In June 2021, Grab Vietnam cut a deal with other State agencies, including the Agency of Enterprise Development under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Investment and Trade Promotion Center under Vietnam Cooperatives Alliance. Under the agreement, a project named GrabConnect was launched, with an aim to promote consumption of farm produce, and speed up digital transformation for enterprises, cooperatives and households in the farming sector.That project, which Grab Vietnam considered a strong boost for numerous stakeholders in the community, has soon borne fruit, as it turned out to be an effective vehicle to match suppliers with consumers right on the home market, which has remained a sticky issue for long years. As often seen, while local consumers may find it hard to purchase quality farm produce, growers in many instances have to dump their unsold crops.According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the domestic market remains the most important one to consume home-grown produce. On one hand, efficient distribution will help asuage pressure on export channels in times of supply chain disruption, and on the other hand, it helps local consumers have access to quality products at reasonable prices. Diversifying distribution channels, especially via e-commerce platforms, will bring about consumption stability, according to the ministry.Apart from above-mentioned State agencies engaged in the GrabConnect project, Grab Vietnam has also worked with other trade partners to cut corners in approaching farming cooperatives and farming households, eliminating other intermediary ladders from the system. Fruits and vegetables have then been introduced to all other stakeholders in Grab’s ecosystem, including restaurants, grocery stores, shop owners, minimarts, and wet markets.Farming cooperatives and farmers now find GrabConnect as a reliable channel to sell their products to individual and wholesale consumers, and can have them transported conveniently to end-users via Grab’s delivery and logistics partners. Meanwhile, partners of GrabFood, GrabMart, and GrabExpress can have easy access to abundant supplies of products at reasonable prices.Driver-partners of Grab also have more delivery opportunities, thus raising their daily incomes, while final consumers can buy farm produce at a good price.Last year, the company organized the Fruits Festival via GrabMart and partners of this platform, helping farmers to sell more than 100 tons of fruits, especially durian, avocado, litchi and mango.In May 2023, up to 146 tons of quality fruits were also sold via the digital market GrabMart, according to Alejandro Osorio, managing director of Grab Vietnam.GrabConnect is also an effort by Grab Vietnam to benefit the community via digital transformation, according to the company’s management. (ICE HO CHI MINH CITY)

Fonte notizia: The Saigon Times