Vietnam's Coffee Market

A GUIDE TO THE BEST ARABICA IN VIETNAM: HIGHLAND CAU DAT ARABICA COFFEE

by Viego Global
written by Viego Global

Vietnam has long made its name on the global coffee market with Robusta Coffee. Although Vietnam produces primarily Robusta, the country also has Arabica coffee varieties that are often regarded as the world’s most excellent. And as Arabica is grown only in the region with high altitude, climate and soil suitable, only a few regions in Vietnam can meet this requirement. The Cau Dat area of Da Lat, Lam Dong is one of a few lands growing coffee that is acknowledged as a paradise for the most delicious Arabica in Vietnam. Read on to find out more about high quality Cau Dat Arabica.

Cau-Dat-Farm-that-grow-Cau-Dat-Arabica

1. Brief history of Cau Dat Arabica from Dalat, Lam Dong

There are three main types of Arabica coffee grown in Dalat, Lam Dong: Bourbon, Typica, and Catimor. The most well-known Bourbon descendent variety is Arabica Bourbon, often known as Moka. It is well-known not only in Vietnam, but also around the world for its high quality. During the colonial period, French missionaries brought Moka to Vietnam in 1875. Following that, they developed some Moka-cultivation farms. Nowadays, Moka is still cultivated in Cau Dat district of Dalat Province. Many people have tried to grow this kind in places other than Dalat, but the farmer is unable to produce the same high–quality fruits. Moka is known as the Queen of Coffee because of its deep and unique flavor with a wine scent.

Each year, 2.5 to 3 tons of Arabica Typica are produced in the Cau Dat district, which includes Tram Hanh and Xuan Truong. Only Typica and Bourbon were available in this area prior to 1988. Many coffee experts considered Typica to be the queen of coffee during this time period. Its sweet flavor, silky mouthfeel, and luxurious aroma are well-known characteristics of its cup profile. Typica was increasingly displaced by high-yielding Arabica Catimor, which yields coffee more than 2–3 times as much as Typica, until the 1990s. Despite the fact that significant effort has been made to bring Typica back, its characteristics have rendered it an extremely rare and limited production variety.

Vietnam Coffee Growing Region. Source: caudatfarm

2. Why is Cau Dat Arabica considered Vietnam’s best Arabica? 

Golden geographic advantages that Cau Dat – Da Lat owns

The Cau Dat, which is situated about 24km from Da Lat city in Lam Dong Province, part of the famous Central Highland is a naturally gifted place. The quality of Arabica increases as the altitude increases, and the temperature drops. With an altitude of over 1,500m above sea level, along with a cold climate and foggy weather most of the year, Cau Dat is a paradise for Arabica coffee plants. Located at this high altitude, Cau Dat is surrounded by gorgeous mountains and vast pine trees. This area has several characteristics of a temperate zone region with two distinctive seasons: rainy and dry. The temperature amplitude of the year here ranges from 5 degrees coldest and the highest does not exceed 33 degrees. With the average precipitation of 1562 mm, Cau Dat is often hazy and has high humidity (80%). Combined with soil  which is fertile basalt soil, Cau Dat – Da Lat has 3 golden conditions to be the perfect land for the Arabica coffee trees to grow, which produces very high quality and rich in flavor. 

Cau Dat Farm Coffee in the fog

Local’s experience in growing and processing Arabica coffee

Along with its geographic advantages is the meticulously picking and pruning process. Farmers manually harvest each coffee bean after the growth and development process when the minimum mature fruit rate reaches 95% before taking it home to be processed. Before processing, the beans are cleaned, plucked, and contaminants are eliminated from the beans, which are then hand-picked and sorted into 100 percent ripe coffee. Most common processing methods applied in Cau Dat are Natural processing, honey processing, wet processing in greenhouses or baskets exposed to natural sunlight. Before being sent to the roastery, post-processed coffee beans are carefully stored in plastic bags in a cold atmosphere, avoiding direct sunlight. 

The producing experience over the time of the locals here contribute to the exceptional quality of Cau Dat Arabica. Arabica coffee from Cau Dat has a unique combination of elegant acidity and mild bitterness. It has a rich coffee aroma together with honey and sweet taste. Cau Dat coffee has been described as having the immaculate flavor of a Sunday morning, and consumers who have had it will never forget it. The coffee here is on par with some of the top coffees on the planet. Since 2016, Starbucks has started selling Arabica originating from Cau Dat, Dalat in more than 21,500 stores in 56 countries worldwide.

Mr. Khanh, one of the prominent coffee farmers in Cau Dat. Source: CDIVietnam

3. Protected geographical indication for Cau Dat- Da Lat coffee

The registered certification “Cau Dat Da Lat Coffee” trademark was issued by the Department of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology) on October 4th, 2017. This is the legal basis for protection on investment development, in order to enhance the prestige of Da Lat coffee-tea products which are produced and processed exclusively at the altitude of 1,500 meters above sea level. 

With the general direction about developing “Cau Dat Da Lat Coffee” trademark, the government of Da Lat city has set out 5 missions focusing on deploying synchronize in next time. Such as: complete the intensive farming models of high quality Arabica coffee to transfer widely to producers; strengthen promoting agriculture, training for rural labor; build the chain of linking value product; improve the percentage of wet processed Arabica coffee to 100%; find and expand the consumer product market.

TIPC Lam Dong

Viego Global – Your trusted sourcing partner in Vietnam

At Viego Global, we know it’s more than just finding the right coffee supplier since every step of the supply chain requires proper implementation in order to ensure Vietnam quality coffee beans are well delivered to clients. We always try our best to determine the best suppliers, including coffee farms and coffee collectors based on customers’ needs. During research on potential suppliers, discussion and factory visits, we inspect every single thing from business license, capacity, to past orders as well as the equipment and the workers’ competence. This is why Viego Global makes sure that you can reach the best coffee suppliers at the most competitive price from Vietnam.

For further information about A GUIDE TO THE BEST ARABICA IN VIETNAM: HIGHLAND CAU DAT ARABICA COFFEE, please refer to our other channels of Vietnam Coffee:

Or contact us directly at:

  1. Whatsapp/Wechat: +84 90 827 90 98
  2. Email: coffee@viegoglobal.com

In order to provide a deeper insight on Vietnam’s Coffee Market, we’ve created this series along with tips on how to select the best beans from Vietnam for your business. Jump to:

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Vietnam's Agriculture MarketVietnam's Nut Market

VIETNAM CASHEW NUTS: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO CASHEW MARKET IN VIETNAM

by Viego Global
written by Viego Global

Outdoing many Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam is currently the leading giant in cashew nuts exports in the global market for the last 17 years.  According to the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas), Vietnam has maintained its position as the world’s largest producer and exporter of cashew nuts in 2020, exporting an estimated 450,000 tonnes of cashew kernels worth 3.2 billion USD. Being the top producer and exporter, the country has been active in improving product quality and the value of the products. To facilitate your sourcing process, this blog article will provide you with useful information about the Vietnam Cashew market.

Take a look at our main points in this article:

The process of processing cashew nuts

1. The cashew market in Vietnam at a glance.

Located in the humid tropics and blessed with large amounts of fertile red soil, Vietnam is favourable for planting and producing cashew nuts. Cashew nut planted areas in Vietnam have mostly been allocated in the South, especially in the Southeast of Vietnam: Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Binh Thuan, Lam Dong, Dak Lak, Dak Nong. Vietnam’s “cashew capital”, southern province of Binh Phuoc, is home to around 170,000 ha of cashew trees, accounting for half of the country’s total planting area. This province has granted its cashew as geographical indication registration to build national brand for the cashew nut.

