The firm said in its latest FMCG Monitor edition released on October 31 that the national economy continues to present positive indicators for the third quarter of this year, with robust gross domestic product growth.
The consumer price index was still curbed at a low level, recording the lowest nine-month average increase in the past three years. In addition, retail sales of consumer goods maintained double-digit growth.
The local FMCG market growth in rural areas and four major cities – Hanoi, the central coastal city of Danang, HCMC and the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho – shows an impressive movement over the long term, nearly twice the pace of last year, thanks to the increased volume.
Besides the solid performance of personal care products in both urban and rural markets, dairy products have also been catching up in the third quarter, especially in rural areas.
Beverages posted double-digit growth in the rural market but still struggled to grow in the four cities, according to the report.
Bottled water, tea and coffee make up two-thirds of beverages consumed per week. Besides this, the category of unbranded juices from fruits and vegetables ranked fourth among non-alcoholic beverages that consumers drink every week.
The report also highlighted the different drinking habits across age groups. The younger consumers are, the less they drink and the more choices of non-alcoholic beverages they have.
Coupled with the positive performance of dairy products, drinking yogurt has recovered in the cities and is seeing accelerating growth in rural areas, mainly by winning back consumers. This category still has room to expand its consumer base and increase consumption volume.
Online stores, minimarkets and convenience stores continue leading FMCG growth and are growing in importance in major cities. In rural areas, healthy growth has been observed across all channels.
