offering discounts on 3,500 products.

MM Mega Market Vietnam, anticipating a significant increase in consumer demand during the year-end period, worked with its strategic partners a few months ago to increase stocks of Tet-specific products by 40%.

Pork and chicken supply will be stabilized in terms of both quantity and price, leveraging its closed-loop supply chain, according to an MMVN spokesperson.

MMVN will ensure sufficient stocks for its 21 outlets nationwide, prioritizing essential goods, health-related items and traditional Tet products such as peach blossoms, apricot flowers, decorative couplets, and red envelopes.

The company said it works closely with suppliers to maintain reasonable prices and prevent price volatility, and that MMVN offers attractive promotions, including "Buy More, Save More" for bulk purchases of fresh, dry and non-food items, "Buy 2, Pay for 1," "Buy 2, Get 1 Free," discounts of up to 50%, and special deals on various items throughout the Tet season.

It plans to hire over 600 temporary workers during Tet 2025, and is confident of maintaining prices and service quality during Tet.

Other supermarkets such as Go!, BigC and Tops Market (under Central Retail Vietnam), Aeon, Satra, and WinMart are also busy preparing for the year-end shopping bonanza.

Vissan Joint Stock Company, which processes and sells fresh and frozen meat and processed foods, has earmarked more than VND540 billion ($21.3 million) to stockpile goods, an increase of 8% from last year.

It plans to stock nearly 930 tonnes of fresh food, up 5% from last year, and 3,700 tonnes of processed foods, up 8%.

It has earmarked an additional 10-20% of its production to head off potential supply shortages.

Vissan said it began stockpiling raw materials since June 2024 to ensure its diverse supply of goods meet consumer demand before, during and after Tet.

It is also committed to stabilizing prices throughout the holiday season besides offering weekly promotions with discounts of 10-20% on certain essential items.

Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade, confirmed that businesses have stockpiled sufficient essential goods for Tet.

They have allocated some VND23 trillion ($905.7 million) to stock goods, including VND10 trillion for the city market stabilization programme.

The volume of products subject to the market stabilisation programme account for 21-32% of the market during regular months but can rise to 43% during the peak Tet period.

Vu said that, from now until January 2025, the department would collaborate with various agencies to implement the mobile sales - market stabilization program to bring essential consumer goods at good quality and attractive prices to more consumers in the city, with the participation of large retailers and brands such as Saigon Co.op, Satra, MM Mega Market, and Cholimex.

Under the program, some items will have prices discounted by 80%.

The department would also carry out regular inspections to monitor prices and quality, Vu added.