Cashew Farming Regions in Vietnam

Cashew Farming Regions in Vietnam by Proportion of Area. Source: Department of Plantation, MARD

Since the early 1980s, Vietnam has been producing cashews throughout the country. Data by Vinacas shows that Vietnam began to ship cashew kernels abroad in 1990 after the association was founded. Nowadays, Vietnam had increased its presence to over 90 countries. It is currently the largest cashew supplier of the United States, China, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

In recent years, there has an effort of the Government for restructuring the industry, maintaining 300 thousand hectares of cashew trees and speeding up solutions to double productivity, even triple. The Government of Vietnam and Vinacas are trying to improve and upgrade the existing processing system, especial introduce new mechanization system in order to save on labor, and bring consistency and cost competitivenessFurthermore, to boost the industry’s growth, Vinacas signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU’s) with Cashew Council and many other trading countries to support trading between the countries.

2. How are Vietnamese Cashew nuts processed?

Cashew harvesting seasons in Vietnam usually starts from January to April, or February to May, sometimes lasting until June depending on the yearly weather. The start of fruiting season is February while April can be considered as the end of the season. Usually, people only harvest once in a year, then the seeds are dried and stored in the warehouse.

Cashews are actually seeds that grow at the base of cashew apples. The cashew kernel comes in a very hard shell that cannot be cracked by hand. Therefore, to soften the outer layer for removal, and to remove the irritant oil, cashews in their shells are boiled or steamed and later sun-dried. They are then cracked one at a time, which is highly labour intensive as it is done manually or without a particular machine. Farmers often use a simple mechanical hand cracker to ensure the cashew kernel remains intact. By doing this, they help reduce production costs, making the processing price of cashew lower than it was there before. Finally, the outer skin of the raw cashew is removed leaving the creamy white nut we are all familiar with. When dry or oil roasted, the cashew turns a golden yellow color. It’s also possible to buy dry roasted cashews with the skin still on. All cashew nuts are then stored by specific sizes and quality. Most kernels can be scorched or unescorted, wholes, or in pieces.

To preserve the products well, it should be packed into PE and vacuumed bags. Processing factory will use CO2 to draw the air out of the tank and replace it with nitrogen or CO2 to avoid mold and harmful microorganisms. This process is optional, depending on customer requirements. The finished products are often packed into 10-kg tin cans.

Vietnam Cashew

3. Quality certificates and documents required

For exporting to market with strict safety standard, in terms of cashew cultivation technology for sustainable development, various Vietnamese cashew farmers have been applying advanced agricultural production technology to obtain national and international certifications. Below is the list of key quality certificates:

  • Certificate of product compliance with ISO 9001 management system and environmental standards such as ISO 14001
  • Certificate in accordance with ISO 22000 / HACCP
  • FSSC 22000: Food safety certificate
  • VietGAP certificate
  • HALAL certificate (For Muslim-majority countries)

4. Vietnam cashew classifications

Vietnamese cashew nuts are classified into a number of grades according to the AFI 2012 standard: classify based on sizes and colors. Below is some features Of Vietnamese Origin Cashew Nuts Kernel:

  • Size: Medium and small (w240, w320,w450,w500…)
  • Shape: Kidney shape with the big round at the beginning and smaller to the ending.
  • Color: Dark skin inner and nice pale ivory color.
  • Flavor: Cashews have a rich nutty flavor, similar to almonds or peanuts. When pureed, it may be hard to distinguish cashew butter from other nut butter like peanut or almond.

The following are some symbols of types of cashew nuts:

  • W: Wholes
  • S: Splits
  • B: Butts
  • P: Pieces
  • LWP: Large White Pieces
  • SWP: Small White Pieces
  • BB: Baby Bits

In the classification system, the high-quality nuts are usually big, whole-grain, and white nuts. Varieties of cashew plants grown in Vietnam mostly produce small and medium raw nut size. Therefore, W240 might be considered as the best cashew nut of Vietnamese origin. The kernels have medium size, beautiful, pale ivory, whole-grain cashew that has between 220 and 240 nuts/pound (395 – 465 beans/kg).

Viego Global – Your trusted sourcing partner in Vietnam

At Viego Global, we know it’s more than just finding the right Vietnam supplier since every step of the supply chain requires proper implementation in order to ensure Vietnam quality commodities are well delivered to clients. We always try our best to determine the best suppliers based on customers’ needs. During research on potential suppliers, discussion and factory visits, we inspect every single thing from business license, capacity, to past orders as well as the equipment and the workers’ competence. This is why Viego Global makes sure that you can reach the best Vietnam suppliers at the most competitive price.

Apart from Cashew, we also provide insights on other Agricultural products from Vietnam. Jump to: Vietnam’s Coffee Market, Vietnam’s Pepper Market, Vietnam’s Rice Market and also check many other tips for sourcing from Vietnam.

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Vietnam's Coffee Market

VIETNAM HONEY ROBUSTA COFFEE-A GUIDE TO HIGH QUALITY COFFEE SOURCE

by Viego Global
written by Viego Global

Vietnam is considered to be one of the world’s leaders in coffee production having around 500,000 hectares that bring thousands of tons of high-quality coffee beans. The vast majority of coffee in Vietnam comes from the robusta species, a hardy plant that can grow on lower elevations. Among the 3 standard modern methods for coffee processing, honey processing has started to gain the spotlight to differentiate high quality coffee beans. In this essential guide to Vietnam Honey Robusta, we will walk you through the techniques used in making honey processed coffees in Vietnam.

Vietnam Honey Robusta

1. What is the difference between dried, washed and honey processed coffees?

The world’s most popular coffee processing methods are: wet (or washed) process, dried (or natural, unwashed) process, and honey (or pulped natural) process. The most popular processing technique in Vietnam is the natural dry method after harvesting. According to this method, the coffee is dried under sunlight and then removed from the husk or fruit. 

On the other hand, the washed processing method removes all of the mesocarp (also known as mucilage) layer from the outside of the coffee bean before allowing it to dry.

Hybrids between the washing and unwashing exist, which is the honey or natural pulped process. The honey coffee process is the hardest coffee processing method, which bridges the gap between washed and natural coffees. The coffee cherry is pulped and then dried with the mucilage layer on the parchment. Similarly to the washed process, honey beans are separated from the majority of the cherry before being fermented and dried. Similarly to the natural process, honey beans still get to spend some time with the sweet, sticky mucilage layer before being hulled.

2. How is Vietnam Honey Robusta Coffee made?

Honey processing of Vietnam Honey Coffee is a long, dedicated, and labor-intensive process. Below are 6 steps that are involved with honey processing in Vietnam. 

1. Pick only ripe coffee cherries

Farmers start by picking only the ripest cherries from the trees, which contain a high amount of sugar and acids that are important for the fermenting process afterwards.

2. Sort defects

They are then sorted by density and color to separate the perfectly ripe cherries from the under and over ripe. Flotation of cherries could be conducted to separate the floaters from the sinkers. Floater berries that have defects are discarded.

3. Pulp

The beans are then pulped from their outer skin. All sinkers are subjected to pulping. What results is a wet-parchment bean―or a coffee bean covered with mucilage. This mucilage layer contains a high amount of sugar and acids which is the key of the honey process. In the other methods, it would be washed or hulled away, but not this one.

