In the context of the supply chain of goods, especially food, still facing many limitations, Ho Chi Minh City has launched the "Responsible Green Tick" program to improve the quality and transparency in providing food to consumers.
Currently, the program has 9 retail businesses participating, including: Saigon Co.op, Satra, MM Mega Market, Aeon, Central Retail, WinCommerce, Bach Hoa Xanh, Kingfood Mart and Lotte Mart.
Suppliers to these retail systems voluntarily submit to quality control and voluntarily prevent defective products from reaching consumers. Products that meet the criteria will be labeled "Responsible Blue Tick".
As a new unit participating in the program since early January 2025, Mr. Lee Yong Ho - Senior Director of Product Center, Lotte Vietnam Commercial Center Joint Stock Company - said that in 2024, the unit inspected the factories of 100 suppliers, and at the same time made requests for improvement and training in areas that partners needed to improve.
For high-risk product groups, the system outsources testing to an external testing unit, which analyzes more than 600 cases each year and monitors labeling for more than 10,000 products.
“We highly appreciate the “Responsible Green Tick” initiative of the Department of Industry and Trade. We are committed to actively accompanying the Department of Industry and Trade to spread this practical initiative to our suppliers and Lotte Mart customers in the future,” Mr. Lee Yong Ho shared.
In recent times, other retail systems have also stepped up product quality control. Typically, since the beginning of December 2024, retail systems such as Satra, Co.opmart and Co.opXtra have increased the frequency of product inspection. Tet goods such as cakes, candies, ham, meat, poultry... must go through 3 inspection steps before reaching consumers.
Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong - Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City - said that recently, many cases of food poisoning have been recorded nationwide. Ho Chi Minh City is a locality with determination and creativity in providing solutions to ensure food safety management.
However, with the scale and method of production of goods, especially from small and retail suppliers, control is still difficult. In some cases, dirty food still makes its way to consumers.
"The "Responsible Green Tick" program encourages distribution systems to simultaneously share information, increase responsibility in checking, controlling and certifying suppliers with quality product production processes, ensuring food safety.
This helps consumers distinguish between good and bad products, and at the same time supports reputable manufacturers to have stable consumption output. Suppliers participating in the program must commit to accepting penalties if they violate, thereby increasing responsibility," said Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong.
The "Responsible Green Tick" program is a cooperative initiative to control the quality of goods implemented by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade in coordination with leading retail groups in Vietnam from March 2024.
This is a solution based on market signals and quality requirements from consumers, through the filter of retailers. The program aims to build a safe and sustainable supply chain by committing to responsibility for each stage from farming, processing, circulation to distribution of goods.
