Paris (VNA) – Representatives from 27 Vietnamese rice exporters and producers had a working session with France’s l🌳eading retailer Auchan to enquire about the group’s rice import demand for supply in the country and other EU nations.

Fredecric Yu, who is charge of Auchan’s goods import section, introduced Vietnamese businesses to types and quality standards of farm commodities currently imported by his firm. France is one of the large rice consumers in Europe, with an annual consumption of about 240,000 tonnes, he said. He advised the Vietnamese businesses to deeply understand the habit and taste of French people, as well as issues related to the market’s demand if they are interested in making inroads into the market. At present, France mainly imports rice from India, Thailand and Cambodia. Apart from rice, the market has demand for rice flour as well. Vietnam’s rice has not been popular in France, and Vietnamese rice producers have yet to build their trade name in the market. Fredecric Yu stressed that fragrant rice of Vietnam will absolutely get a foothold in France if the quality is guaranteed. Vietnam firms’ representatives showed their concern about higher tax levied on Vietnamese rice than Thailand’s and Cambodia’s in the French market. According to General Secretary of the Vietnam Food Association Huynh Minh Hue, Vietnam ships about 7-8 million tonnes of rice to foreign markets every year, mainly to Asian countries. Vietnam’s participation in bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements opens dozens of opportunities for Vietnam’s rice to enter in large-demand markets, he said, adding that this helps improve the value of the farm produce. To expand export to high-demand markets in the coming, Vietnam needs to pay special attention to ensuring food safety and quality of its products, Hue said.-VNA