4. Fermentate

The coffee beans, still sticky (like honey) with mucilage, are stored to ferment for 1-3 days.

5. Dry

This drying phase is the most intricate and sensitive part of the process.This wet-parchment bean is then laid out on elevated beds for drying. The beans need to be dried at exactly the right pace. If they are dried too quickly, the flavors from the mucilage won’t be absorbed by the green coffee beans. If the beans are dried too slowly there is a chance of over-fermentation where the beans might become mouldy.  The drying time for honey processing can last anywhere from 4 days to 8 weeks or more. The target moisture content to be attained is 12% to 14% MC, which is the allowable moisture for dry parchment coffee beans for storage or milling.

6. Hull

The next process is hulling or milling to remove the hull or parchment covering the coffee bean. After that, the beans could be followed by polishing to remove the silver skin, the final covering of the coffee bean, which is an optional step. 

Vietnam honey coffee beans

The mucilage layer – Photo by Stanislaw Szydlo

3. What does Vietnam Honey Robusta Coffee taste like?

As the honey process is the combination of washed and natural process, honey Robusta coffee beans attempt to combine the best flavor attributes from both methods into one. Washed coffee has the advantage of avoiding the off flavors (such as fermentation, or worse, rotting) that can develop in natural processed coffees due to poor handling, whereas natural coffee has the advantage of containing more of the coffee fruit’s flavors into the coffee bean. The result of the honey process is usually a coffee with fine elegant attributes associated with the pure washed coffee coupled up with the body sweetness of the natural coffee.

When tasting a honey processed coffee, you always notice a distinct sweetness to it. This is largely due to the amount of time the beans get to spend with the mucilage. Those caramelized sugars seep in during the fermentation and drying process. It will result in a coffee brew with an exciting taste that has good clarity and a mellow acidity like washed coffees, also a heavy-bodied and sweet flavor like natural coffees.

High quality honey processed Robusta coffee beans from Vietnam. Source: Viego Global Team

4. Where to buy honey Robusta in Vietnam?

As a giant in the coffee industry, Vietnam has long been dominated by Robusta, which makes up more than 96% of the coffee crops. For its export sales, and its vibrant local coffee culture, Vietnam has established a good reputation as a source of mass commercial Robusta coffee. However these days, the growth of specialty coffee industry combined with low prices for commercial robusta coffee has encouraged Vietnamese coffee farmers to grow and process higher quality Robusta coffee, especially the honey processed coffee. 

Main Robusta coffee growing provinces are located in the Central Highlands, including Dak Lak, Lam Dong, Dak Nong, Gia Lai and Kon Tum. This area has many legends about coffee such as the Buon Ma Thuot brand. There are some geographic indications of the coffee regions (‘Buon Ma Thuot’, ‘Cau Dat – Da Lat’ and ‘Son La’) known for their quality, sweet aroma and strong flavor resulting from the soil characteristics. It is not difficult to find farms and factories that use honey mothed to process their coffee beans. However, to have access to an authentic and high quality source of honey Robusta coffee, you will need to spend some quality time on researching the suppliers and walking through Vietnam’s coffee market. It’s worth reading through our blog on “How to find Wholesale Coffee Suppliers in Vietnam”. 

Viego Global – Your trusted sourcing partner in Vietnam

At Viego Global, we know it’s more than just finding the right coffee supplier since every step of the supply chain requires proper implementation in order to ensure Vietnam quality coffee beans are well delivered to clients. We always try our best to determine the best suppliers, including coffee farms and coffee collectors based on customers’ needs. During research on potential suppliers, discussion and factory visits, we inspect every single thing from business license, capacity, to past orders as well as the equipment and the workers’ competence. This is why Viego Global makes sure that you can reach the best coffee suppliers at the most competitive price from Vietnam.

For further information about VIETNAM HONEY ROBUSTA COFFEE-A GUIDE TO HIGH QUALITY COFFEE SOURCE, please refer to our other channels of Vietnam Coffee:

Or contact us directly at:

  1. Whatsapp/Wechat: +84 90 827 90 98
  2. Email: coffee@viegoglobal.com

In order to provide a deeper insight on Vietnam’s Coffee Market, we’ve created this series along with tips on how to select the best beans from Vietnam for your business. Jump to: 

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Vietnam's Consumer Goods

THE BENEFITS OF SLIM COFFEE: HOW IT CAN BE PART OF YOUR HEALTHY BALANCED DIET?

by Viego Global
written by Viego Global

Weight management has always been a key area of interest for food and drink companies as the demands for convenient and tasty ways that deal with weight gain and obesity are high in this modern life. Have you ever heard of slim coffee or weight loss coffee, which claim to help customers lose weight? This kind of coffee has been emerging as a trend for global customers in recent years. Read this article to find out what impacts slim coffee has on your body.

1. What is slim coffee?

Slim coffee, or weight loss coffee is a type of instant coffee, which is a mixture of familiar ingredients such as green coffee bean extract and many other natural herb extracts. All the ingredients are natural and contain a considerable amount of beneficial nutrients that help control the hunger hormone to suppress appetite, reduce calorie intake, accelerate fat burning, and control weight effectively. It is usually packaged in individual servings, which enable people to quickly prepare hot coffee by adding hot water to the powder and stirring.

Let’s look at the breakdown of some of the primary ingredients present in the slim coffee:

Green Coffee Bean Extract

This is the most important ingredient in the drink. As the name suggests, this extract comes from green coffee beans. It contains an active ingredient called Chlorogenic Acid (CGA) which some studies have found can help control elevated blood sugar and bodyweight. Green coffee is the coffee bean before it has been roasted. It’s also known as raw coffee. The roasting process destroys a lot of the CGA in the bean. That’s why using green coffee bean extract in the formula of slim coffee makes it a safe slimming beauty drink.

Green coffee ingredients in slim coffee

Green Tea Extract

Green tea, which is present in a majority of weight loss supplements found in the market, has long been hailed as a great addition to a healthy diet. Green tea contains caffeine and an amino acid called L-theanine, which is another ingredient that contributes to promoting weight loss. The L-theanine in green tea can create a savory taste, also known as umami flavor. A research from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that umami flavors may reduce appetite, which often helps with weight loss.

Garcinia Cambogia

Garcinia cambogia, a tropical fruit also known as the Malabar tamarind, is a popular weight-loss supplement. It is used for flavouring food and its active ingredient is Hydroxycitric Acid, which is meant to block your body’s ability to make fat and curb your appetite. A review published in the Journal of Obesity found that people who took garcinia cambogia in studies lost about 2 pounds more than people who didn’t take it.

Cacao/Cocoa

According to research in the Journal of Proteome Research, cocoa contain some potent compounds, out of which some of them help promote weight loss. Since cocoa is rich in phytonutrients but low in fat and sugar, the calories you get from cocoa powder will be packed with healthy chemicals. Studies have also found that cocoa helps to regulate energy use and metabolism while also increasing feelings of fullness. Hence this powder may actually help to reduce weight while providing important nutrients.

2. Mechanism of the natural lose weight coffee

This slim coffee doesn’t contain any harmful chemicals or artificial sweeteners. It also doesn’t have any added sugar, which is the enemy of a diet plan. It only contains natural ingredients that claim to increasing satiety and suppressing appetite safely. According to the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, caffeine helps fighting the hunger hormones known as peptide YY, which results in suppressing one’s hunger.

