Background
Viet Nam’s average sodium intake is approximately twice the recommended level. Around 80% of this sodium comes from discretionary sources added during cooking or at the table, such as mixed seasonings, fish sauce, monosodium glutamate, and salt. Excess sodium consumption is a major contributor to hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
Potassium-enriched low-sodium salt substitutes (LSSS) offer a practical, evidence-based, and cost-effective approach to reducing sodium intake and blood pressure, while remaining acceptable to consumers. Despite this, the availability and use of LSSS in Viet Nam remain very limited. Key barriers include higher costs, limited domestic production and supply, low consumer awareness, unclear regulatory requirements, and insufficient incentives for producers and food manufacturers to invest in healthier salt alternatives.
Alive & Thrive (A&T) is an initiative to save lives, prevent illness, and ensure healthy growth and development. From 2009 to 2014, A&T demonstrated that rapid improvements in infant and young child feeding (IYCF) are possible in settings as diverse as Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Viet Nam. In 2014, A&T began working in Burkina Faso, India, Nigeria and throughout the Southeast Asia region, expanding its scope to include maternal and adolescent nutrition, and using agriculture and social protection programs as delivery mechanisms for maternal, infant and young child nutrition (MIYCN). Since 2025, Alive & Thrive (A&T) has been working with relevant government agencies and research institutes in Vietnam to advance research and communication on LSSS.
Evidence on whether and how Viet Nam can produce LSSS at scale is currently lacking. To address this gap, Alive & Thrive seeks to commission a feasibility study on transitioning toward large-scale production of potassium-enriched low-sodium salt in Viet Nam. The study will assess production capacity, supply chains, climate resilience, policy and regulatory requirements, and relevant technical standards. This study will establish the evidence needed to support large-scale production, identify the required policy, regulatory and technical reforms, and build consensus around practical measures to increase the availability, affordability and uptake of LSSS nationwide.
Objectives
The objective of this project is to generate evidence, policy recommendations, and stakeholder consensus needed to enable large-scale production and uptake of LSSS in Vietnam in 2026 – 2027.
Specific objectives:
- Assess Viet Nam’s capacity to transition toward large-scale, climate-resilient and gender-inclusive LSSS production for domestic consumption and export, covering production capacity, raw material supply, technology, supply chains and market potential.
- Identify the policy measures and incentives needed to enable salt producers and enterprises to shift toward large-scale, climate-resilient LSSS production.
- Identify the national standards and technical regulations needed for LSSS.
Requirements: please see details in the attached file.
Submit quotation to: [email protected] and clearly note in the subject line: “A&T– LSSS feasibility study”
Submission deadline: 5PM November 9, 2026