Just one year ago, Vietnamese rice was still “absent” at retail stores and supermarkets, but since the end of 2019 until now, Vietnamese rice has been present in major supermarkets and most of the Asian food stores in Sweden.
According to information from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in order to disseminate the benefits of the EVFTA Agreement while at the same time capture market needs and promote businesses to import Vietnamese goods, the Vietnam Trade Office in Sweden visited and worked at 9/12 Sweden’s largest Asian food import warehouses.
Through survey, it is learned that, since the end of 2019 until now, Vietnamese rice has been present in major Swedish supermarkets such as Willy, Ax Food and most Asian food stores. It is expected that, with the tariff quota that the EU applies to Vietnamese rice under EVFTA commitments, Vietnam’s rice exports to Sweden will increase sharply in the coming time period.
In the period 2015 – 2018, ITC’s statistics show that Vietnam’s rice import turnover to Sweden only reached an average of USD100,000/year. Other food products are imported with negligible turnover.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that although Sweden has a small population, the amount of Asian food consumption is quite large, mainly from Thailand, Korea and China. Goods from other countries, including Vietnamese products, still account for a relatively modest proportion.
A lot of Asian food products are imported such as rice, vermicelli, noodles, pho, beans, bamboo shoots, coconut milk, nuts, spices, frozen seafood, etc.
From the end of 2019 to date, with the campaign of the Trade Office to welcome the EVFTA Agreement and take advantage of the fact that Cambodian rice is subject to a temporary tax for three years, enterprises have shifted to import Vietnamese rice to replace Cambodian rice.
Along with the market survey, the Trade Office has met and worked with Asian food importers to introduce Vietnamese products, conduct communication and encourage businesses to import Vietnamese goods and disseminate information on EVFTA Agreement to about 50 enterprises in this in this business trip.