The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have proposed tighter business conditions for restaurants to serve tourists, which has faced the public opposition. The ministry is seeking different agencies, ministries and the public for the proposal before adding it to the Law on Tourism. According to the ministry, restaurants must have at least 50 seats and allow card payment to be eligible to serve tourists. Illustrative photo. Foreign tourists at a restaurant in Vietnam When fulfilling the standards along with other already-regulated criteria, they will be granted with signboards for being recognised. Lots of tourism companies and experts expressed their disagreement with the regulation. According to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the number of seats does not reflect quality and service standards. The regulation would cause problems for many restaurants. For instance, in cases where restaurants want to arrange fewer seats to have had more space for customers, but if they do so, they fail to meet the requirement of seat number. The chamber of commerce added that requirements for restaurants should be based on quality not scale, and relate to issues such as menu written in foreign languages, ensuring food safety and good hygiene. Regarding the requirement related to permitting customers to pay by credit cards, the chamber said that many tourists, particularly Vietnamese people, often do not use credit cards for services with small value such as food and drink. At present, many restaurants in HCM City centre for travellers have less 50 seats. The same… [Read full story]
Ho Chi Minh City-based market research firm Decision Lab has confirmed the continued rise of the convenience store at a breakfast seminar co-hosted by the European Chamber of Commerce in Ho Chi Minh City.If you were in the business of opening convenience stores in Vietnam this year, it’s been another big one.However, the continued emergence of the channel hasn’t been without its fallouts. DisruptionAccording to a presentation by Ho Chi Minh City-based market research firm Decision Lab this month, convenience stores are disrupting Vietnam’s out-of-home food service industry ‘in a fundamental way.’Tracking performance since April 2016, data from the agency’s…... [read more]
If you were in the business of opening convenience stores in Vietnam this year, it’s been another big one.However, the continued emergence of the channel hasn’t been without its fallouts. DisruptionAccording to a presentation by Ho Chi Minh City-based market research firm Decision Lab this month, convenience stores are disrupting Vietnam’s out-of-home food service industry ‘in a fundamental way.’Tracking performance since April 2016, data from the agency’s Foodservice Monitor*, which is based on thousands of continuous online interview responses by consumers in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang, suggests that the continued expansion of convenience chains like Family…... [read more]
Food service prices keep surging despite lower input costs By Minh Tam - The Saigon Times Daily HCMC – Restaurant service prices have continued to rise in June versus the preceding month even though input items such as food, foodstuff and gas are down. June’s national consumer price index (CPI) recently announced by the General Statistics Office is down 0.26% against May with prices of five out of the 11 groups of items in the CPI basket sliding and the remaining six marking up slightly. Among the items with price declines, food and catering services – which account for 40%…... [read more]
Mobile fast food outlets have become increasingly popular in HCM City's streets, but there are concerns about food safety. The stretch of road between Lotte Mart and Tran Quoc Tuan Primary School on Cong Hoa Street sees dozens of fast food carts. A fast food cart in HCM City Tran Thi Vien, a bread seller on Cong Hoa Street, said that every morning she often sells around 120 loaves of bread priced at VND6,000-10,000. Vien said that she is saving up to rent property for her business. The mobile fast food services have also boomed in many other streets in…... [read more]
A lot of foreign investors are hunting for business premises on advantageous positions, preparing to pour their capital into the food service market – the market with great potentials. The commitment on opening the market to foreign food service providers would only be valid in the next few years. However, the move by foreign investors from Japan, South Korea, China and Singapore to look for premises right now shows that they have begun learning about the market. Early birds can catch worms Takayuki Hisano, Director of a Japanese restaurant chain, said that he is learning about the opportunities in the…... [read more]
