Homemade food is popular during Tet

This Tet holiday, Ms. Hoa received orders for over 100kg of dried beef and dried pork. Photo: Thanh Phuc

With 6 years of experience in the "homemade" food business, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (Kim Thi apartment, Quan Bau ward, Vinh city) said: "Tet is the peak season for making and selling foods such as: beef jerky, pork jerky, kimchi, ham, spring rolls... Starting from the beginning of December, we have been making orders for Tet dishes for customers to choose and order. This year, I received orders for 100kg of beef jerky, pork jerky; 5,000 spring rolls and about 50kg of fried ham. By the 20th of the lunar month, I will close the order and deliver until noon on the 30th of Tet."

Ms. Hoa said that the price of "homemade" foods is slightly higher than the food sold in the traditional market. For example, dried beef costs 900,000 - 1,000,000 VND/kg, but in the market it is only 700,000 - 800,000 VND/kg; fried pork roll that she sells for 230,000 VND/kg is only 150,000 VND/kg in the market. But according to Ms. Hoa, "you get what you pay for", the price difference is due to carefully selected ingredients, no mixing during the processing and ensuring cleanliness.

In addition to regular customers in the city, Ms. Hoa also makes wholesale orders from other provinces and cities. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“My main customers are acquaintances who have ordered many times and know the quality so they trust me to order again. In addition, dried beef and dried pork are also exported wholesale to customers in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Nam Dinh and Saigon. Therefore, from the beginning of December to the 30th of Tet, the two sisters have to work at full capacity from 4am to 11pm to meet the needs of customers.”

At this time, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kieu Oanh's family (Hung Binh ward, Vinh city) is busy with service orders.worshiping the Kitchen Godsand dishes for the Tet holiday table. Ms. Kieu Oanh said: “The current trend of people shopping for Tet is not to buy a lot but to buy selectively, to buy delicious dishes. In particular, due to the nature of their work, civil servants still have to work close to Tet and do not have time to shop or cook, so they choose to order processed food to display. Therefore, Tet orders have increased sharply.”

This Tet season, Ms. Oanh's facility produced 700 kg of banh ca (rice cake), about 700 kg of beef ham, fried ham, sausages and 200 sets of offerings to Ong Tao (the Kitchen God). In addition to mobilizing the labor force in the house, she had to hire more workers to make Tet goods in time to deliver to customers.

As consumer tastes change, the homemade food market has also become more vibrant. Many establishments process and sell homemade food. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Fear"3 no" candyBecause of the abundance of traditional boxed cakes on the market, Ms. Nguyen Tuyet Anh (Le Mao ward) only bought a few traditional boxed cakes to decorate the altar beautifully. As for the cakes, candies, and jams for guests, she ordered acquaintances to make them. Ms. Tuyet Anh said: “Now, few people eat cakes and candies, so I don’t buy them in large quantities like before. I chose to order acquaintances to make some types of soft coconut jam, almond candy, and snowflake cakes, each weighing 0.5 kg. These types are twice as expensive as ready-made products, but the quality is guaranteed.”

Because of its convenience and reasonable price, handmade food is winning the hearts of many customers. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Consumer tastes change, there is supply and demand, so now the homemade food market is more vibrant than ever. On online markets, it is easy to find handmade products for Tet such as ham, sausage, dried chicken with lemon leaves, dried pork with garlic, dried beef, Chinese sausage, young coconut jam, passion fruit jam, all kinds of cookies, nougat... being sold widely.

Through a survey, the prices of these foods on the market are relatively stable: beef jerky ranges from 900,000 - 1,000,000 VND/kg; beef ham 300,000 VND/kg, stir-fried ham 250,000 VND/kg; coconut jam 250,000 - 300,000 VND/kg; eggplant cake 160,000 VND/kg...

Businesses invest in packaging and labels to create peace of mind for consumers. Photo: Thanh Phuc

To meet the increasing demands of customers, many establishments and Facebook account owners selling handmade products have invested in drying systems, vacuum machines, packaging, and full labels. In particular, to create trust for customers, the processes from selecting raw materials to processing are often filmed or livestreamed and then posted and broadcast on social networks. Because of the convenience, the ability to order processing on demand, no preservatives, additives, and reasonable prices, handmade food is winning the hearts of many "customers".

However, in reality, the criteria for cleanliness and food safety are based only on what is “seen and heard” through livestreams, through the seller’s introduction and through trust from acquaintances, and there is no agency to verify it. Many products sold on the “online market” advertised as “homemade” do not have labels, origins or expiration dates. There are many cases of “false advertising”, advertising one way, but delivering another, with poor quality.

On the online market Zalo, personal Facebook and groups, the business of selling homemade food during Tet is quite active. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Therefore, consumers must be smart when choosing homemade food and the sellers of “homemade” products must also be responsible for processing and selling those products. Because once they are commercialized and marketed via Facebook, the business owner must be responsible for their products.