Summary
Vietnam’s food and beverage market was one of the most attractive markets globally (ranked 10th in Asia) in 2019 as per BMI. Total sales of food and beverage reached US$41.7 million (+ 3.8 percent YoY) in 2020. In this article, we explore the driving factors behind the growth of Vietnam’s food and beverage industry.
Vietnam is well known for its varied cuisine, which has reached markets around the world, from London to New York, and from Moscow to Johannesburg. Food from northern Vietnam emphasizes freshwater ingredients, such as fish, mollusks, and crab, due to geographic restrictions on spice growing and cattle rearing. Central Vietnam boasts of strong flavors enhanced by chili peppers and other spices. While southern Vietnamese cuisine incorporates bounteous fruit and vegetables, with fresh herbs, seafood, and frequently coconut milk.
Regardless of its cuisine’s global fame, Vietnam’s domestic food and beverage (F&B) industry is also steadily gaining in market value. The F&B industry had been growing at a fast rate before the Covid-19 pandemic, attributed to a cocktail of positive trends like population growth, increasing household incomes, and shifts in consumer behavior.
Presently, however, Vietnam’s F&B industry is recovering from the pandemic, which has globally impacted restaurants, cafes, and bars and daily consumption due to restrictions on public movement and open gatherings as well as temporary fiscal restraint shown by many in uncertain economic times.
