Ho Chi Minh City authorities join supermarkets to distribute goods to citizens

Distribution of goods have been done by authorities and supermarket chains in order to limit the number of people contact

With Ho Chi Minh City tightening restrictions until September 6 at least, the local authorities are making plans to ensure the distribution of essential goods and food to each household.

Functional forces such as local logistics teams, volunteer forces, police, and the armed forces are shopping for citizens once a week to ensure the supply of essential goods and food. In coordination with authorities, supermarkets and stores in the city have prepared plans to supply food and necessities to citizens quickly and conveniently.

A representative of AEON Vietnam told VIR that from August 23, their stores in Tan Phu and Binh Tan have ensured sufficient supply of goods to cover orders. Besides serving a large number of people from households in apartment buildings or lockdown areas, AEON supplies packages of goods ranging from fresh food to dry food and cosmetics.

“People have placed orders in advance but we have everything prepared to meet rising orders from experience from previous periods of social distancing,” she said.

Likewise, Big C supermarkets, Topsmarket, and GO!, which are owned by Central Retail Vietnam Group, have also prepared different packages priced between $2.60 and $44.

“These supermarkets can supply large groups of people. Goods will be supplied to wards and then the ward officials will deliver them to households as quickly as possible," said Nguyen Thi Bich Van, communications director of Central Retail Group.

Saigon Co.op also plans to receive combined orders from a choice of about 100 essential goods. The orders are then consolidated into one large order for each geographical area. Saigon Co.op also designed some convenient packages priced from $4.50 to help disadvantaged people.

Other supermarkets such as Satra, MM Mega Market Vietnam, VinMart+, and Bach Hoa Xanh are also attempting to ensure sufficient goods in the form of a combo to make it easy for citizens to buy.

According to the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, the city currently has over 2,300 selling points, including 76 supermarkets, nearly 1,700 convenience stores, and over 500 grocery stores and markets, mainly in Can Gio.

As reported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ho Chi Minh City consumes nearly 2,000 tonnes of rice and 4,200 tonnes of vegetables a day, along with 1,000 tonnes of meat of all kinds and 1.8-2 million eggs.

However, amid the current pandemic supermarkets are hard-pressed to meet this demand as only 10 per cent of employees can go to work. Overloaded staff leads to slower processing and fulfilment of orders. Moreover, transport restrictions have also prolonged delivery times.

On the other hand, the combo packages of several supermarkets have yet to meet the demand of citizens. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, deputy director of the Department of Industry and Trade, revealed that some people have complained about the price of these packages, as well as the slow delivery.

"Supermarkets have to recalculate prices to suit people’s needs. We have suggested supermarkets create more diverse combos from around $4.40 to $22.00 to serve the needs of different households,” Phuong explained.