Vietnamese rice seeks to expand market share in the UK

Every year, the UK market imports hundreds of thousands of tons of rice, but only a few thousand tons are imported from Vietnam. This shows that Vietnamese rice still holds a very small market share in the UK. But another factor is that it still has the opportunity to increase its market share here.

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in the UK, in 2020, the volume of rice imported into the UK reached 762,526 tons, up 13.5% from 2019 (671,601 tons). In which, rice imported from Vietnam increased from 1,296 tons (worthed US$ 1,295,000) in 2019 to 3,396 tons (worthed US$ 2,670,000) in 2020. Thus, Vietnam's rice exports to the UK in 2020 have increased spectacularly, with 116% in volume and 106% in value over the previous year.

However, the volume of rice imported into the UK in 2021 suddenly dropped by 15% to 651,803 tons. The corresponding value decreased 8% from about US$ 520.6 million to US$ 474.7 million.

It is worth noting that the amount of rice from Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, imported to the UK, has fallen sharply in the past year.

Specifically, rice imports from Thailand decreased by 43%, Myanmar decreased by 63%, Cambodia decreased by 51%. The amount of rice imported from Vietnam decreased by 20%, from 3,396 tons to 2,731 tons.

However, the value of Vietnamese rice imports into the UK in 2021 increased by 4% compared to 2020 and reached US$ 2,764,000, thanks to an increase in price.

Ms. Hoang Le Hang, First Secretary of the Vietnam Trade Office in the UK, said that among Southeast Asian countries that export rice to the UK, Vietnamese rice has the highest average price (US$ 1,012 per ton), while the average price of rice from Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar is US$ 999, 991 and US$ 502 USD per ton, respectively.

Vietnamese rice in the UK is mainly sold to the Vietnamese community and part of the Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, and Filipino communities.

Popular Vietnamese rice brands in the UK are Golden Lotus Premium Jasmine Rice, (Longdan supermarket), Longdan Rice (Longdan supermarket), Buffalo Saigon Fragrant Rice (Longdan supermarket), Buffalo Brand Northern Vietnam Glutinous Rice (Tradewind).

According to Mr. Nguyen Canh Cuong, Counselor from Trade Office of Vietnam in the UK, Vietnam is currently ranked 15th among rice exporting countries to the UK with a market share of only 0.42%. The room for Vietnamese rice in the UK can be expanded thanks to the Vietnamese community of about 100,000 people and also thanks to the tariff quotas in the UKVFTA.

Mr. Nguyen Canh Cuong recommends that, “in order to turn this potential into reality, rice growers and rice exporters need to thoroughly apply GlobalGAP on a large scale while promoting the production of high-quality fragrant rice. The Department of Crop Production, the Department of Plant Protection and the local governments with large rice areas need to implement programs to support farmers in rice varieties, safe agricultural materials, milling and rice storage before exporting”.

According to the Trade Office of Vietnam in the UK, rice consumers in the UK are mainly Asian communities, of which the largest and second largest are the Indian and Pakistani communities. The market share of Indian rice and Pakistani rice accounts for a high proportion of 27% and 20% respectively.

Although there is no consistent concept of good rice in the UK because each type of rice is associated with the consumption tastes of each ethnic community, but there are some common standards for good rice such as rice grains with a length of 7mm or more; rice grains have a protein content of about 10 - 11%; cooked rice grains must be flexible, soft, non-sticky and fragrant. In addition, the rice must be clean and free of chemical residues or preservatives.

According to the General Department of Customs, in the first 6 months of 2022, Vietnam exported over 3.49 million tons of rice, equivalent to nearly US$ 1.71 billion.

Particularly in June 2022, Vietnam exported 726,308 tons of rice, equivalent to US$ 354.42 million. Compared to June 2021, it increased sharply by 66.6% in volume and 46.8% in turnover.

In the first 6 months of 2022, the Philippines still ranks first in consumption of Vietnam's rice, accounting for 46.5% of the total volume and 44.5% of the total rice export turnover, reaching 1.62 million tons, equivalent to US$ 759 million.

The Chinese market ranks second, accounting for over 12.6% of the total volume and 13.4% of the total turnover, reaching 438 thousand tons, equivalent to US$ 228 million.

The third place is the Ivory Coast market, accounting for 9.2% of the total volume and 8.3% of the country's total rice export turnover, reaching 323 thousand tons, equivalent to US$ 142 million.

Regarding the market, in the first 6 months of the year, rice exports to RCEP markets reaches 2.37 million tons, equivalent to US$ 1.14 billion, up 22.6% in volume and 10.4% in turnover. Exports to CPTTP markets reaches 272,520 tons, equivalent to US$ 134.13 million, up 14.1% in volume and 1.6% in turnover over the same period in 2021.