작성일자: 2014.11.3

작성자: 호치민 무역관 Mr. Hong Suk Kyoon(sukkhong@kotra.or.kr), Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien(kotra.sgn@gmail.com)

1. COMPETITION TREND:

 ○ During the year 1993-1995, the Vietnam toothpaste market was well-known with two local brands Da Lan and P/S. These brands hold up to 95% of the market at that time. Dalan and P/S were familiar with consumers from cities to rural areas. However, everything has changed since large international chemical and cosmetics such as Unilever and Colgate Palmolive coming to Vietnam.

 ○ Currently, the toothpaste market is developing very fast in Vietnam. However, due to the weakness of local production, Unilever (a multi company of UK-Netherland) and Colgate Palmolive (America) became the largest companies in toothpaste in Vietnam. The products of these companies hold 90% the market share. In which, Unilever holds 65% and Colgate Palmolive holds 25%. P &G (America) has entered to Vietnam soon with brand Crest however it did not gain success. The remaining 10% market share is divided for Vietnamese and other toothpaste companies.

 ○ For the time being, toothpaste brands of Unilever such as P/S and Close Up are being consumed popularly in cities and mountainous areas. The Unilever’s toothpastes are preferable due to high quality and diversified models. It dominated the low and middle-end segment with P/S and dominated the high-end segment with Close-Up. In addition, many Vietnamese consumers think that P/S toothpaste is a Vietnamese brand.

 ○ Meanwhile, the Colgate toothpaste take advantage of penetrating the Vietnam market early and also bought the Da lan toothpaste brand of Vietnam. However, Colgate Palmolive has replaced Dalan by Colgate Siêu Chắc. This is a big fail of this company because this new product was not preferred as expected. Recently, Colgate toothpaste have been claimed to contain harmful chemical elements. This can cause cancer for users. This news has affected the business of the company. In the last 15 years, Colgate has spent much in advertisements, new brands, and the prices cheaper than Unilever toothpastes, however, it could not keep pace with Unilever.

 ○ Beside Colgate Palmolive and Unilever, there are other international toothpaste brands coming to Vietnam such as GSK (Sensodyne, Aquafresh), Darlie (Darlie), etc. These companies entered Vietnam quite early. However, due to slow in market share strategy, the market share of these brands still very small.

 ○ Although the Vietnam’s toothpaste market is increasingly crowded with the countless product lines, with different uses, however, it is considered to be stable. Colgate Palmolive and Unilever have tried many ways to protect their market so that it is difficult for new players except that new players have something new and different.

 ○ Currently, two Vietnamese toothpaste brands still able survive in the market: Dalan and Doreen. According to the directors of these companies, the profit from these products is not significant. Due to the weaknesses on capital, technology, Vietnamese toothpaste manufacturers can not develop the market and gain more market share.

2. RETAIL PRICE REND

 ○ Retail price trend of popular tooth paste brands in Vietnam:

      Source: www.vatgia.com

      Note: The price is not included VAT 10%

               Exchange Rate: USD1 = VND 21,000

3. QUALITY CERTIFICATION

 ○ The points below are in terms of quality certification of toothpaste

  - Toothpaste belongs to cosmetics group under management of Ministry of Health (Drug Administration of Vietnam).

  - Import procedures:

   · For imported toothpaste, besides the import documents as usual, importer must provide custom office with the Notification of Cosmetic Product (Phiếu Công bố SP mỹ phẩm) which were been issued by the Drug Administration of Vietnam)

  - Procedure of proclamation of cosmetic (Refer to the Term No.4 & No.5, Decree No 06/2011/TT-BYT)

   · Notice: The foreign supplier must supplies for Vietnamese importer bellow documents

   · Letter of authorization from the manufacturer or owner of the product for Vietnamese importer.

   · A certificate of free sale (CFS)

 ○ Regarding quality certification, toothpaste should meet the standards set in the TCVN 5816:2009 regarding the technical requirements and test methods for toothpaste as follows:

  - Total Fluoride in single product box: The amount of fluoride in the single product box is not more than 300㎎ (This specification does not apply for dental unit container which is distributed under the supervision condition of the community as the caries prevention programs such as School Brushing).

  - Heavy Metals: The total heavy metal in dental hygiene products is not bigger than 20㎎/㎏, while the maximum content of mercury (Hg), arsenic (As) and lead (pb) does not exceed the levels specified in Table below.

Requirements for heavy metals

  - PH: Dental hygiene products must have the pH less than 10.5 when testing under 5.3

  - Source: TCVN 5816: 2009 – Vietnam Qualification Standard for Toothpaste