Apart from suppressing one’s appetite, slim coffee also claims to reduce the cravings for food, regulates the absorption of food, and promote a healthier lifestyle. As mentioned, green coffee extract, which contain helpful weight loss aid Chlorogenic Acid, is the main ingredient in the slim coffee. Hence in addition to giving your metabolism a kick, the beverage is also capable of slowing down the absorption of carbohydrates and breaking down fat.

Consumers are advised to drink Slim Coffee just as a part of a healthy balanced diet to give their wellness plan a boost in the right direction. Don’t rely entirely on this lose weight coffee. To achieve maximum results and for an overall healthier lifestyle, you should go on with an exercise plan and a healthy diet besides this supplement drink.

Doing exercise besides drinking slim coffee

3. The instant coffee market in Vietnam at a glance.

When talking about coffee, Vietnam is arguably a premier hotspot for coffee buyers who seek for a variety of coffee beans at a cheaper rate. Besides Robusta coffee beans, Vietnam in recent years has been exporting more and more highly processed coffee. And among all processed coffee, Vietnam instant coffee is the best choice for not only domestic customers but also the international buyers. Being the world’s second-largest coffee producer, Vietnam has been expanding the production of instant coffee recent years in order to meet the increasing demand of instant coffee these days. According to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD – Vietnam), the country currently is home to 20 factories processing pure instant coffee, mixed instant coffee, with a capacity to produce an annual amount of over 75 thousand metric tons. Not only being exported abroad, Vietnam instant coffee is also showing strong growth in domestic consumption due to its convenient use.

As a type of instant coffee, weight loss coffee has emerged as a hot-selling product in this category. A lot of Vietnamese coffee manufacturers started to join this coffee trend and produced many effective product’s lines of slim coffee years ago. Vietnam now offer a wide range of good-quality slim instant coffee products at a cheaper rate. Hence as a international coffee buyer, you should definitely take Vietnam’s Slim Coffee into consideration.

Viego Global – Your trusted sourcing partner in Vietnam

In order to provide a deeper insight on Vietnam’s Coffee Market, we’ve created this series along with tips on how to select the best beans from Vietnam for your business. Jump to:

Are you sourcing coffee from Vietnam? Do you need a source of high quality coffee? If you want to connect with any qualified coffee producers in Vietnam that pay strict attention to their product, please comment below so we could help you out easily. Being presence at the factory location, Viego Global has the capability to professionally source, manufacture and execute order providing maximum benefit to our clients in terms of delivering a wide range of products at the best competitive pricing. Please contact us HERE for further support!

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Global Talk Session - A New Day With ASEAN Women Startups
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Global Talk Session – A New Day With ASEAN Women Startups

by Viego Global
written by Viego Global

The ASEAN-Japan Center in conjunction with LED Kansai hosted their online Global Talk Session, ‘A new day with ASEAN women startups,’ on March 8, 2021. With 300 audience who are Japanese women startups, Japanese companies interested in supporting startups, and people who want to start business, this online session was aimed at inspiring Japanese business community by introducing the passion of ASEAN women startups. Through this informative discussion, young professionals and business leaders had the opportunity to learn from the experiences and insights of globally-engaged entrepreneurs and businesspeople.

The ASEAN-Japan Centre is an intergovernmental organization established by the ASEAN Member States and Japan in 1981. It has been promoting exports from the ASEAN Member States to Japan  through seminars, workshops, capacity building programs, research and policy analysis, cross-cultural events, among others.  LED Kansai, a program initiated by Osaka Prefectural Government and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Kansai Bureau.

Our Founder and CEO, Jewel Nguyen was glad to share her startup journey with Viego Global at this Global Talk Session. We also had a section to introduce Vietnam’s products to hundreds of Japanese woman entrepreneurs. Through her sharing, we hope to encourage the entrepreneurship among women-startup community, and connect with companies interested in market expansion, especially with Vietnam products.

For more details of the event, please follow the links:

Viego Global – Your trusted sourcing partner in Vietnam

Are you going to source from Vietnam, an Asia sourcing hub with great potential? Are you faced with any problems when sourcing from Vietnam? With professional experience and presence at factory location, Viego Global thoroughly understands and has the capability to help you break through all the barriers as well as successfully do business in this country. Just leave your comment below or click HERE for further support!

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Vietnam Sourcing

VIETNAM SOURCING: A HELPFUL GUIDE TO ORDERING PRODUCT SAMPLE FROM MANUFACTURERS

by Viego Global
written by Viego Global

After finding Vietnam manufacturers that meet your requirement, it’s time for you to order product samples from these potential suppliers. It could be said that ordering product samples is a crucial step for your sourcing process no matter which countries are you sourcing from. In order to make sure that your upcoming investment is worthwhile, checking samples before committing to a larger order is extremely necessary. This blog article, therefore, will provide you with knowledge you need when requesting product samples from Vietnam manufacturers.

A Helpful Guide to Ordering Product Samples from Vietnam Manufacturers

Check out our main points in this blog article:

1. Why Should You Order Product Samples?

There are many reasons for why you should order product samples before actually making any larger orders.

Evaluate Quality

You can directly evaluate how the products look, smell or taste even. Especially for customized products, you will know exactly whether your products are manufactured in a proper way and meet your requirements or not. By checking samples instead of just placing your trust in images which the suppliers provide, you can ensure the high quality you want for your products before the large volume is manufactured or making a bulk purchase.

Evaluate Suppliers’ Competency

This step can help you evaluate suppliers’ competence. Through the process of ordering and shipping product samples, you can know well how they communicate, how fast they process the orders and the way they package their products. Furthermore, with the sample products, you can check if the manufacturers are capable of making products that qualify your requirements or not. Then you could narrow down your list before choosing the most suitable one.

Build relationship with suppliers

This practice will show your seriousness in this business and this helps establish your relationship with suppliers. When suppliers realize that you are seriously interested in their products, they will be more willing to spend time on making conversation with you. This means that you can get more detailed information to consider which is very helpful for the sourcing process.

Use samples in product photos for your online business

Use for Product Photos

You can take more advantages of samples by using them in your product photos for your online store or displaying it in your brick-and-mortar store also.

With reasons listed above, it is obvious that ordering samples benefits you in many aspects and this step, therefore, plays a crucial role in your sourcing process.

2. Ways to Pay for Ordering Product Samples

Most of the time, suppliers will not ask you to pay for the samples. The product samples are free but the shipping fee is not. In fact, since suppliers usually send samples to you by air, its fee is relatively high. 

There are a number of financial systems that you can use to pay for suppliers depending on which one is the most suitable one for both sides. In Vietnam, financial systems that are mostly used include Paypal, Western Union, MoneyGram and Transferwise.

Financial-systems

Financial systems that are mostly used when making international trade in Vietnam

However, if you think this cost is too high and want to avoid it, there is still a solution. You can negotiate with the supplier and suggest that this payment should be taken off since the purchase order is large enough.

Besides, you cannot order from only one supplier but various manufacturers to have a comprehensive evaluation. This will lead to several orders that are shipped and the total shipping fee could be very high. It is recommended that you should ask all your suppliers to send their samples to a third party located in the same country with them. This approach will save you a lot when you just have to pay shipping fee once for all.

