Industry revenue reached an estimated VNĐ432.7 trillion (US$16.7 billion) in the first six months of 2026, up from VNĐ406.1 trillion a year earlier, according to a report released by iPOS.vn and Nestlé Professional on September 9.

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s food and beverage (F&B) industry posted 6.6 per cent revenue growth in the first half of 2026, but a sharp rise in the number of outlets meant average revenue per store remained broadly flat and even edged down, highlighting intensifying competition despite signs of a market recovery.

Industry revenue reached an estimated VNĐ432.7 trillion (US$16.7 billion) in the first six months of 2026, up from VNĐ406.1 trillion a year earlier, according to a report released by iPOS.vn and Nestlé Professional on September 9.

But the number of food service outlets rose to about 329,200 by the end of the second quarter from around 299,900 a year earlier, adding nearly 30,000 outlets to the market.

That means a larger share of total industry revenue is being spread across a significantly greater number of businesses, leaving many individual operators with little improvement in sales despite headline growth in the overall market.

The divergence underscores the pressure facing Việt Nam’s F&B sector after a year of intense consolidation, as new outlets increasingly compete for the same pool of consumers.

Nguyễn Đỗ Anh Quân, brand director at iPOS.vn, said the first half of the year is typically a period of significant market consolidation.

“After the Lunar New Year holiday, outlets with weak cash flows or an unstable operating foundation often have to leave the market,” Quân said.

The total number of outlets declined just 0.1 per cent from the end of 2025, suggesting closures have slowed while new openings have been sufficient to offset most businesses leaving the market, he said.

“This can also be seen as a sign that the market is gradually becoming more stable, while F&B businesses are beginning to operate in a more structured, professional and planned manner,” Quân said.

The revenue growth also needs to be viewed against seasonal and price factors. The 2025 Lunar New Year fell on January 29, splitting the peak shopping season between December 2024 and January 2025. In 2026, Lunar New Year fell on February 17, nearly three weeks later, meaning most of the peak consumption period fell within the first half of this year.

Consumer prices rose 4.4 per cent year-on-year on average in the first half of 2026. This suggests that part of the 6.6 per cent increase in F&B revenue reflected higher prices and broader macroeconomic factors, rather than a corresponding increase in real consumer demand.

The strain on individual businesses is reflected in a survey of 481 F&B operators across 15 provinces and cities. About 43 per cent reported lower revenue than a year earlier. Of these, 27.5 per cent recorded declines of 5 to 20 per cent but remained in operation, while 15.2 per cent suffered declines of more than 20 per cent and faced significant difficulties.

At the other end of the spectrum, 20.2 per cent of businesses reported revenue growth of more than 5 per cent, while 37.1 per cent saw relatively stable revenue.

The figures suggest that consumer spending has not disappeared from the market, but is being allocated more selectively. Even businesses operating in the same area and facing similar cost structures and customer demographics can post sharply different results.

Vũ Thanh Hùng, CEO of iPOS.vn, was quoted by Đầu tư (Investment) newspaper as saying that consumers were still eating and drinking outside the home and were even spending more, but were becoming more selective and demanding experiences that justified the money they spent.

“Total spending has not left the market, it has simply changed destinations,” Hùng said.

He said the reallocation of consumer spending helps explain why businesses operating under similar conditions have achieved markedly different results over the past six months.

The divergence is particularly visible between food and beverage businesses. While the share of outlets reporting declining revenue was broadly similar in the two segments, food businesses recorded stronger growth. Some 25.6 per cent of food businesses reported growth of more than 5 per cent, compared with 15.8 per cent among beverage outlets.

Food businesses can rely on demand for meals, group dining and bundled products to increase average bill values. Beverage outlets, by contrast, face intense competition for each upsizing decision, additional topping or attempt to persuade customers to choose a higher-priced drink.

Pressure is also coming from a growing number of mass-market and low-cost models. Some 88.5 per cent of surveyed owners said they had clearly seen such models emerge around their business areas, while about 58.2 per cent said they had actually felt the pressure.

Some 35.4 per cent of outlets kept their existing sales approach and accepted losing some customers, while 22.8 per cent proactively cut prices, introduced promotions or added lower-priced products.

The trend suggests low-cost models have not yet forced the entire market into across-the-board price cuts, but are gradually taking customers away from outlets that are slow to adapt.

