Consumer demand for clean food is still one upward trend day by day. Therefore, grocery stores have set sight on prioritising the trade in high-quality organic and clean agricultural products to serve customers.

People are increasingly interested in safe food to protect their health. As pictured, customers pick up goods at a the Co.opmart Da Nang supermarket. Photo: QUYNH TRANG

Boom in stores selling organic food

According to recent statistics released by the Da Nang Food Safety Management Board, the city houses 213 general business establishment, including agricultural products and food as a whole and 7 establishments trading in agricultural products, fruit and vegetables.

The percentage of consumers like purchasing organic products or meeting Global Gap and VietGap standards is increasing, which is prompting the debut of new clean food stores across the city.

“Organic food on the market is too expensive as compared to the income of the majority of consumers. However, nothing is more important than health, so over recent years, I have cut many other needs to invest in good-quality meals for my family", said Ms. Khanh Phuong, a resident dwelling on Nguyen Thien Ke Street, Son Tra District.

Many consumers like Phuong have chosen to buy agricultural products and food items with labels and brands that meet food hygiene and safety standards at modern distribution systems.

According to a representative of the Winmart+ convenience store system, on the shelves at its 150 local stores are Meatdeli pork products, clean agricultural products of Japanese standards VinEco and VinMart Good technology food. Particularly, the fresh food group is strictly controlled in terms of the origin, quality, hygiene and safety of food by reputable suppliers in the locality.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhat Thanh, the manager of Hoang De (Emperor) organic product store on Le Dai Hanh Street, Cam Le District said: “The biggest challenge of clean agricultural product production and business units is how to build trust among customers about product quality and persuade them to buy high-quality items at high prices. Because producing clean fruit and vegetables by organic methods will take more time and higher costs. In reality, producing fruit and vegetables according to organic methods, gardeners absolutely must not use inorganic fertilisers and growing organic vegetables lasts 45 days, while only 15-30 days via traditional methods”.

Similarly, Ms. Mai Thi Thuong, the owner of Vu Mai clean food store located on Duong Van Nga Street, Son Tra District said that the store's goods are sourced from her hometown and from clean agricultural gardens across the country such as: Chan Dat farm garden in the northern province of Ninh Binh and Da Lat organic vegetable garden

“For clean agricultural products, production in line according to the right process, the input price must be higher than that of mass agricultural products in the market. In addition, the cost of business premises and equipment to preserve standard products is quite expensive. Not to mention that, organic product that has gone through the process of establishing the brand name will be sold at a higher price than the unbranded one. said Ms. Thuong.

 Constant supervision by the competent authorities needed

“Although I spend a lot of money buying clean food, sometimes I still have some doubts, not sure if what I buy is safe. Also, I sometimes hear information that business establishments only apply for safety certificate such as VietGap, GlobalGap once and then use it for all products at the store. So I don't know what the truth is," said Khanh Phuong.

Before the legitimate concerns raised by consumers, Nguyen Tan Hai, the Head of the municipal Food Safety Management Board, said that the VietGAP certificate is issued by the VietGAP certification organisation for each product and product group in accordance with good agricultural practices and it is valid for 2 years.

Over the past time, the Management Board has regularly organised surprise inspection at business stores to check product labels, product origin, the validity of VietGap certification, and other related papers.

In addition, the Management Board ‘s staff have taken samples for the post-inspection of products made in the city in order to prevent production and trading in unsafe food and offered effective solutions to improve management efficiency.

“Consumers need to boldly denounce the production and sale of food that fail to meet safety and hygiene to the relevant authorities, contributing to repelling the poor-quality food from the market. On the other hand, customers should look to buy certified agricultural, forestry and fishery products that meet standards such as VietGap, GlobalGap, GMP, HACCP, and organic agricultural products.
Products with 1D and 2D barcode stamps and food whose QR Code barcodes are commonly checked via barcode scanning apps available on smartphones to look up information about products such as their growing areas, product manufacturing processes”, said Mr. Nguyen Tan Hai.

On the occasion of Action Month for Food Safety from April 15 to May 15, the municipal Food Safety Management Board is focusing on implementing a plan on food safety inspection for organic food products. This is the peak time of the year to launch a communication campaign to promote activities for food quality and safety, thus creating a breakthrough, a positive change in the observance of the law in the food industry.

Reporting by QUYNH TRANG – Translating by A.THU