3. What Should You Bear In Mind When Purchasing Product Samples

When making product samples orders, a number of things should be taken in account. Have a look at points below to make sure that you will cover all of them when ordering any samples.

Order from more than one supplier

After the first step of finding Vietnam manufacturers, you should have a list of 3 – 5 potential suppliers that meet your requirements. Then, in the step of requesting product samples, what you need to do is order samples from each of them instead of just asking one to give samples and trust the remaining ones with their photos. Then you can compare samples from many suppliers to find which supplier is the best one.

Order from more than one supplier is recommended

Order more than one product sample from a supplier

For each supplier, it is highly recommended that you should order more than one product sample from a supplier. This means that you can get more samples to consider and have a comprehensive look at what they are producing. You’ll then be able to make a well-calculated decision on which supplier you should use for a specific product.

Furthermore, in the shipping process, there is still a chance that samples could be damaged. For this reason, ordering more than one sample will partly avoid the situation that you have to make another order and pay shipping fee twice. 

Check samples carefully

As the sample will become the guide for suppliers to manufacture or supply exactly what you want, you should carefully check samples to ensure it completely meets your requirements. Furthermore, the sample you approve could be used for comparing to the final products and considered as a reference if any bad situations occurred.

What’s more? If product samples you receive have been damaged in the shipping process, there are chances that a larger order will have similar characteristics. In any cases, it is necessary to contact your suppliers to discuss your needs more. If you two cannot reach the consensus in achieving a better approach or win-win, choosing another manufacturer is suggested.

Send feedbacks after receiving samples

No matter how you feel about the samples, satisfied or disappointed, you should let suppliers know what you think of their products. If they’re good, give them the compliments. This could help you build a good relationship with your suppliers.

But if their samples do not meet your requirements, let them know and discuss more to see whether they can offer anything or change according to your need. Then you can make your own decision on which is the most suitable supplier for your business.

4. How to Know Whether a Supplier Is Right for Your Business

After receiving and evaluating product samples, it’s time for you to decide which one is the best to do business with. Now you should think of the experience you have had with your potential manufacturers, from the first time they respond to you to the moment that you evaluate all their samples. This will adequately reflect what you will experience when purchasing a larger order.

Yet there are still a number of factors that should be considered when you place expensive orders, including:

Price: Besides product quality, prices also play a crucial role in your choice of suppliers. What do you have to pay for all? Verify all elements: cost per unit, delivery cost, etc.

Quantity: To get the best price, the MOQ the suppliers offer is usually high. If it does not align to your needs, you can negotiate with the supplier to reach the number that works best for your business.

Production capacity: The ability of a manufacturer to produce and fulfill your order is important. By learning it in the beginning, you will save a lot of time as well as efforts later.

Payment Terms: Vietnam suppliers favor 2 main payment terms which are T/T payment and LC irrevocable at sight. You can find out more about payment methods when making international trade in Vietnam HERE.

Delivery Terms: When it comes to Delivery Terms, Vietnam manufacturers prefer FOB, CIF or EXW. You can negotiate with them to have the best approach for both sides.

With knowledge of ordering product samples above, you can make this step in your sourcing process from Vietnam more efficient than ever. In order to facilitate the process of sourcing from Vietnam, check out our Vietnam sourcing blog list below:

6 Decisive Steps for Sourcing Goods from Vietnam

Sourcing from Vietnam: An Ultimate Guide to International Shipping

Vietnam Sourcing: Invaluable Guide for International Sea Freight

Vietnam Sourcing: Required Shipping Documents for Export/Import Process

Vietnam Sourcing: Must-Know Payment Methods When Making International Trade in Vietnam

Vietnam Sourcing: An Essential Guide to Finding Vietnam Manufacturers

Viego Global – Your trusted sourcing partner in Vietnam

Are you going to source from Vietnam, an Asia sourcing hub with great potential? Are you faced with any problems when sourcing from Vietnam? With professional experience and presence at factory location, Viego Global thoroughly understands and has the capability to help you break through all the barriers as well as successfully do business in this country. Just leave your comment below or click HERE for further support!

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Vietnam Sourcing

ODM AND OEM? WHICH ONE IS THE BEST MANUFACTURING TYPE FOR YOUR SOURCING BUSINESS?

by Viego Global
written by Viego Global

When it comes to sourcing business, you may have heard much about terms like ODM and OEM. Yet you are still a bit confused by these terms and find it difficult to choose a suitable manufacturing partner for your outsourcing process in Vietnam. For that reason, this blog article will cover definitions of these terms and partly help you make decisions on which is the best option for your business in Vietnam.

Check out the main points here before jump into this blog article:

1. Outsourcing to Vietnam

In recent years, due to a number of reasons, many businesses all over the world have decided to move their operations out of China to Southeast Asia countries, especially to Vietnam which could be considered as the rising star of Southeast Asia region. 

In fact, in the period of ten years from 2010 to 2019, Vietnam attracted USD 143 billion in cumulative FDI. Of this, 59 percent went into manufacturing – especially in the electronics, textiles, footwear, and automobile parts industries – as many companies shifted supply chains to Vietnam, according to a report of the U.S Department of State.

Vietnam’s-FDI-inflow

Vietnam’s FDI inflow keeps increasing in recent years

When sourcing to Vietnam , ODM and OEM are the two manufacturing types that are mentioned and considered the most.  Both these terms refer to outsourcing the production of certain products/components to Vietnamese contract manufacturers. Read the sectors below to have a clear understanding of these terms.

2. What is ODM? 

ODM, which stands for Original Design Manufacturing, is a type of manufacturing in which the manufacturer will research product designs, specifications and manufacture based on the product idea brief provided by the client. In most cases, ODMs also manufacture products they design and these products will then be branded in the client companies name and sold on in the market.

Vietnam Clothing & Apparel ODM Manufacturer

Vietnam Clothing & Apparel ODM Manufacturer

This type of manufacturing is also referred to as Private Labeling. With an ODM company, importers do not need to invest millions of dollars in research and development to create a completely new product since the ODM takes care of these stages, product concepts, testing and manufacturing as well.

3. What is OEM?

OEM, which stands for Original Equipment Manufacturing, is a manufacturing type in which you have spent millions of dollars in R&D to possess a unique product design and then contracted a number of third-party manufacturers to handle the mass production. The contracted suppliers will manufacture products based on the provided product design and specifications. 

Apple iPhone maker Foxconn is an example of OEM manufacturing type

Apple iPhone maker Foxconn is an example of OEM manufacturing type

Apple is a good example for this manufacturing type. In fact, this technology giant came up with the idea, designed their own products and then licensed their scratch out to Foxconn for the manufacturing process.

4. Pros vs Cons

As an old saying goes, every coin has two sides. This means that despite advantages each manufacturing type brings to the importers, they still have some disadvantages. And by considering them both, buyers can choose the right one for their sourcing business.

ODM

With ODM, not only do you not have to spend time and resources designing the product, but you can also take advantage of the economies of scale from an ODM firm. This means that they could save a lot of money and spend more resources on their core operations as well as marketing strategies like developing brands, testing customers’ responses or marketing products. Besides, minimum order quantity (MOQ) requirements for this type of production will be lower than that for OEM since there are less set-up costs.

Despite advantages above, this manufacturing type still has downsides which should be considered. First, you will not receive a unique product, which means it will be hard to differentiate your product from the rest of goods in the market, and accordingly there could be another competition in price and margins. Second, the intellectual property of the product is owned by the supplier or another company and you have to carefully consider whether your partner is violating the IP of someone else.