Administrative procedures and high-quality human resources are critical factors determining Vietnam's competitiveness in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), industry experts and businesses said at the 2026 Industrial Real Estate Forum held in Ho Chi Minh City on September 29.

During the past eight months of 2026, Vietnam attracted US$40.63 billion in FDI, up 55.4% year-on-year, while Ho Chi Minh City secured over US$5.57 billion in its industrial and export processing zones. However, businesses noted that prolonged administrative procedures continue to hinder investment flows.

Trang Le, Country Head & Head of Research and Consulting at JLL Vietnam, stated that project implementation timelines heavily influence investors' decisions. Administrative processing times vary significantly across localities, compounded by a limited supply of large land plots and well-connected logistics infrastructure in the southern region.

Echoing this view, Nguyen Thi Thao Nhi, Chairwoman and General Director of Thanh Binh Phu My JSC, said that investors shifting operations from China to Vietnam often face months of delays just to complete factory setup procedures, a process that takes only days in China. Statutory timelines for approvals such as 1/500 zoning plans and environmental permits frequently exceed official estimates, eroding investor confidence.

Addressing these concerns, Truong Thi Minh Hieu, Deputy Director of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Finance, said the government will implement decentralized management to empower local authorities. Specifically, provincial People's Committee chairpersons will be granted broader authority to approve local industrial models and fast-track administrative processes to create a favorable investment environment.

Management and risk control must be fully standardized as Vietnam goes about developing wellness tourism.

The rapid growth of wellness tourism is putting pressure on the tourism sector to standardize quality management and strengthen medical risk controls. Establishing a clear legal and professional boundary between “healthcare and recovery” and “medical intervention” is essential to protect visitors and build a credible, sustainable tourism product chain.

The “Wellness Tourism Development in Vietnam to 2030” proposal, being developed by the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT), aims to preserve and promote natural resources, traditional medicine, indigenous knowledge, and ethnic cultural values while supporting related sectors such as healthcare and medicinal agriculture.

Potential from healthcare capacity

Speaking at a workshop on the VNAT proposal, in Lao Cai on September 16, Dr. Duong Huy Luong, Deputy Head of the Department of Medical Service Administration at the Ministry of Health (MoH), reiterated the healthcare sector’s position that activities involving techniques within the scope of medical examination and treatment must be carried out at licensed medical facilities by appropriately-licensed practitioners, in accordance with the 2023 Law on Medical Examination and Treatment and related regulations. Wellness services outside this scope are governed by relevant sector-specific laws and business conditions.

Establishing these principles at the policy-making stage, he continued, would help businesses understand their operating requirements, reduce legal risks, and give travelers clearer information about services involving medical expertise. It would also provide local authorities with a consistent basis for guidance and inspection.

The healthcare sector supports wellness tourism development, citing its significant potential. As of 2025, Vietnam had more than 2,000 public and private hospitals with nearly 340,000 beds, equivalent to 33.8 beds per 10,000 people, and more than 105,000 doctors. The specialized healthcare system includes 103 specialized hospitals, 13 of which have achieved the highest technical level, concentrated in three national specialized healthcare centers in Hanoi, Hue, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnamese practitioners have mastered complex techniques such as robotic and minimally-invasive surgery, organ transplantation, cardiovascular intervention, oncology, assisted reproduction, and specialized ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and dental procedures. Some have attracted foreign medical teams seeking to learn from Vietnamese expertise, supporting the development of specialized medical centers and international patient services.

Vietnam also has a strong foundation in traditional medicine, rehabilitation, and elderly care. The country has 65 specialized traditional medicine hospitals, while 82 per cent of general hospitals have a traditional medicine department or unit. Domestic medicinal resources include around 3,850 plant species and 406 animal species used for medicinal purposes.

Demand for elderly care is also rising with population aging. The segment can involve longer stays and stable spending, while allowing resorts to work with medical facilities, although it requires higher safety standards.

Healthcare and tourism sector figures estimate that around 300,000 international visitors use medical services in Vietnam each year, including foreign residents and visitors traveling to the country for treatment. Ho Chi Minh City accounts for around 40 per cent, followed by Hanoi, while Da Nang, Hue, and Khanh Hoa are developing products around resorts and traditional medicine.

