KTFA: Vietnam
Henig: Moc Chau, a four-season destination
06:00 | 07/01/2023
(VEN) – Moc Chau Plateau, located in the northern mountainous province of Son La, about 180km north west of the capital Hanoi, has long been considered one of Vietnam’s most attractive destinations, especially when the plum trees blossom early in the year.
Moc Chau is cool and beautiful all year round. The pine forests in Ang Village, the Mu Nau plum valley, sunflower gardens, Moc Chau Tea Hill, Chieng Khoa, Fairy and Dai Yem waterfalls, Grassland 68, Bach Long (White Dragon) glass bridge, and Pha Luong Peak should not be missed.
When the spring sun shines on Moc Chau, the typical flowers of the northwest mountains race to show off, painting the landscape with white apricot flowers, plum blossoms, bright pink peach blossoms, brilliant yellow cabbage beds, and young green buds.
Moc Chau has many famous plum growing areas such as Pa Phach Village, and Mu Nau, Thung Cuong and Na Ka valleys. Usually, the plum trees start to bloom in mid-January to the end of February, but in 2022, many blossomed in early November.
Every spot covered by blooming flowers along National Highway 6 from Hanoi to Moc Chau is crowded with tourists. Backpackers who seek pristine beauty visit flower forests in remote villages.
A plum garden owner in Na Ka Valley said that while tourism has developed, the valley retains much of its original wild character. The most suitable time of the day to visit Na Ka is in the morning or early afternoon, from the beginning of winter to the end of May.
If you plan to visit Moc Chau in the autumn, don’t miss the opportunity to celebrate Independence Day on September 2 with the Mong people. While the Mong people’s traditional Tet (New Year) celebration usually takes place within the family or neighboring villages, the Independence Day festivities Tet is held throughout the area, including Moc Chau Town. Visitors can admire the beauty of traditional costumes, and immerse themselves in the Mong people’s unique folk activities.
From May, plums begin to ripen and local growers harvest them and sell to traders in the lowlands. In summer, the highlands are suitable for picnics and walks because of the fresh air and many outdoor activities.
The ripe persimmon season in Moc Chau usually runs from September to December, but it is most beautiful in mid-November and early December when the weather turns cold and the hillsides are dappled with the colorful trees.
In November, the highland is adorned in white by cauliflower, and in December by yellow wild sunflowers.
A new tourist draw is the 632-meter-long Bach Long (White Dragon) glass bridge that was crowned with a Guinness World Record for its length.
The bridge also set a second Guinness world record as it has the world’s longest glass-bottom cliff side path measured at 327 meters. Inaugurated on the Reunification Day (April 30) in 2022, the bridge is suspended some 150 meters above a lush green jungle valley. The glass-floored bridge is the latest tourist attraction in Moc Chau. At the foot of the bridge is Muong Mooc Cave, also known as Chim Than Cave, with natural stalactites and stone sculptures that reflect the daily lives of the ancient Thai ethnic minority group.
A one-way bus ticket from Hanoi to Moc Chau costs VND160-250,000. The drive by bus or car takes 3.5-4 hours. LINK
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Henig: Starbucks commits to expanding in Việt Nam with 100th-store plan
January, 06/2023
Starbucks is committed to expanding further in Việt Nam with its plan of opening the 100th store by the end of the second quarter this year
HÀ NỘI — Starbucks is committed to expanding further in Việt Nam with its plan of opening the 100th store by the end of the second quarter this year – a decade after the first shop opened in HCM City in February 2013.
Currently, the US coffee chain runs 87 outlets across seven cities and provinces nationwide with 50 in HCM City and 24 in Hà Nội and more than 1,000 employees (including 200 coffee masters).
“So, as you can see, there’s plenty of opportunities to continue growing in the market,” CEO of Starbucks Vietnam, Patricia Marques told reporters in Hà Nội on Friday.
According to the CEO, Starbucks will continue to open more stores, in addition to places that the chain has visited to better serve customers in their neighbourhoods.
Most recently, the US chain opened a new store in Hội An on December 9. It is also targeting new opportunities in Bình Dương and Quy Nhơn provinces for this year’s plan.
