Currently, most businesses are facing difficulties due to lack of production orders and shrinking product consumption markets. Therefore, trade promotion activities are considered a solution and a platform to help businesses recover, expand export markets, and overcome the period of global economic crisis. Actively participating in domestic and foreign fairs is one of the solutions to help businesses access the market.

At the end of April, with the support of the Vietnam Trade Office in the UK and EUTEK Group, 6 Vietnamese businesses displayed and introduced food and beverage products at the Food and Drink Expo 2023. at the National Exhibition Center (NEC) - Birmingham city (UK). This is the largest annual food and beverage fair in the UK, a gathering place for businesses across the UK operating in the food industry, from manufacturing to wholesale, retail, and food service drink.

The Vietnam booth at the fair displays typical domestic products such as Gold Roast HaiFong coffee, Saigon beer, Ong Cua ST25 rice, dry foods and instant foods such as pho, vermicelli, vermicelli, noodles, and cakes. rice paper, Huong Sen rice paper, Oriental medicine products, frozen seafood, dried and fresh spices such as chili, galangal, lemongrass, green pepper, dipping sauces, sauces, chili sauce, soy sauce, salted eggplant, pickled bamboo shoots, pickled sauerkraut... These products come from companies such as Saigon Beer, Vifon Instant Noodles, DH Foods Spices, Adore Olympic Coffee, Vinh Hiep Coffee, Dong Nam Duoc Bao Linh; and EUTEK Group - an enterprise headquartered in Nottingham city, specializing in distributing, wholesaling and retailing Vietnamese goods in the Central region of England. Among the businesses displaying products at the fair, Vinh Hiep Coffee Company has registered to protect the L'amant coffee brand in the UK with the goal of accessing and expanding business to this market.

Mr. Nguyen Canh Cuong - Commercial Counselor, Vietnam Trade Office in the UK - said that the Vietnam Trade Office in the UK has coordinated with EUTEK Group to organize a Vietnam booth at the fair as an activity to celebrate 50 years of establishment. Vietnam-UK diplomatic relations, with the goal of promoting our country's high quality food products to British and European consumers. The Vietnamese booth at this year's fair attracted many visitors, opening up new prospects for many Vietnamese food and beverage products in the UK, including Birmingham city and surrounding areas, where an estimated 20,000 Vietnamese people live and work. In addition, Vietnamese products are also increasingly known to many British consumers through not only the Vietnamese community but also other Asian communities.

Along with that, the Vietnam-UK Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), along with the UK's participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), has been creating additional competitive advantages. for Vietnamese products, including agricultural products and food, compared to similar products from other countries such as China and Thailand.

"Vietnamese businesses need to take advantage of this, proactively and actively participate in fairs in the UK such as Food and Drink Expo to access the market." - Mr. Cuong recommended and affirmed the Vietnam Trade Office in Vietnam. He is ready to accompany businesses so that more and more Vietnamese products can reach British consumers.

It is known that this year's Food and Drink Expo 2023 attracts more than 1,500 British and international businesses and more than 25,000 visitors, a great opportunity for manufacturers, service providers, wholesalers, retailers and connect food distribution, find potential sources of goods and customers, and grasp market trends, new product lines and future directions of the food industry. Mr. Nguyen Hai Nam - Chairman of EUTEK Group - said that participating in Food and Drink Expo 2023 is an opportunity to introduce big Vietnamese brands to corporations as well as distribution systems and large wholesale companies. of a market of 70 million people.

Besides, participating in the fair also gives businesses the opportunity to learn from corporations and big brands from Hong Kong (China), China, Thailand and especially Korea, how to bringing the brand beyond Asia, reaching major markets such as the UK and Europe.

Mr. Nguyen Hai Nam also emphasized that participating in large fairs is a way to introduce to British distribution systems Vietnamese value-added products, with quality equivalent to, or even higher than, those of Vietnam. products come from Thailand or China.

Agricultural expert Dr. Nguyen Dang Nghia believes that, in addition to making good use of incentives from UKVFTA, whether businesses or farmers, companies or corporations want to export, they must learn and meet the standards and requirements of the markets. market, not just introducing products and that's it. With the UK's strict requirements, businesses need to have careful preparation from building business plans, to implementing chain construction, product development, and branding issues. Britain is also very concerned about labor and environmental issues, so businesses also need to pay attention. Must ensure synchronization of deep processing and logistics.

In addition, to develop and sustain in the UK market as well as the world, Mr. Nguyen Hai Nam also noted that Vietnamese businesses need to focus on building brands with long-term strategies, because this is the path so that Vietnamese goods can reach the global market.

Minh Toan