RESEARCH MARKET

ITALIAN WINE IMPORT TO VIETNAM

Contents
Opportunities and Challenges 2
The product 3
Distribution options 3
Marketing strategies 4
Main competitors in the market 5
Other notes 7
 Opportunities and Challenges

Thanks to the speed of economic development, Vietnamese living standard has risen. In recent
years, there is an increase in Vietnamese demand on wine. Offering alcohol drinks, especially
wine bottles, as gifts during holidays like Christmas, New Year and Lunar New Year, become a
new trend of Vietnamese people. Wine has become a common drink in Vietnam and can be
found everywhere, from store, supermarket to restaurant, hotel, bar, etc.

Despite high duties about 85% imposed on CIF price, which include import tax of 50%, special
consumption tax of 25% and VAT of 10%, demand of wine is still strongly rising in this market.
Since 2004, wine imported has increased by 25% per year. It should be noticed that in 2010, the
value of wine imported to Vietnam reached $53.2 million, increasing by 85% comparing to that
of 2009. France is the leading country exporting wine to Vietnam, followed by Chile, Italy,
Spain, and the United State. The amount of wine coming from those countries increases by year.

Despite the difficulty of economy, last year, the speed of wine importing from France and Italy to
Vietnam reached 20%. Among the Asian countries, Vietnam is considered the best market for
wine because of its speed of development remaining stably at 7%.

In 2012, wine’s export value maintain high despite national economic slowdown, reaching USD
73,7 million, equivalent to 95% of the year before. In 2013, total value of wine market decreased
from USD 80 million to USD 59 million because of the decline in export of USA – the top wine
exporter to Vietnam. In contrary, Italy has an impressive increase in the wine market. Italian
wine step by step has found its position in Vietnamese wine market, accounted for 2.5% the
amount of wine imported to Vietnam in 2012, increasing 19.7% comparing to 2011. In the first 6
months of 2013, the amount of Italian wine has doubled from 600,000 Euro of 2012 to 1.2
million Euro. In the recent 5 years, the speed of Italian wine consumed in Vietnam always
reaches 20%.

However, with regard to alcoholic beverages, beer remains the dominant drink of local
Vietnamese people and wine consumption is still very small. Middle and high class also prefer
spirits such as vodka, cognac, brandy and whiskey to wine. Moreover, because French people
were the ones who brought wine into Vietnam, French wine is more well-known and familiar to
Vietnamese people than other wines. Recent years has seen the rise of Chilean and Australian
wines thanks to their cheap prices that are more attractive than the ones of France and Italy.
The product
Beer, spirits, Vietnamese traditional rice wine and wine are the most popular alcohol drinks in
Vietnam. The majority of Vietnamese do not drink grape wine because they have not acquired a
taste for the wine. Imported wine is perceived as a luxury product in Vietnam for middle and
high incomes groups and the demand has been increasing in recent years. Vietnamese that have
acquired a taste for wine generally prefer old world wines and red wine from Bordeaux is the
most popular. Wine is not usually consumed at home. Vietnamese consumers who have acquired
the taste of imported wine while they are socialising, entertaining or dining during the week. To
Vietnamese people, wine is not only a drink served for distinguish guests, but also a deluxe gift
for important events.
The presence of more and more highly-regarded brands of wine from Old World countries like
France and Italy as well as from New World ones, like Chile, Australia, United States of
America, South Africa, Argentina and New Zealand has demonstrated how much wine producers
are interested in this promising market.

Distribution options

Only licensed importers are permitted to import wines into Vietnam. Wines are then priced by
importers/traders and distributed to hotels, resorts, supermarkets and retail wine shops which
normally get 10-20% commission over the fixed price on each bottle sold. Some high-end
restaurants and hotels buy wines from traders/importers at a certain price and then price the
wines at value they want.

Premium and/or famous brand wines are mostly consumed at high-end restaurants, hotels and
resorts, or retailed directly to home consumers via wine showrooms of the importer. Medium,
low end quality and reasonably priced wines are distributed at wine retail shops, supermarkets
and normal restaurants. Hand-carried and smuggled wines are also traded through retail shops.

● Importers: They import wine and then distribute to hotels, resorts, supermarkets. There
are more than 60 importers in Vietnamese wine market. Some of local importers are
Italy-Vietnam Service Trading and International Investment JSC, ADT Wine and Art, Finewines,
VINO, etc. There are also foreign importers such as VIET-IT Wine Import Company and Tan
Khoa Distribution Company.
● Supermarkets: familiar to middle class, high class and foreigners, who have concerns in
wine. Some big supermarkets: Big C, Maximark, Co-op mart.
● Wine stores: they are two kinds of wine stores: showroom of importers, retail shops.
Some of them are Annam Group, Da Loc Co.,Ltd, VINO Retail.
● Bars: There are about 117, 116 and 11 bars located in Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi and Da
Nang respectively serving wines. Bar and karaoke are considered the sectors that consume wine
most.