A recent report of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in the Asian region announced by Kantar World Panel showed Việt Nam’s beverage industry has recovered after two years of being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The third quarter of 2022 recorded an average growth rate of 5.2 per cent, only 0.4 per cent lower than the average growth rate of the whole of Asia.
“The beverage sector will bounce back from the lockdown in Việt Nam and seems to thrive again after two years of decline,” Kantar report said.
Despite being a giant in the international markets, Starbucks must compete with rising local brands.
Việt Nam’s tea and coffee market is dominated by local franchise brands, including Highlands Coffee (573 stores), The Coffee House (154) and Phúc Long (118), according to Statista data as of December 2022.
According to India-based market research company Mordor Intelligence, increasing busy lifestyle and longer working hours is likely to strengthen the consumption of coffee. Việt Nam’s coffee market is projected to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.07 per cent during 2022-27.
To increase its competition in the “world coffee capital”, besides continuing expansion, Starbucks Vietnam CEO said the chain will strive to optimise costs by improving management capacity, human resource capacity and operational efficiency at each store.
In addition, to celebrate its 10-year journey in Việt Nam, customers in Việt Nam will have a chance to enjoy Starbucks Vietnam Đà Lạt coffee in September 2023.
— VNS LINK
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Henig: Booming e-commerce sales provides opportunity for cooperatives
January, 06/2023
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, made-in-Việt Nam goods accounted for more than 90 per cent of products on shelves of domestic distribution companies and 60-95 per cent of foreign supermarket chains.
HÀ NỘI — Booming e-commerce in Việt Nam is providing significant opportunities to promote sales while cooperatives are trying to improve the quality of their products to meet consumers’ demands better.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, made-in-Việt Nam goods accounted for more than 90 per cent of products on shelves of domestic distribution companies and 60-95 per cent of foreign supermarket chains.
According to a survey by e-commerce aggregator platform iPrice Group, the percentage of shopping through online channels more than doubled over the same period last year.
Seeing the trend of booming e-commerce, highlighted after the COVID-19 pandemic, cooperatives were making moves to promote sales via this channel.
Many cooperatives improve their products in terms of quality, packaging, and origin to better meet the demand of consumers, which would help improve consumers’ trust in shopping online.
Quyết Thanh Agriculture Cooperative had arranged their dried mango pieces into a brilliant yellow rose and packed it in a round plastic box instead of a zip bag. According to the cooperative, this helped attract the attention of many consumers in both online and offline channels.
Cooperatives also cooperated with e-commerce platforms to improve the production and distribution process.
Nguyễn Thị Hoan, director of Tài Hoan Vermicelli Cooperative in Bắc Kạn Province, said that in the past, customers were concerned about the quality and origin of products which were sold online. Still, many cooperatives opened official kiosks on e-commerce platforms where customers could be assured of the product quality and a clear origin.
Lưu Thị Hoà, director of Po Mỷ Cooperative in Hà Giang Province, said that e-commerce platforms helped cooperatives to reach more customers. Moreover, the consumer information file of e-commerce platforms was diverse, which would help cooperatives to improve their adaptation to the market demand and increase revenue.
According to Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Hạnh, deputy director of Grab Việt Nam, if the cooperatives across the country knew how to take advantage of support tools and features on e-commerce platforms and online sites to reach target customers, cooperatives could grow strongly in revenue and reap many sweet fruits in the year-end shopping season.
The application of digital technology was considered an important factor in creating breakthroughs in developing cooperatives.
Director of Tam Đảo Mushroom Cooperative Nguyễn Quốc Huy said that the cooperative installed an automatic irrigation system, net house, greenhouses, a semi-automatic control system, accounting software, online tax declaration, email, data storage, digital signature and camera system to ensure the quality of products for exports. The cooperative’s products were also sold on e-commerce platforms such as Postmart.vn and Voso.vn.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, there are more than 17,770 agricultural cooperatives in Việt Nam; 1,718 of these have applied high technology in farming and preservation, automation technology and biotechnology.
Of them, 21 per cent have plans for e-commerce sales, 23 per cent sell their products on e-commerce platforms, 21 per cent have created simple websites, 7 per cent have websites that appear on Google and 7 per cent advertise on Facebook.
— VNS LINK
