Why is Vinamilk confident that its soy milk will conquer Korean consumers?

As a developed country with a high standard of living, Korea has never been an easy market to conquer. So what are the factors that help Vinamilk’s nut milk products be evaluated as “making a difference” in this difficult and highly competitive market?

Production line of domestic and export soy milk products at Vinamilk's modern factory. Photo: PV

Soy milk made in Vietnam, international standard

Early June 2020 marked the first time Vinamilk officially exported its “made in Vietnam” nut milk products, including soy milk with walnuts, almonds and red beans, to Korea.

Sharing more about this, Vinamilk representative said that bringing products out of Vietnam's borders is difficult, bringing products into foreign markets and importantly, competing to survive is even more difficult. Therefore, to bring these products to the world market, the first thing that this business cares about is international standards, because this is the most important passport for the product.

Vinamilk nut milk products are produced in a closed system according to European standard technology with 100% non-GMO selected raw materials, along with high-quality walnuts and almonds imported from the US. The products are invested in research and development to both "standardize the taste" of nuts and meet the quality and nutritional requirements of consumers.

Mr. Seol Boo Chun - Director of Vina Korea Company (Korea) commented that Vinamilk's nut milk products have a rich and distinctive flavor of nuts, which will be a factor that helps Vinamilk "score points" compared to the single and bland flavored products currently on the market. We have conducted a market testing phase and surveyed customers' opinions.

Only when we receive positive feedback will we proceed to import large batches of products for the launch phase on e-commerce sites. Currently, Korea is still in the stage of fighting the Covid-19 epidemic, but we still have positive expectations about the reception of customers for nutritional products such as nut milk, a product that is beneficial to health. - Mr. Seol Boo Chun added.

The product comes in a compact, convenient 180ml box, suitable for the needs and consumption habits of young customers, office workers, etc.Photo: PV

Catching the trend of preferring nut milk in Korea

In fact, this is not the first time Vinamilk has entered Korea, but for many years Vinamilk has exported its traditional strengths such as condensed milk to Korea. To expand the market, nut milk products are the name chosen to enter the high-end segment and capture the growing nutritional trend from nuts among young and middle-aged customers here.

Ms. Jung Ae Kwon, currently an office worker, living in Seoul, Korea shared about Vinamilk's almond and walnut soy milk product after trying it: "My job is quite busy, so I find this nut milk product very suitable to replace snacks. I also don't have to worry too much about breakfast for my children on days when I'm too busy to prepare. In addition, I find the price of the product very reasonable."

As for Ms. Hyang Mi Park (44 years old), who has used detox products from red bean water for many years, she said she was very happy to find a nut milk product with red beans as an ingredient. "I can clearly feel the nutty taste in the product, not the taste of the flavoring but the taste of real red beans," Ms. Park commented.

Vinamilk chose e-commerce as its sales channel during the launch phase to reach young customers and adapt to the Covid-19 social distancing conditions in Korea.Photo: PV

Invest in brand image, premium positioning

Similar to the Japanese, Chinese and other countries where English is not widely spoken, Vinamilk designs its own packaging for products exported to the Korean market, using the local language and images and colors according to consumer preferences.

However, despite adjusting to local culture, this billion-dollar Vietnamese milk brand still keeps the logo "VINAMILK” prominently on its product packaging.

Explaining this, Mr. Vo Trung Hieu - Vinamilk International Business Director added: Vinamilk is a prestigious brand that has been in the world and regional rankings for many consecutive years according to Forbes, Nikkei...

In addition, Vinamilk always focuses on building and promoting its brand when entering foreign markets and maintaining the identity of Vietnamese brands. For example, when exporting condensed milk to Korea many years ago, the company still kept the Vinamilk Ong Tho brand and has also established a certain position in this segment.

Thanks to its international quality standards and meticulous brand recognition and design that matches the product's positioning, Vinamilk's trio of nut milks has quickly made an impression and scored points since its launch on familiar Korean e-commerce sites such as eBay, 11St...

Vinamilk's nut milk and milk tea products have officially begun their "journey" to conquer Korean consumers. Photo: PV

Vinamilk's product distribution representative added that there are plans to expand the distribution channel of convenience store chains such as CU, GS25 and 7-Eleven... in the near future to better reach consumers, especially young people.

In Vietnam, the trend of using nutritional products from seeds is growing. The set of 3 soy milk products was introduced by Vinamilk in the domestic market nearly 2 years ago and has been positively received by consumers.

Milk from nuts such as walnuts, almonds, soybeans, red beans... is considered an indispensable source of nutrition for those who aim for a "clean eating - green living" lifestyle, providing nutritious protein quickly and conveniently, and is also a delicious energy-boosting snack with the characteristic cool flavor of natural nuts.