OEM

In contrast to ODM, before licensing to the third-party manufacturers for mass production, the buyers have spent millions of dollars and a great deal of time on doing all the market research, stage of R&D and developing its own product. Accordingly, this product will be unique when it is launched to markets, making it more attractive in the markets compared to other ones. 

However, a huge downside of this type is that the cost of OEM products is very expensive. Furthermore, it takes a longer time to launch products to the market, compared to the period of time the ODM takes. Additionally, since the set-up costs for these products to be properly manufactured are high, the MOQ is also higher compared to that of ODM.

Check out the summary table below:

ODM

OEM
Pros
  • Little or no costs on R&D 
  • Lower MOQ for production
  • Unique products
  • Customized products
  • Own IP
Cons
  • Undifferentiated from other products
  • Price competition
  • Do not own the IP
  • Expensive cost in R&D
  • Higher MOQ for production
  • Time-consuming

As each one has its own pros and cons, choosing between the two depends much on the type of products you want to sell, the resources you have and are willing to invest as well as the budget on hand. With the pros and cons for each manufacturing type presented above, you might have your own decision for your outsourcing business. 

Viego Global – Your trusted sourcing partner in Vietnam

Are you going to source commodities from Vietnam, an Asia sourcing hub with great potential. Are you faced with any problems when sourcing Vietnam? With professional experience and presence at manufacturing locations and economic centres, Viego Global thoroughly understands and has the capability to help you break through all the barriers as well as successfully do business in this country. Just leave your comment below or click HERE for further support!

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Vietnam Sourcing

VIETNAM SOURCING: TOP VIETNAM PRODUCTS THAT ARE EXPORTED THE MOST

by Viego Global
written by Viego Global

Sourcing from Vietnam has become familiar with many countries in recent years thanks to its huge advantages. Yet there’s still people who do not really know what’s made and exported the most in this country. For this reason, this guide aims to help you have an overview of Vietnam products and a brief introduction of Vietnam industrial zones where you can find the products you want. 

Find out more about Vietnam potential for Sourcing at Vietnam Sourcing – A Promising Land for Sourcing before reading this article.

Check out our main posts in this blog article:

1. Top Vietnam Export Products

Vietnam has been considered as a manufacturing hub among Asian countries. Have a look at which products Vietnam are producing and exporting the most over recent years:

Electrical equipment

Electrical equipment includes things like telephones, mobile phones, electrical motors, spare parts and other components thereof which are of great importance in our daily lives. According to the Vietnam Customs’ Reports in March 2017, these Vietnam products lead in the list of Top 10 major export commodities of Vietnam, making up an significant contribution to the expansion of Vietnam’s total merchandise exports. 

Electrical Machinery/ Equipment

Electrical Machinery/ Equipment is the largest export sector for several years in a row

In fact, the largest export market of Vietnam for these products is the United States, a country with very strict regulations, stated by the United States Trade Representative. Furthermore, many technology giants are expanding their presence in Vietnam like Samsung, Intel, LG, HP Canon due to its skilled labor force fully capable of performing complicated tasks.

Footwear

As stated by Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, Vietnam now is the third largest footwear manufacturing country in Asia after China, China and places fourth in the world’s ranks. In fact, there are many reputable brands having chosen Vietnam over China as a place to manufacture their products like Adidas, Nike, etc. 

In an article published by Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Center, the major export markets of Vietnam for these commodities include the US, China, Japan, Belgium and Germany. Of those countries, the US is the largest export market of Vietnamese footwear in the first seven months of this year.

Clothing and Textile

Not only does the Textiles and Garments significantly contribute to Vietnam’s total export value but it also solves the employment issues with more than 2.7 million people employed across six thousand textile companies as reported by Statista.

Vietnam clothing exporters

Vietnam is one of the largest clothing exporters in 2019

Furthermore, with a productive capacity in clothing manufacturing, Vietnam has become the fourth in top leading clothing exporters in 2019, according to Statista. The labor cost for clothing production is lower than other countries like China, Indonesia, Cambodia, which poses a major competition advantage for Vietnam in the global market.

Furniture

Regarding the furniture category, wooden products play an important role in Vietnam’s economic growth. Despite the COVID 19 pandemic, Vietnam still maintains its growth in furniture export.

Thanks to the locals’ effort in sustainable forestation and forest development program, Vietnam productivity and product quality have increased substantially, making Vietnam “new star” in the furniture industry. For this reason, many brands famous for furniture like IKEA, Ashley Furniture, or West Elm decide to manufacture furniture in Vietnam.

Coffee

Vietnam has long become one of the largest exporters of coffee beans, especially Robusta. In fact, for coffee in general, Vietnam is the second largest exporter after Brazil. However, when it comes to Robusta coffee, Vietnam is the country that supplies this type of coffee the most to the whole world.

Vietnam coffee exporter

Vietnam is famous for its capability of producing Robusta coffee beans

Vietnam now possesses around 600,000 ha of coffee farms, mostly concentrating on three main provinces Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Lam Dong. In the first eight months of this year, Germany, the United States and Italy are the 3 largest markets of Vietnam coffee and the total value of coffee export in this period is up to US$ 184.35 million, according to the Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Center.

Want to source coffee from Vietnam? Check out our Coffee blog list HERE to have a comprehensive and informative guide to source coffee from Vietnam.

Fruit, vegetable and nuts

This export sector of Vietnam is growing significantly in recent years. Regarding vegetable and fruit exports, Vietnam’s largest export market is China. Since the serious effects of COVID 19 pandemic, a decrease in the total export value was witnessed in this market in the first quarter of this year. 

Nevertheless, it seems that Vietnam fruit and vegetables have become more favorable in other countries, such as Japan, Thailand, the US, etc. which means that Vietnam can reduce dependence on the Chinese market by boosting exports to other markets, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. One more interesting fact, Vietnam is currently the largest exporter of cashew nuts in the world.

Fishery products

With more than 3,000 km of coastline, it came as no surprise to learn that Vietnam is the largest exporter of fisheries production worldwide after Norway and China, according to the 2016 report of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.

 

Vietnam mainly exports shrimp, pangasius, tuna, squid and octopus to other countries, including 170 markets in the world. Not only does Vietnam possess the advantage of the long coastline, its skilled labor force and high commitment of government for food safety are also factors that contribute to Vietnam’s potential for seafood export, stated by Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Plastic

Main export markets of Vietnam’s plastic products include China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and India. According to the Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Center, the country’s export of plastic products saw a growth in the first seven months of this year. In fact, Vietnam’s exports of plastic materials increased both in volume and value compared to June of 2019, by 36,5 per cent to 167,600 tons, and by 34,2 per cent to 234,07 million USD, respectively.

Rubber Goods

Concerning Rubber Goods, Vietnam is currently the member of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries, which includes 13 countries having accounted for around 91 per cent of the global production of natural rubber during 2017. Furthermore, of which Asian countries, Vietnam has placed in Top 6 countries that have the highest natural rubber output.

Vietnam export rubber

Vietnam placed in Top 6 Asian countries that have the highest natural rubber output

Iron and Steel

It could be said that Vietnam’s iron and steel industry has high potential to reach a production growth rate and expand export markets in present and years to come. In the first nine months of this year, the General Department of Customs stated that Vietnam’s exports of iron and steel increased in volume and in turnover compared with the same period last year.

