Candy and beer make it hard to avoid a gloomy Tet season

Nearly 4 weeks before Tet, candy, food, beer brands... coordinate with retailers to continuously promote to boost purchasing power.

The Lunar New Year 2025 is approaching, but the shopping atmosphere at supermarkets and shopping malls is still not bustling. Consumers are still tightening their spending, forcing businesses to continuously launch promotional programs and discounts to stimulate demand.

Tet beer price reduction competition

The most gloomy situation is Tet beer. Beer counter staff at some supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City said that Tet beer has been on sale for a month now but very few customers have asked to buy it. Therefore, every few days, the retail system and the brand have to adjust the price downward to attract customers.

Earlier this week, supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City had a new round of discounts on Tet products such as beer, soft drinks and Tet candies. Not only that, beer buyers can also participate in gift giving and prize winning programs organized by the brand.

A price survey at some supermarkets shows that most types of beer are discounted, such as Heineken reduced by 15,000 VND to 429,000 VND/carton, Tiger beer reduced by 9,000 VND to 269,000 VND/carton, and Saigon beer reduced by 10,000 VND to 253,000 VND/carton.

Tet beer is abundant at a supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: THANH NHAN

In Hanoi , the purchasing power of Tet beer in grocery stores and supermarkets is also quite quiet during this time. It is noted that in supermarkets, signs of Tet beer discounts are appearing more and more, such as buy 5 cans get 1 can free, a case get 5 cans free or discounts from 5%-10%... but it is still difficult to attract customers.

The reason is that at this time many people have not yet received their Tet salary and bonus, especially the demand for Tet beer has also decreased significantly due to the regulation that absolutely prohibits alcohol concentration when driving. However, sellers on Hoang Hoa Tham Street (Ba Dinh, Hanoi) invite customers to "buy Tet beer now, otherwise near Tet, high demand will push up the price" (?!).

Ms. Thao Anh, owner of a grocery store on Nguyen Phong Sac Street (Cau Giay, Hanoi), said that learning from last year's experience, this year she only imported a small quantity of Tet beer, about 50 crates of some popular brands. "Currently, customers who buy a lot only buy 1 crate or just a few cans, so I don't dare to stock a lot. Regarding price, I directly reduce the product to compete with supermarkets," she said.

Regarding prices, according to records, this year's Tet beer prices have not fluctuated much, averaging from 300,000-450,000 VND/24-can beer case/depending on the brand. Some brands have increased prices compared to 2024 but not too much, only from 5,000-30,000 VND/case to partially offset the increased costs.

At convenience stores, Tet beer prices are higher than in supermarkets. For example, Heineken beer is sold for 446,000 VND per crate, 15,000 VND higher than in supermarkets, while Saigon beer is priced at 255,000 VND per crate, 2,000 VND higher than in supermarkets. At grocery stores, beer prices are even higher, with Tiger beer going for 336,000 VND per crate and Heineken beer at 455,000 VND, 26,000 VND higher than in supermarkets.

Ms. Hau, a grocery store owner in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, said that last year she imported more than 50 cases of beer of all kinds but only sold less than 20 cases during Tet. This year she only dared to import about 10 cases to sell during Tet. "I only buy a small amount of beer to have enough products, if the customer is willing to pay this price, I will sell it, if not, it's okay" - Ms. Hau said.

There must be a promotion.

In addition to Tet beer, soft drinks are also being discounted from 30,000 to 60,000 VND/box. Similarly, confectionery of all kinds is also being discounted to attract early Tet shoppers, such as Merry boxed cakes discounted 44,000 VND/333g box, Oxford biscuits 420g discounted 30,000 VND/box, Cosy biscuits discounted 15,000 VND/330g box, Danisa biscuits discounted 22,000 VND/box, Lu biscuits discounted 63,000 VND to 189,000 VND/708g box. In particular, Tet gift baskets sold in supermarkets are being discounted from a few tens of thousands of VND to more than 100,000 VND/basket depending on the value.

Talking to a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Dinh Quang Khoi, Marketing Director of the MM Mega Market system, pointed out that the difference in this year's Tet market is that consumers are particularly interested in promotional goods, as shown by the 10% increase in sales from promotional goods at MM Mega Market compared to the same period of Tet 2024. "Promotional goods revenue has accounted for nearly 40% of total sales revenue, forcing businesses to continuously promote, otherwise it will be difficult to sell goods" - Mr. Khoi stated the situation.

A representative of a large supermarket chain said that the purchasing power of confectionery products is increasing well compared to last week. However, the most purchased are candies and jams in the form of granules (sold by weight). To boost purchasing power, many brands have cooperated with retailers to reduce prices by 15%-30%. Among them, some big brands in the bakery industry such as Mondelez Kinh Do, Orion, Bibica... have agreed to join the price reduction race. For example, Mondelez Kinh Do reduced up to 30,000 VND for traditional biscuits (to 241,000 VND/box), Cosy biscuits reduced from 170,000 VND to 165,000 VND/box...

A representative of Saigon Co.op said that this year, consumers tend to shop for Tet earlier, especially for products with long shelf lives such as dried goods, candy and nuts. To meet this demand, distributors have launched early promotional programs, suitable for each shopping period, to help customers feel the most beneficial shopping. At the same time, this approach also helps avoid overloading in the days leading up to Tet.

Ms. Ly Kim Chi, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Food and Foodstuff Association, said that most businesses selling confectionery, eggs, meat, rice, etc. are preparing to increase their Tet goods by 10% - 15% compared to the same period last year. Predicting that the market will be difficult to break through, many businesses have accepted to reduce profits to keep prices stable from the beginning. Particularly, businesses selling fresh goods such as meat, eggs, etc. in the Ho Chi Minh City market stabilization program have also deeply reduced prices on the two days before Tet to support consumers.

Source