According to research firm Kantar Worldpanel, Vietnamese consumers spent an estimated VND46 trillion ($1.97 billion) on fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) in the four weeks leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year Festival), Vietnam’s biggest and longest festival. The festival holiday this year stretched from February 2-10. 

This represented nearly one percent of the country’s GDP, and was a rise of 2.2 percent over 2018, when the spending reached VND45 trillion ($1.92 billion). This level of spending on consumer goods is double the average of a normal month, the report said.

Kantar collected data on consumer goods consumed at home, such as confectionary and packaged food, as opposed to out-of home expenditure like dining out.  

Specifically, spending in four major cities of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Can Tho spent VND6.6 trillion ($281.77 million) on FMCG, up 5 percent over last Tet, while rural areas spent VND30.2 trillion ($1.29 billion), up 11 percent. In the four cities, 33 percent of the spending was for gifts. 

Strong marketing and promotion campaigns by FMCG manufacturers and increased access to modern trade channels, which have accounted for an increasing proportion of total trade over the last three years, were big contributors to spending growth, the report said.  

Of the modern trade channels, online sales saw the strongest growth compared to last year, at 33 percent, minimart sales grew 25 percent, and sales through hyper and supermarkets rose 11 percent.

In 2019, up to 4 in 5 households received FMCG as Tet gifts in both urban and rural areas, with the most popular categories of gifts being cooking aids, confectionery, beer, carbonated soft drinks and instant coffee. 

Beverages and packaged foods were dominant sectors driving this year’s Tet growth, accounting for over two-thirds of Tet baskets in value, while the rest was made up of dairy, personal care and homecare products.