Recently, The Cooperative Union of Agricultural Consumption (UCA) opened three safe farm produce supermarkets in Hanoi. The stores are located at No.6 Duong Dinh Nghe Street, No.6 Tran Thai Tong Street, and 36B HH3A Linh Dam urban area.
President of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA) Vo Kim Cu said farm produce sold at the UCA supermarket chain is strictly controlled by VCA chapters across the country from producing, harvesting and processing stages to packaging and tracing the products’ origin. Chairman of the UCA Board of Directors Pham Minh Tuan said the union is coordinating with nearly 200 cooperatives nationwide to sell safe products. UCA plans to build 50 – 100 similar supermarkets in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and other localities nationwide by 2017, he said, adding that the union will seek partners in overseas markets to bring the commodities abroad.
Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) suggested expanding this model nationwide while encouraging farmers to join the UCA. He hoped the UCA will sign contracts with foreign partners to sell Vietnamese farm produce to the markets. He also added, the inauguration of a new chain of supermarkets is the first step in a strategy to promote safe agricultural products and food to the Vietnamese people. The model will connects farmers, cooperatives, and businesses distributing farm produce and measures consumer demand.
Qualified products will be available in the supermarket chain, from now until 2021, more cooperatives will be set up to distribute farm produce in provinces and regions across Vietnam, thereby selling safe food to Vietnamese people.”
Planning in the next four years, the VFF will support the UCA to build a chain of supermarkets and create a safe farm produce retail channel. According to VTPCA Director Dao Van Ho, the centre will also coordinate with the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department to take samples of all products sold at the market for safety testing. The move aims to provide visitors with knowledge on residues of pesticides, preservatives and other banned substances in foods. The supermarkets are held following the success of the programme “Dia chi xanh – Nong san sach” (Green outlets – Safe farm produce) by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The supermarket chain is established by the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA) and the UCA which is connected to 50 cooperatives producing 1,000 different safe farm products nationwide. The union is currently piloting the safe Vietnamese agricultural product supermarket model in Hanoi before replicating it in other cities, industrial zones, and densely populated areas.
VCA- by Hoa Mai