VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese businesses have found alternative ways to bring their products to the Thai market. 

There are opportunities for Vietnam's products in Thailand

Nguyen Huynh Phu Lam, director of Hai Binh Gia Lai Company, told reporters 30 minutes before the official opening of the 2018 Week of Vietnam Goods and Tourism in Thailand that all 150 kilograms of cashew nuts he brought to Thailand sold out within three hours.

In Thailand, white processed cashew nuts are fried and soaked in sugar and spices. But the products Lam brought were made in a traditional Vietnamese way, roasted with salt.

“The Vietnamese processing preserves the initial flavor of the nuts. Visitors like our products very much,” Lam said.

Vietnamese businesses have found alternative ways to bring their products to the Thai market.

Lam believes that Thailand has advantages in processed fruits, but it is inferior to Vietnam nuts of different kinds.

Meanwhile, Vifon is entering the Thai market with instant pho (noodle soup served with chicken or beef), its trump card.

“In the past, we focused on instant noodles, but Thailand is very strong in this product. We heard that a Thai business makes instant pho, but it hasn’t succeeded. So we decided to bring our product to Thailand,” Nguyen Minh Hung from Vifon explained.

Hung is optimistic about the company’s plan to conquer the Thai market with Vietnamese traditional pho, because the company has reaped fruit from other Asian markets. It exports more than 10 containers of products to South Korea each month.

After nine months of following necessary procedures, the first three containers of King Coffee products of Trung Nguyen International arrived in Thailand and are available in Central Group’s and Family Mart chains. The company hopes it can earn $1 million from the new market.

Tsang Chun Keung Peter, vice president of the company, noted that Thai consumers prefer instant coffee, while developed markets prefer pure coffee powder or whole-grain coffee.

Thanh Quoc fish sauce, Thuan Thien Thanh dried fruit and Vinamit also believe that they can find positions in the Thai market with special processing methods, though their products have to compete with the same kinds made in Thailand.

Thai businesses also think that there are opportunities for Vietnam’s products in Thailand. Jariya Chirathivat from Central Group said Thai businesses in the past had to import avocado and artichoke from distant sources and only found good supplies in Vietnam’s Da Lat City.

The problem is that Vietnam goods are not advertised effectively in Thailand.

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