Market appeal in an emerging economy: Supermarkets and poor consumers in Vietnam Muriel Figuié * , Paule Moustier CIRAD, UMR MOISA, TA C-99/15, 73 rue J.F. Breton, F-34398 Montpellier, Cedex 5, France article info Article history: Received 22 October 2007 Received in revised form 4 July 2008 Accepted 23 October 2008 Keywords: Consumer Poor Supermarket Vietnam abstract With the arrival and development of supermarkets, Vietnam is currently experiencing significant changes to its food system and more particularly the distribution system. The objective of this paper is to analyse the risks and benefits of this development to poor urban consumers in Vietnam. The analysis is based on surveys of food purchasing practices conducted in Hanoi from 2004 to 2006. It shows that poor consum- ers depend on a diversified network of formal and informal outlets to ensure food accessibility, credit opportunities and low prices. Poor consumers purchase very little from supermarkets due to material constraints (price, transport, etc.), although they have a high opinion of supermarkets and in particular the quality of the products sold. In order to be favourable to poor consumers, food distribution policies should aim to maintain the balance of the different forms of outlets and enforce public quality standards to guarantee the right of all to safe food. Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction This paper investigates the impact of the development of super- markets on the food purchasing practices of the poor in Hanoi. We will begin by presenting the rise of the consumer as a specific actor in the Vietnamese economy before examining the development of supermarkets in Vietnam and their potential impact on poor consumers. The rise of the consumer in Vietnam Vietnam, a communist country, laid the foundations for a mar- ket economy in 1986. Since then, the country has experienced a high level of economic growth together with a boom in household food consumption (Figuié and Bricas, 2003). The eating patterns of Vietnamese households have changed considerably in urban areas (Le Danh et al., 2004). Their diet is more diversified (more meat and fruit) and new products have become popular (vegetable oil, ice cream, soft drinks, etc.). Eating practices are also changing, for example with more people eating out and snacking between meals. Shopping for food supplies has also been affected. Ration cou- pons, which were used until 1986 for the distribution of basic food items produced locally or provided through Soviet food aid pro- grammes, have disappeared (and with them the black market). In addition to the many open-air markets, private stores and to a les- ser extent supermarkets have become more common in urban areas, offering a wide variety of goods from many countries. Until only a few years ago, the Vietnamese consumer was still absent from the social and economic landscape, eclipsed by both the overwhelming need simply to provide for a malnourished pop- ulation and an ideology that condemned all forms of ostentatious consumption, especially foreign goods which were seen as a sym- bol of economic imperialism (Vann, 2005). It was not until 1991 that private advertising was permitted and this event marked the birth of the Vietnamese consumer. Many foreign investors, includ- ing supermarket chains, began to establish a foothold in what promised to be a profitable market. 1 According to Kearney’s (2007) Global Retail Development Index, Vietnam ranks fourth in the list of countries offering the best opportunities for retail sector development. Marketing studies were conducted to see what behav- iour patterns these new consumers adopted, influenced as they are by Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist cultures, the periods of Chinese, French and American occupation and communist dogma. Consumers are described as being torn between the desire to act in accordance with collective norms and the wish to assert individual values, be- tween support for national production and the attraction of im- ported goods (Le Thi and Jolibert, 2001; Shultz et al., 1994; Vann, 2005). 0306-9192/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2008.10.012 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 4 67 61 55 37; fax: +33 4 67 61 44 15. E-mail address: muriel.figuie@cirad.fr (M. Figuié). 1 To date, only two foreign corporations are present in Vietnam: Bourbon/Casino/ Vendémia (France) and Metro Cash and Carry (Germany). In the last few months, however, growing interest from other international corporations has been observed, including Dairy Farm (Hong Kong), Carrefour (France), Wal-Mart (United States), Tesco (United Kingdom), Giant (Singapore) (Mission Economique de l’Ambassade de France au Vietnam, 2006). Food Policy 34 (2009) 210–217 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol