With a population of more than 93 million, that’s increasing both in size and purchasing power, Vietnam is an extremely attractive market to the foodservice sector.
In fact, the country’s main urban areas have an extensive out-of-home consumption with 340 million OOH visits in Q2 2016 by Vietnamese aged 15+ in HCMC, Hanoi and Da Nang.
But while it is well known that Vietnam is a lucrative market for food & beverage products and services, a new report from research company Decision Lab has shown that there are many areas where brands could be risking failure. The report outlines several crucial steps for foodservice success in Vietnam
Attract families with the same attributes as Western outlets
The report shows that Vietnamese families are flocking to Western restaurants. Traditional restaurants could learn to offer some of the same features, such as discount vouchers/promotions and high levels of cleanliness, to attract customers from this high-spend bracket.
Understand market opportunities for dairy products
A previously unthinkable trend has hit Vietnam with cheese being consumed by an increasing number of Vietnamese who are ordering cheese pizzas and burgers, as well as adding cheese to more traditionally Asian dishes such as instant noodles and bubble tea. And cheese is not the only dairy product enjoying increased popularity as milk accounts now for nearly a third of kid’s and over a tenth of women’s out of home drink consumption. Given many Asian consumers find it difficult to digest lactose, the market for lactose-free milk has a lot of potential.
Opportunity for premium drinks with health benefits
Decision Lab’s report shows that a big opportunity for brands in Vietnam could lie in premium drinks with health benefits. For brands the opportunity lies in the decreased price sensitivity Vietnamese have towards drinks items in comparison to food. And the fact that health is a bigger driver for choosing a drink when compared to food.
Go online
Decision Lab’s report shows how online ordering represents a fantastic opportunity for restaurants to expand their catchment area and drive off-premise consumption without the cost of having to open new branches across town and without bearing the cost of seating and waiting on customers that prefer to enjoy the restaurant cooked meal at home or at work.
Use data to gain competitive edge
Decision Lab Director Katrin Roscher said: “Data gives brands the crucial advantage in this competitive market enabling operators to understand the restaurant landscape and choose the right location for a secure investment. It also enables them to use customer satisfaction and net promoter scores to actively drive footfall and spending per head. For manufactures, the advantage of using data comes from allowing them to target more wisely, assess lucrative categories, channels, occasions, target consumer, best food/drinks pairings etc. before investing.”
For the full overview access the free report here.
WHY IS DECISION LAB TRACKING FOODSERVICE CONSUMPTION?
- Extensive and growing out-of-home consumption
- Entrance of global chains and mushrooming of new local F&B concepts
- One of world’s most interesting beer markets
- Professionalization and inflow of capital for operators
- No existing gold standard in data: Decision Lab’s Foodservice Monitor is essential for creating common ground between manufacturers and operators
HOW DOES DECISION LAB TRACK FOODSERVICE CONSUMPTION?
- Decision Lab’s Food Monitor Service tracks the out of home eating and drinking market in the key cities of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang. The report cited in the above article refers to data collected in Q2 2016.
- The Foodservice Monitor tracks all food & drink consumed out of home on a daily basis with an annual sample size of 16,000 completed interviews.
- The respondents are Vietnamese consumers aged 15+ who also report on the consumption by children (under 15 years) who were present at the eating out occasion.
Decision Lab is an agile, data driven research agency based in Vietnam. It operates the largest online research community in Southeast Asia from which it can advise clients on a multitude of marketing decisions.