2. Where can you find Vietnam products?

Until the year 2020, Vietnam has more than 300 industrial zones in total spreading across the country, from the North to the South. These industrial zones not only offer a range of incentives to domestic and foreign investors, their labor source and infrastructure are also developed significantly, making them attractive places to manufacture Vietnam products. Check out a number of major industrial zones where to find Vietnam manufacturers in Vietnam below:

Dinh Vu Industrial Zone

Dinh Vu Industrial Zone is located in the Dinh Vu peninsula – on the lower river from Haiphong to the sea, on the continental shelf of the Gulf of Tonkin. With a total area up to 1,463 hectares and the advantages of a port city, a national transportation hub, Dinh Vu Industrial Zone has been attracting many domestic and overseas investors..

Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP)

VSIP was established based on the friendship and economic cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore. With the support from 2 countries’ governments, VSIP has a string of industrial parks located in many provinces, including Binh Duong, Bac Ninh, Hai Phong, Quang Ngai and Nghe An, making it an attractive industrial zone for foreign investors.

Hiep Phuoc Industrial Zone

Located in Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City, Hiep Phuoc possesses a strategic location with modern infrastructure, facilities, three international seaports and near international airport. with a total area of 1,686 hectares, this industrial park is the largest industrial zone in the city. 

Phuoc Dong Industrial Zone

Located in Tay Ninh province, Phuoc Dong Industrial Park has a total area of 2,190 hectares. This industrial zone has a convenient geographical location – 42 km from Tan Son Nhat International Airport, 74 km from Cai Mep International Port, and only 23 km from Long An Port. Therefore, this industrial park facilitates not only the manufacturing process of Vietnam products but also the shipping.

Exporters/importers could run into a number of difficulties when trading internationally. Check out our Vietnam Sourcing blog list below to facilitate your sourcing process from Vietnam right away:

6 Decisive Steps for Sourcing Goods from Vietnam

Sourcing from Vietnam: An Ultimate Guide to International Shipping

Vietnam Sourcing: Invaluable Guide for International Sea Freight

Vietnam Sourcing: Required Shipping Documents for Export/Import Process

Vietnam Sourcing: Must-know Payment Methods When Conducting International Trade in Vietnam

Viego Global – Your trusted sourcing partner in Vietnam

Are you going to source commodities from Vietnam, an Asia sourcing hub with great potential. Are you faced with any problems in Vietnam sourcing? With professional experience and presence at manufacturing location and economic centre, Viego Global thoroughly understands and has the capability to help you break through all the barriers as well as successfully do business in this country. Just leave you comment below or click HERE for further support

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Vietnam Sourcing

VIETNAM SOURCING: AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO FINDING VIETNAM MANUFACTURERS

by Viego Global
written by Viego Global

Of 6 crucial steps to source goods from Vietnam, making an analysis of Vietnam manufacturers and choosing which one for your business are the very first steps.These first steps are of great importance, since they could lead to unexpected consequences if they are not taken into account. For this reason, this blog article in our Vietnam sourcing series will provide you with an essential guide to help you find and choose a right Vietnam manufacturer that you can place trust in.

Have a look at main points in this piece of writing:

1. Vietnam in the Covid 19 Era

There is no doubt that the Covid 19 pandemic has damaged the whole world in all the aspects since it first emerged in Wuhan province, China. One of the worst crises this virus has caused is a massive disruption in the global supply chain, leading to the fact that many manufacturers almost collapsed due to the lack of Chinese supply. And it’s the moment that they start rethinking China and seeking a new approach to remedy their supply chain.

Diversifying the supply sources instead of relying on just one source to take advantage of cost-efficiency is an option favored by many economies. In this way, Vietnam is one of the top destinations to which many countries consider to move their production. There are a number of reasons for why Vietnam is chosen in preference to other countries. 

First and foremost, Vietnam has achieved success in the initial stage in the fight of containing Covid 19 epidemic despite the fact that this country is highly vulnerable due to the long shared border with China, limited healthcare infrastructure and dense population. Secondly, Vietnam has signed one more free trade agreement, called RCEP, opening more opportunities for Vietnam exports in years to come. And what is more? According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, the Vietnam GDP in the third quarter of 2020 is estimated to increase by 2.62% over the same period last year. Though this figure is the lowest one in recent periods, this is still a positive signal for the future recovery.

Vietnam RCEP

Vietnam has successfully signed RCEP recently

With achievements mentioned above, it could be said that Vietnam is making its ways to become an ideal manufacturing hub to other countries. Yet with plenty of manufacturers in this country, finding a suitable one is not easy at all. Have a look at recommended channels below for searching Vietnam manufacturers before getting into the sourcing process.

2. 5 Reliable Channels for Searching Manufacturers in Vietnam

There are 5 reliable channels for importers to search Vietnamese manufacturers. These channels are considered as the most reliable ones as they are used widely and some of them are even administered by the Vietnam government.

Alibaba

Alibaba – One of the most channels for buyers to find their suitable suppliers

Alibaba

Alibaba could be considered as the most popular channel for importers to find their suppliers. Due to the fact that Alibaba is a market for manufacturers from all over the world to market their business, you should sort by country on Alibaba’s website when finding Vietnam manufacturers.

Amazon

Like Alibaba, Amazon is also a very famous website for you to search for Vietnam manufacturers. There are many suppliers on Amazon, so confining the area to region or country would help you find a manufacturer in Vietnam more easily. The prices also vary according to the region/country you are searching.

ASEMConnect Vietnam

This channel is supported by Vietnam government. Not only does it generally find suppliers in Vietnam, it also helps you sort these companies by Vietnamese regions and provide you with details on suppliers you are interested in.

Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency

Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency’s website is also under Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade administration This website provides a sector, called Trade Opportunity, helping importers to find trusted suppliers/manufacturers in Vietnam. This sector includes a list of Export – Import Businesses in Vietnam and all needed information about these businesses.

vietnam yellow pages

Yellow Pages website stores businesses’ profiles of each country

Yellow Pages

Each country possesses a Yellow Pages website for storing their businesses’ profiles. This website contains the address as well as other details about this countries’ business. Beside other channels above, this website is also an ideal place for foreign buyers to find and consider Vietnam manufacturers.

3. How to verify manufacturer that you can trust

It is obvious that there are more than just finding some suppliers on these websites above and immediately making a deal with them. Of course we do not want to fall victim to a scam, so checking whether our potential manufacturers/suppliers are legitimate or not is highly recommended. For this reason, a number of ways here will help you to verify a manufacturer efficiently.

Ask for Documentation

Asking for Documentation could be considered as the best way to verify if your potential manufacturer is legitimate or not. Even if the manufacturer has shown their legitimate documents on websites you find them, don’t hesitate to ask for more if necessary. In fact, the genuine businesses are always willing to show their documents to you.

Background check 

Due to the fact that you live overseas, you cannot get all updated information about your potential manufacturers’ performances in recent years. Therefore, Checking backgrounds is extremely important to make sure that you are not going to work with a scam.

There are three main approaches, including Ask for References, Use Search Engines, and Call Directly.

In terms of Ask for References, it means that you ask these suppliers for the previous clients with whom they used to do business. Then, you can contact these people and ask anything you want to know about the manufacturer/supplier yourself. Nevertheless, keep in mind that scam suppliers could create false references, so you can find their clients online, directly contact them and ask for what you need. And in case that manufacturers refuse to supply their partners, it may be time for you to rethink.

