Challenge

The leading Aussie rice processor was tempted into the huge potential consumer market for rice in Vietnam, where almost the entire of [then] 95 million population eat rice twice a day and where branded rice at the time was still scarce, with most people buying rice in bulk. The Client strongly aspired to tap the branded rice market via M&A channel, which was believed to be the fastest way of Vietnam market entry.

The Client wanted to conduct online and offline market surveys to understand the rice eating and buying behaviors in Vietnam’s key metropolitan areas namely Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.  The Client also wanted to have a good overview of Vietnam’s rice growing and processing industry and its competitive landscape.

We were asked to design thorough questionnaires in English and Vietnamese used for the market surveys to serve the said purposes and ran the surveys on a couple of social network platforms. The surveys went well as most respondents completed all the questions.

Furthermore, we were to conduct off-line surveys on 40 general-trade (GT) and modern-trade (MT) grocery retailers, notably wet markets (representing the GT channel) and hypermarket/ supermarkets (representing MT channel) based in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to obtain the retailers’ perspective on the potential of branded and packaged rice.

Per Client’s request, we were supposed to provide an industry overview and competitive landscape, and then a detailed scanning and analysis of top players that are active in the branded rice segment.

Engagement Outcome

The online consumer surveys and the off-line retailer surveys revealed important insights on the branded rice market the Client was seeking to penetrate. Plus, the industry overview and key players scanning served as essential benchmark for Client’s due diligence and negotiations with its pre-determined local target company.

Economic & Social Impacts

The market study (including the market surveys and industry research) and the pre-talk with the target player shed important light on the potential of the branded rice segment, which started to thrive not long afterwards. The project helped to greatly enhance market’s awareness on branded rice. A couple of years later, branded rice market was really booming with numerous brands of various quality levels. Exports of branded rice began to soar, too. Several brands of top delicious rice came to known world-wide, notably ST25, the branded fomat fof which is being exported and sold domestically in large quantities.

The Project indirectly triggered a new wave of cultivating high-valued rice among Vietnamese farmers, especially in the Mekong Delta, home to rice plantation in Vietnam, which contributed to the success story of Vietnamese rice today.

Other Success Stories