What products are Nordic importers looking for at Sourcing 2024?

The trend of more sustainable and responsible production and business is receiving increasing attention. Sharing at the seminar "Participation of distribution corporations and international purchasing focal points at Viet Nam International Sourcing 2024" recently organized by the European - American Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade , Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy, Vietnam Trade Counselor in Sweden and concurrently responsible for Northern European countries, said that at the end of the Sourcing Fair 2023 event, large corporations in the field of furniture and household goods such as FH (Denmark), IKEA (Sweden), or key Asian food importers such as Scanesia (Norway), East Asia (Sweden)... have had a more positive view of the Vietnamese market in general and exports. Vietnam's exports in particular. Notably, a number of contracts were signed right after the fair. Many new products were introduced to the market from frozen Vietnamese bread, to grated green papaya...

In addition to conventional standards, exporting businesses must also comply with sustainability initiatives; have environmental certification, social responsibility...

In addition, the group of intermediary brokerage businesses in the service sector also had some initial positive results, such as Nordic Apiary and Frends, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation with Vietnam's FPT Group.

More information about attending the Sourcing Fair 2024 series of events, Ms. Hoang Thuy said, currently, it is expected that IKEA, CTFood, Asia Lien and a Latvian business delegation will be co-organized by the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. together with the Trade Office will enter Vietnam to attend Sourcing Fair 2024 in June 2024.

Sharing about the requirements and desires for Vietnamese businesses, Ms. Hoang Thuy emphasized that for IKEA, in the wood and furniture products group, they choose suppliers who share the same values and ambitions to create should have a positive impact on humanity and the planet. IKEA has developed the IWAY standard - Responsible Purchasing and Sourcing Code - which is a core premise in business operations for IKEA's suppliers.

Accordingly, IWAY is IKEA's way with its suppliers to ensure responsible sourcing of products, services, materials and components, by defining clear expectations and ways of working. transparent to suppliers, ensuring business activities are always for the environment, society, working conditions of workers and animal welfare. Implementing IWAY standards is also a prerequisite and mandatory for all supplier partners and service providers when working with IKEA. The IWAY Code seeks to bring meaningful employment value to all workers and contribute to positive change in local communities throughout IKEA's global value chain.

For FH, in addition to basic standards, this unit emphasizes finding suppliers with BSCI/Amfori (Business Social Compliance Initiative) certificates. Thus, for food businesses, products not only meet mandatory EU requirements such as product safety, pesticide residue... but also must meet the very strict requirements of buyers. such as environmental certification, social responsibility...

“In general, for all product groups, the trend of more sustainable and responsible production and business is of increasing concern. This trend involves many aspects of the supply chain , including working conditions, water use, waste management, emissions reduction... Your products will be accepted by Northern European buyers if comply with sustainable initiatives", Ms. Thuy emphasized and affirmed that Europe is still a potential market, however the requirements are increasingly strict and businesses need to change to meet EU requirements.