However, Mr. Luong said standardized products remain limited and generally small in scale, with weak links between medical services and accommodation or resorts. Cooperation between medical facilities and travel companies is also mostly limited to individual programs rather than long-term partnerships. While Vietnamese practitioners have strong professional expertise, specialized foreign-language and international customer service skills have not kept pace with demand.

The healthcare sector therefore believes wellness tourism should put patients and service users at the center, ensuring safety, quality, and their rights throughout the service experience.

Putting travelers at the center

Wellness travelers often use services far from home and may have limited information about providers or their professional capabilities. Service information should therefore be complete and easy to understand, with procedures for handling unexpected situations prepared in advance. Complaint and dispute resolution mechanisms must also protect users’ rights. For international visitors, language and cultural differences should be considered from the product design stage.

Wellness tourism must also not undermine domestic residents’ access to essential healthcare. Medical personnel, hospital beds, and equipment must first serve public health needs.

Tourist services should therefore be organized without reducing access or quality for local residents, particularly at facilities facing high demand in certain specialties. Mr. Luong said capacity should instead be expanded through investment, socialization, and private sector development, rather than redirecting existing resources toward higher-paying visitors.

The MoH also stressed that activities involving medical expertise must comply with laws governing medical examination and treatment, pharmaceuticals, and professional practice. The same technique should face the same operating requirements whether provided at a hospital or resort, regardless of how the service is commercially branded.

Using the term “wellness” for activities that effectively constitute medical treatment could create risks for travelers and disadvantage compliant providers. The principle should therefore be incorporated into regulations governing wellness tourism.

Traditional medicine and regional cultural identity are another potential advantage, provided they are developed on the basis of scientific evidence, medicinal safety, and professional requirements. Vietnam’s indigenous knowledge and diverse medicinal resources could support distinctive wellness products.

To develop this advantage sustainably, the sector needs to control the origin and quality of medicinal materials, ensure practitioners meet professional requirements and manage claims about the benefits of treatments and products. Unverified materials or exaggerated claims could undermine confidence in traditional medicine.

Dr. Truong Sy Vinh, former Deputy Director of the Institute of Tourism Development Research at VNAT, said the growing integration of wellness into tourism is creating more diverse and complex practical issues.

One key challenge is distinguishing wellness from medical tourism. Resorts, spas, yoga, meditation, light exercise, mineral baths, and healthy eating are generally easy to classify. The boundary becomes less clear when products include specialized nutritional counseling, rehabilitation, acupuncture, psychological therapy, or other services involving medical expertise.

The distinction should therefore be based not simply on the name of a service, but on its purpose and nature. Clear definitions can prevent products from being marketed beyond their actual scope while helping travelers understand what they are purchasing.

Because many wellness services directly affect visitors’ physical and mental condition, quality also depends on safety and reliability, not just facilities, service, or customer satisfaction. Activities such as exercise, yoga, hot springs, massage, and dietary programs may suit some people but not others, requiring careful design and clear guidance.

Alongside the “Wellness Tourism Development in Vietnam to 2030” proposal, the healthcare sector is also developing a draft “Medical Tourism Development for 2026-2030” proposal. Its goal is to make medical tourism a contributor to socio-economic development while strengthening Vietnam’s healthcare system. By 2030, the proposal aims to develop Vietnam into a competitive medical tourism destination in Southeast Asia, gradually raise its profile in the wider Asian market, establish an integrated high-quality service chain, and build a national medical tourism brand.

It also targets a satisfaction rate of at least 90 per cent among international medical tourists and around 750,000 international medical tourists. Direct revenue from medical and healthcare services is projected at around $1 billion, while total spending by medical tourists and accompanying persons is expected to reach around $2.5 billion.

According to the UN World Tourism Organization and the European Travel Commission, health tourism is an umbrella concept covering travel aimed at maintaining, improving, or restoring health, with wellness and medical tourism representing two distinct forms.

Wellness tourism generally targets healthy travelers seeking to maintain their physical condition, reduce stress, prevent illness, and improve quality of life through services such as wellness resorts, mineral baths, herbal therapies, meditation, yoga, healthy diets, and natural treatments.

Medical tourism, by contrast, serves people seeking medical examination and treatment, including screening, procedures, surgery, disease treatment, and rehabilitation, provided by licensed medical facilities under professional direction.