Marketing strategies
Working closely with the distributor or sub-distributor is the key factor to ensure success in the
Vietnamese market. Promotions in the form of supporting wine competitions, wine dinners, wine
and cheese events, seminars, workshops, wine tasting events are effective ways to approach
consumers and advertise the products.
Association of Sommeliers & Bartenders help to increase exposure, awareness and can be used
to highlight the uniqueness of Italian wines. These promotional activities also help form closer
relationships with the distributors and sell more wines to consumers. Trips to Italy for
distributors who are able to reach targets set are common to enable the distributor/sub distributor
to better understand your product and help to commit them to promoting your product over other
brands.
There are two aspects of wine that Vietnamese consumer concern most: packaging and price.
Vietnamese consumers are very aware of wine packaging. Increased bottle size and weight give
the appearance of a more serious/ expensive wine. Also, labeling which has a cheap appearance
is not acceptable even if the wine is cheaper. Price strategies play an important role in
penetrating Vietnamese market. Because of the tax on wine, the price in market can be double
comparing to price export. Moreover, different channels of distribution may offer different
prices. Therefore, a fairly low price would be acceptable. Chilean wine has succeeded by this
way. However, a bottle with too low prices can be considered as low quality.
Main competitors in the market
While there are small local wine industries in the region the vast majority of wine consumed is
imported. US, French and Chilean wines are dominating the market, but French and Chilean
have more advantages for brand recognition. According to an expert in the sector, most of US
wines imported into Vietnam are for re-export to China.

Though the French producers are still the strongest players and have continued to enjoy steady
growth in value in recent years, their market share has steadily declined due to many new
entrants into this market, particularly those from Chile, Australia, USA, South-Africa and
Argentina. A wide variety of Chilean wines are available in the market, including sparkling, red
and white wines, and local consumers prefer Chilean red wines to wines from other parts of the
new world. The market share of Chile rised up from 10,4% from 2012 to 16,91% in 2013. In
contrary to those, wine imported from France has lose their market share, from 27% in 2008 to
20% in 20121.
1
Italian Trade Agency, Brief sector note on beverage
Italian wine exports to Vietnam kept on growing steady. In 2013, an export value of about USD
1,96 milion was recorded.

Italian wine exports into Vietnam (HS Code: 2204, value in thousand euro, FOB)

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Value 851 831 1,272 1,523 1,954 1,208

Growth (%) 13,6 -2,4 35,2 13,1 19,8 28,3

Source: ICE processing of Istat data

Italian brands available in the Vietnamese market2

No. Brands No. Brands

1. Albizzia 2. Ferrocinto

3. Amarone della Volpolicella 4. Gagliardo

5. Antinori 6. Gaja

7. Barolo Bricco Rocche 8. Gavi di Gavi

9. Batzella 10. Giulio Ferrari

11. Borgiani 12. La Valentina

13. Bottega 14. Luce Brunello

15. Casal Farneto 16. Marabino

17. Casel Giocondo 18. Masi

19. Castel Lare 20. Meregalli

2
Italian Trade Agency, Brief sector note on beverage
 21. Castello Pomino 22. Monteverdi Dolce

23. Castiglioni 24. Piccini

25. Caviro 26. Pio Cesare

27. Cavit 28. Planeta

29. Cecchi 30. Poppiano

31. Citto 32. Principato

33. Coli 34. Prunotto

35. Coste Rubin Barbaresco 36. Ricasoli

37. Cuvee 38. Santa Christina

39. Danzante 40. Tommasi

41. Dievole Novecento 42. Vagliano Poggio Teo Chianti

43. Dolcetto D’Alba 44. Volpaia

45. Domini Veneti 46. Wine people

47. Duchessa 48. Zonin

49. Pellegrino 50. Indesio

51. D’Italia 52. Santa Margherita

53. Bisol 54. Canapi

55. Banfi 56. Marchesi de Frescobaldi

57. Villa Sandi 58. De Stefani

59. Canapi 60. Castello di Buttrio

61. Colluta 62. Pivene porto

Vietnamese wine producers’ market share is quite limited in comparison to their foreign rivals
who have built up brand awareness and have a good reputation for quality and consistency. The
wine producers in Vietnam are mostly confined to a few regions like Ninh Thuan and Binh
Thuan provinces, and the grapes do not seem to be of a quality for making premium wines,
according to some experts. Recently Da Lat Winery had to import grapes and wine inputs from
France to produce better quality wine.

Other notes
● Advertising: Wine is limited importing good in Vietnam. Alcohol drinks containing over
15% alcohol are not allowed to be advertised.
● Tax: To import wine to Vietnam, importers should consider 3 types of tax: Importing Tax
(refer Circular 193/2012/TT-BTC dated November 15th, 2012 of Ministry of Finance); VAT
10%; Special Consumption Tax 25% (refer Special Consumption Tax Law 27/2008/QH12 dated
November 14th, 2008 for wine with under 20% alcohol). The total of tax is about 85%
● Custom duties: The importing procedures lasts about 21 days. Documents to prepare:
o Bill of lading
o Cargo release order
o Commercial invoice
o Customs import declaration
o Inspection report
o Packing list
o Technical standard/health certificate
o Terminal handling receipts
o A letter of attorney as a distributor or an importer of producer or agent contract of
producer;
o A proclamation of appropriate to regulation;
o A confirmation of food appropriate to import regulation;
o A confirmation of qualification to put into market.
● Importing Stamp: Before entering the market, an importing stamp will be stuck on the
bottle of wine. Stamps are published by Vietnam Customs. In order to get the stamps, importers
need a custom declaration, a proposal to buy importing stamps, an introduction paper, identity
card or equivalent.
● Label: Labels for alcoholic products must contain:
o Quantity
o Alcohol content
o Instructions on preservation (for wine)
● The Ministry of Health requires that each food product have labeling that lists:
 1. Name of the Food

2. Name and Address of the premise where food is made

3. Quantity/Volume

4. Components

5. Main Quality Measures

6. Manufacture date, Expiry Date, and Shelf Life

7. Instruction for Use and Preservation (especially for Wine)

8. Origin of Food

9. Alcohol Content

10. Warning of Safety and Hygiene

● Bulk Containers must also list:

For any further information, please contact Icham via email: officer@icham.org