Vietnamese food captivates Japanese market

People visit the Vietnamese booth at Foodex Japan 2025

As part of the national trade promotion programme, the Agricultural Trade Promotion Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment sent a delegation of 27 businesses to participate in the Vietnamese booth at Foodex Japan 2025.

Among the businesses are the Dong Giao Foodstuff Export Joint Stock Company (Doveco), Masan, and Vinamilk, with familiar brands, including processed and canned vegetables, canned fruit juice, Omachi instant noodles, Chinsu chili sauce, and Ngoi sao Phuong Nam milk.

Vietnam's 210 sq.m booth at the exhibition has an attractive design, incorporating many colours and images of characteristic Vietnamese products, making it stand out at the fair. The participating companies carefully selected and displayed their products, inviting visitors to sample dishes right at the expo.

Nguyen Thi Yen, deputy director of the Agricultural Trade Promotion Centre, said that businesses that are participating in Foodex Japan 2025 have already established a presence in the Japanese market. Thus, this year's goal is to maintain the market in Japan while further developing and expanding into other international markets.

She emphasised that through Foodex Japan 2025, Vietnamese companies have the opportunity to penetrate and exploit the Japanese market, thereby increasing exports of agricultural, food, and seafood products.

The Vietnamese booths attracted many visitors. Together with Vietnam’s strong agricultural products, Vietnamese condiments like fish sauce and fast foods like instant noodles have garnered attention and acceptance from Japanese food businesses and consumers.

Toshihiko Matsushita, owner of a Japanese food company, mentioned that she often uses Vietnamese fish sauce for dishes like hot pot, stir-fried vegetables, and fried noodles, as its flavor is similar to a dipping sauce from Niigata that she loves. In adddition, Vietnamese noodles, especially phở, are very popular in Japan.

Since the Japanese have a culture of eating noodles, Vietnamese noodles can easily blend with Japanese culinary styles to create delicious dishes, she said.

Regarding the prospects of Vietnamese instant noodles becoming popular in Japan, Masae Okamoto, owner of a Japanese food business, said it is entirely feasible. He noted that as the number of dual-income households increases and young people in Japan dislike cooking, instant noodles fit well with the Japanese lifestyle. He said he thinks Vietnamese instant noodles have the potential to be favored by many Japanese consumers due to their unique characteristics.

Foodex Japan 2025 features participation from businesses in 68 countries and territories, with over 3,144 booths covering a total exhibition area of nearly 30,000 sq.m.

Running from March 11-14, it is expected to attract around 76,000 visitors.