Concerning Search Engines, you can easily search for recent news about a manufacturer. If you want to know whether this supplier has any bad reviews, you can add keywords like “scam”, “fraud”, or the like to find out more about them on Google search engine.. 

Regarding Call directly, this could be considered a good one also. In this way, you should call the manufacturer’s salesperson and discuss with them directly. It would be easier for you to find out whether they are lying or not since a scam supplier will become overreacted when being asked questions they are not comfortable answering.

inspection trip to factory

Paying a visit to factory in person is necessary

Pay a visit in person to Vietnamese factory

For an order taking you tons of money, carelessness in verifying your manufacturer can cause serious trouble. This means that you should pay a visit to your potential partners. But you cannot just go to the factory by yourself, it is recommended that you should hire a quality assurance agency to accompany you on this trip. A QA agency offers the audit service to ensure that your potential Vietnam manufacturers completely meet your demand.

This article has just provided an essential guideline for any importers who are going to source from Vietnam, especially who are finding the most suitable and trusted suppliers in this country. With these 5 channels to find Vietnam manufacturers and a number of ways to verify them above, the very first step in your Vietnam sourcing process would be easier than ever.

Viego Global – Your trusted sourcing partner in Vietnam

Are you going to source commodities from Vietnam, an Asia sourcing hub with great potential. Are you faced with any problems in Vietnam sourcing? With professional experience and presence at manufacturing location and economic centre, Viego Global thoroughly understands and has the capability to help you break through all the barriers as well as successfully do business in this country. Just leave you comment below or click HERE for further support

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Vietnam Pepper Market
Vietnam Spices MarketVietnam's Agriculture Market

VIETNAM PEPPER: A START-TO-FINISH GUIDE TO VIETNAM PEPPER MARKET

by Viego Global
written by Viego Global

There is no doubt that Vietnam Pepper has become an indispensable spice for cuisines in its homeland as well as in many other countries all over the world, not to mention its function as the best medicine to the immune system. With great benefits pepper brings to humans, the demand for this spice globally increases by the day. In fact, Vietnam has long become the leading giant in pepper exports in the global market. This means that if you are finding a pepper source for business, Vietnam is definitely your best choice. To facilitate your pepper sourcing process, this blog article will provide you with useful information about the Vietnam pepper market.

Vietnam pepper exporter

Vietnam is the largest pepper exporter in the world

Take a look at our main points in this article:

1. Vietnam pepper market – A plentiful supply of pepper with competitive price

As has mentioned before, Vietnam is currently the largest exporter of pepper in the world. According to statistics provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Vietnam has placed the first position with more than 100,000 tonnes of exported peppers in the Top 10 of Pepper Producers Worldwide (Average 1994 – 2018). Not only does Vietnamese pepper possess the high quality, it also has a very competitive price compared to other exporters.

Top 10 of pepper producer worldwide

Top 10 of Pepper Producers Worldwide (Average 1994 – 2018). Source: FAOSTAT

In Vietnam, there are 3 main types offered, including Green Peppercorn, Black Peppercorn and White Peppercorn. These three types of pepper are all from Piper Nigrum plant. Black peppercorn is picked and dried in the sun after fully maturing on the vine. In contrast, Green Peppercorn is harvested while it’s still young, then preserved or dried, making its flavor milder than the black one. Lastly, the White Peppercorn is the inner seed of Black Peppercorn. The farmers will soak them and remove the black outside skin, resulting in a different flavor when tasting white peppercorns.

Vietnam black and white peppercorns

Black and White peppercorns are very popular

Pepper trees grow mainly in 6 provinces of Vietnam, encompassing Binh Phuoc, Dak Nong, Dak Lak, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Dong Nai and Gia Lai. According to VITIC (Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Center), Vietnamese pepper has been present in 26 countries and territories, of which the U.S was the largest export destination. It is followed by India, Pakistan, UAE, Germany, Egypt, etc.

2. How are Vietnamese peppers processed?

For green peppercorns, farmers will pick them whilst young and process these berries with brine consisting of pure water, salt and preservatives. Green peppers then can be used in cooking.

For black peppercorns, the farmers will pick them when one or two clusters of fruit on a low-hanging stem begin to turn red. The picked berries will be dried in the sun over a period of about a week and a half. In this period, the fresh berries will turn into the black peppercorns. In fact, before

For white peppercorns, the mature pepper berries which have fully matured to red will be soaked in water for about 10 days. Then the workers will trample the berries to remove husks, this practice also removes the hot piperine compound, volatile oil and other compounds that produce black pepper aroma. This results in the different flavours and heat components of black and white peppercorns.

3. The required certificates and standards for pepper quality

In order to successfully export pepper to other countries all over the world, it is required that Vietnamese peppercorns have to meet very strict standards. For this reason, Vietnam government always makes more effort to support pepper growing provinces. 

In fact, the government encourages farmers to conduct sustainable intensification, reduction in pesticide usage, I.P.M (Integrated Pests Management) Application, etc. in order to achieve certificates, such as VietGAP (Vietnamese Goods Agriculture Practices) for Vietnam market, GlobalGAP (Global Goods Agriculture Practices) for export, and RA (Rainforest Alliance). For Muslim-majority countries, Vietnamese peppers have to be certified with HALAL to ensure that the agricultural products meet the requirements of Islamic law.

Regarding standards for peppercorns, they should qualify the standards of the International Pepper Community (IPC), which have different standards for each type of peppers (Black, White and Dehydrated Green Coffee). Besides, in order to export peppers to the U.S market, Vietnamese peppers have to meet ASTA (American Spice Trade Association) Standards which ensure the clean and safe spices.

Top 10 of Pepper Producers Worldwide (Average 1994 – 2018). Source: FAOSTAT

4. Vietnam pepper classifications

Vietnamese peppers are classified into a number of grades according to the ASTA Standard. Have a look at the pepper grades below:

Grades of pepper

Grades of pepper in ASTA Standard

Black Pepper 500G/L

Density: 500G/L

Moisture: 13% Max

Admixture: 0.5% Max

Black Pepper 550G/L

Density: 550G/L

Moisture: 12.5% Max

Admixture: 0.2%

Black Pepper 570G/L

Density: 570G/L

Moisture: 12.5% Max

Admixture: 0.2% Max

Black Pepper 580G/L

Density: 580G/L

Moisture: 12.5% Max

Admixture: 0.2% Max

Black Pepper 580G/L (5MM)

Density: 580G/L

Moisture: 12.5% Max

Admixture: 0.2% Max

White Pepper 630G/L

Density: 630G/L 

Moisture: 13.5% Max

Admixture: 0.2% Max

Viego Global – Your trusted sourcing partner in Vietnam

Given that Vietnam has plenty of Pepper Suppliers in Vietnam, it is not easy to find a trustworthy supplier to work with, however. Let’s answer the questions below before conducting your sourcing:

  • Are you going to source peppers from Vietnam?
  • Are you finding a Vietnamese trusted supplier for pepper?
  • Are you finding Vietnamese pepper source of supply with high quality and competitive price?

If your answer is yes for all, please comment below so Viego Global can help you out easily. Being present at the factory location and the economic centre of Vietnam, Viego Global can greatly help you professionally source, manufacture, and execute order, providing maximum benefits to our clients in terms of delivering a wide range of products at the best competitive pricing. Please contact us HERE for further support!

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