Hanoi (VNA)♒ - With early intervention, the supply of goods, especially necessities, remains sufficient at stable prices.

  The unexpected hailstorm during Lunar New Year (Tet) 2020 somewhat affected the supply of food, vegetables and fruits in Hanoi. In face of such difficulties, Hanoi and enterprises actively adopted a number of measures to increase the amount of goods in stock, ensure the sufficient supply of essential goods, especially food.

Increase goods in stock

In recent days, consumers have hoarded more fresh food and vegetables at supermarkets and food stores. In major supermarkets in Hanoi, the number of food buyers has been increasing strongly. However, with early intervention, there has been no shortage of goods and price inflation. Nguyen Thi Kim Dung, Director of Co.opmart Ha Dong in Ha Dong district, said the supermarket always has enough goods to serve consumers. Particularly, the amount of vegetables; fresh, processed and dried food hiked by 40-50 percent from the same period last year. Nguyen Van Minh, Director of a co-operative of agricultural production and services in Van Duc commune, Gia Lam district, said following the Tet festival, local farmers planted more new rotational crops on a site of 220ha, supplying 40-50 tonnes of vegetables to the market on average each day. Vegetable prices in farming areas remain stable compared to the Tet festival, Minh said. Trinh Van Vinh, Director of Hoa Binh services co-operative in Yen Nghia ward, Ha Dong district, said the co-operative sells 800kg – 1 tonnes of fruits and vegetables to clean food stores and supermarkets each day. He also affirmed that the vegetable prices after Tet are relatively stable despite cold weather.

Coming up with measures

Evaluating the guarantee of supply and demand, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade Tran Thi Phuong Lan said the capital city ensures the supply of necessities, especially food and vegetables to meet public demand. Many businesses also exploited goods from the south to supply to Hanoi, thus raising the amount of goods by 2-3 times. Therefore, their prices remain the same like before Tet. Several kinds of fruits and vegetables in supermarkets are cheaper than those in wet markets. The department actively partnered with the municipal and provincial authorities to direct producers, processors and distributors to hike the supply of essential goods, preventing the shortage of goods and sale of goods at unlisted prices, Lan said. After Tet holiday, the Department of Domestic Market under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) worked with major distributors like Big C, Co.opmart Ha Dong, VinMart and AEON to ensure the supply of necessities and anti-epidemic items such as hand sanitisers, soaps and masks. It also asked the management board of wholesale markets to increase the supply of goods. The MoIT also urged distributors to step up talks with manufacturers and suppliers of anti-epidemic items to meet public demand at reasonable prices, facilitate the consumption of farm produce that meet difficulties in export to neighbouring countries. As for other necessities like food, fruits and vegetables, the department worked with major distributors like VinMart, Big C, Saigon Co.op and other producers to come up with plans to fully meet public demand in accordance with the Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade’s directions on preparation of scenarios for market movements, said head of the Department of Domestic Market Tran Duy Dong. Deputy General Director of Central Group Nguyen Thi Phuong said the group is focusing on buying agricultural products from farmers in provinces of Binh Thuan, Gia Lai, Khanh Hoa, Long An and Tien Giang.

“This supporting programme has been carried out at all 37 Big C supermarkets and GO! nationwide, lasting until the situation is controlled. We expect to consume about 80 tonnes of dragon fruit and watermelon per day, helping farmers stabilise their production while customers can enjoy fresh fruits,” Phuong said.

At Big C and GO! supermarkets in the northern region, watermelon is sold at 6,200 VND per kilo while dragon fruit at 15,500 VND per kilo. In the southern region, the fruits are priced at 4,900 VND and 10,900 VND per kilo, respectively. These prices are two to three times lower than those on normal days.

“The demand for agricultural products is very high in our supermarket chain. At this time, we are committed to providing as maximum support as we can.”

🍸 “We proposed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development inform us of agricultural products which are in stock, to set up proper marketing programmes,” Phuong said./.