Vietnamese rice gains foothold in France

The September 6 debut marked the first appearance of the product branded ‘Com Vietnam’ in Carrefour’s distribution chain, which covers more than 250 hypermarkets and about 3,000 supermarkets and convenient stores across France.

‘Com Vietnam’ is produced by Loc Troi Group, a leading provider of agricultural services and products in Vietnam.

Earlier, the product was put on the shelves of E.Leclerc Viry Châtillon, a hypermarket run by top French retailer E.Leclerc, for the first time on September 2, under the Vietnam Trade Office’s Vietnamese mid-autumn week event.

Rice is a key commodity in Vietnam's scheme on facilitating Vietnamese enterprises’ participation in foreign distribution networks. It took nearly two years for Vietnamese rice products to be officially available in France. Loc Troi was the first company to export Vietnamese rice to Europe within the framework of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency correspondent, Philipp Rosler, an independent member of the group’s Board of Directors, said France is Loc Troi’s first destination in Europe, adding that Germany, Italy, and the entire region will be next.

Apart from the top quality of products in terms of taste and output, Loc Troi can also guarantee stable production and export, he noted.

T&T Food, an importer for distribution systems in France, formed a partnership with Loc Troi in March last year, resulting in the availability of ‘Com Vietnam’ at shopping chains by E.Leclerc and Carrefour.

T&T Food plans to import 107 containers of the product next year.

According to customs data, Vietnam shipped 17,000 tonnes of rice to France for 13 million USD. The export volume accounted for 2.9% of the European country’s total rice import demand.