Supply of essential goods ensured with stable prices in HCMC

The number of shoppers to supermarkets increased sharply on March 26 and 27 with the value of shopping bills and the purchasing power of essential goods  rising by 15-30 percent over the previous days.
Antimicrobial face masks are sold at an outlet of Saigon Co.op. (Photo: SGGP)
Antimicrobial face masks are sold at an outlet of Saigon Co.op. (Photo: SGGP)
Antimicrobial face masks and hand sanitizers remained plentiful and diverse.

Ms. Nguyen Tu Anh, a resident in An Phu Ward in District 2, said that she has changed the shopping habit from three times a week to once a week. She said that she bought lots of goods to stockpile as well as to limit traveling in response to the appeal of the city leaders, instead of hoarding goods for fear of a shortage of goods. Shelves in the Mega Market An Phu supermarket were still piled up with lots of goods, even meat, fish, vegetables and other processed foodstuffs.

According to the Mega Market Vietnam supermarket, on March 26 and 27, the purchasing power in the whole network has increased by an average of 30 percent as customers have switched to shopping for a whole week or longer to limit going out. When their stocks ran out, they went to supermarkets to do shopping again, causing the purchasing power to escalate. The supply of goods will be ensured and the prices will also be stable so customers should not buy too much so as not to waste goods.

At retail outlets of Saigon Co.op and Big C supermarkets, the number of essential goods, including rice, instant noodles, cooking oil, seasonings, bottled water, canned foods, sausages, spring rolls, pork floss, milk, vegetables, fruits, and home cleaning products, stockpiled increased by 30-40 percent compared to normal days. Besides providing enough goods for more than 800 outlets, Saigon Co.op is also in charge of supplying 30,000 meals per day for isolation areas in Ho Chi Minh City. This program has received the support of many suppliers who provide fresh foods, including vegetables and fruits, for free.

Mr. Do Quoc Huy, Marketing Director of Saigon Co.op, said that at the end of February this year, the supermarket provided the market with more than 10 million antimicrobial face masks to meet the demand of consumers. These face masks have not been sold out and are still widely sold at outlets of Saigon Co.op, namely Co.opmart, Co.opXtra, and Co.op Food. Currently, Saigon Co.op has just ordered another 10 million antimicrobial face masks so there will be no shortage of face masks. Depending on size and supplier, the prices of face masks at supermarkets fluctuate from VND7,000 to VND19,800 per item.

Recently, Ms. Nguyen Huynh Trang, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, signed the document No.1777 on the supply of antimicrobial face masks in the city to send to the Department of Information and Communications under the instruction of the Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee. The department said that city-based enterprises have promoted the production and distribution of various types of face masks to meet the demand for face masks to prevent the disease of people. Of which, supermarkets, including Co.opmart, Vinmart, Lotte Mart, Big C, and Aeon, are providing sufficiently antimicrobial face masks for people in the city.

Therefore, to ensure the access of citizens to quality face masks at reasonable prices, contributing to the prevention of the Covid-19 outbreak in the city, the department asked the Department of Information and Communications to instruct the media and news agencies to actively propagandize, disseminate, and guide citizens to nearest retail stores of the distribution networks in the city to buy antimicrobial face masks.

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