Job Description

Consultancy firm to Support the evaluation of

the Sugar Sweetened Beverage tax in Vietnam

1.Background

In June 2025, Vietnam passed the amended Law on Special Consumption Tax No. 66/2025/QH15, introducing a national excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) under the existing tax framework. The tax will be implemented in two phases: an 8% ad valorem tax starting on 1 January 2027, increasing to 10% on 1 January 2028. The tiered tax applies to non-alcoholic beverages containing more than 5 g of sugar per 100 ml. Natural fruit juices, coconut water, milk and dairy products, and nutritional liquids are exempted.

Evidence from multiple countries shows that SSB taxes can reduce purchases and consumption. A systematic review found that around 82% of the tax is passed through to higher consumer prices, leading to a 15% decline in sales. However, critical evidence gaps remain—particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), on ad valorem tax structures and industry responses such as reformulation and package resizing and on consumers’ substitution toward untaxed products. Addressing these gaps is essential to inform more effective tax policy design.

An evaluation of Vietnam’s tiered ad valorem SSB tax linked to sugar-content thresholds provides a unique opportunity to generate policy-relevant evidence to strengthen and inform future adjustments to the tax. Given the relatively modest initial tax rate (8% which subsequently increases to 10%) compared to the World Health Organization recommendation of 20%, robust evaluation will be critical to assess whether the tiered ad valorem tax structure achieves meaningful SSB price increases, reduced purchases and consumption, and product reformulation toward healthier options.

This project is led by a consortium of international and Vietnamese partner organizations (referred to as the “Research Consortium”). The SSB tax evaluation is led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), referred to as “IFPRI” throughout this Statement of Work (SoW). This SoW describes the activities to be implemented by the Collaborator related to package beverages data collection.

2.Objectives

Overall aim: To establish a comprehensive, longitudinal database of packaged beverages sold in urban and rural retail outlets in Vietnam by collecting standardized information on product characteristics, nutrition composition, package size, and retail prices, before and after implementation of the Vietnam SSB tax. The database will support evaluation of the tax's effects on taxed and untaxed beverage prices and industry reformulation responses.

Specific objectives

• To collect standardized Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) information on all beverages available in rural and urban retail outlets, including prices (and promotion), brand, manufacturer, product name, beverage category, package size, country of origin, barcode, ingredients, nutrition information, front-of-package claims, and sweetener composition.

• To create a longitudinal beverage database that enables matching identical products (SKU level) across survey rounds to monitor changes in prices and industry reformulation responses over time (This is for next year).

• To implement standardized quality assurance procedures to ensure complete, accurate, and reproducible data collection across all study sites and survey rounds.

3.Study Design

The study will use a repeated cross-sectional retail audit design with longitudinal product tracking to evaluate changes following implementation of the SSB tax in Vietnam. Retail audits will be conducted before and after tax implementation in 3 rounds: pre-implementation period (August-December 2026), post-tax phase 1 (August-December 2027), and post-tax phase 2 (August-December 2028).

The study will be conducted in in three major cities representing the Northern, Central, and Southern regions of Vietnam (Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City) using standardized data collection procedures. In each region, the study will cover both urban and peri-urban/rural areas, including four urban wards and four peri-urban/rural communes. A total of approximately 200 retail outlets per region (600 outlets across the three cities) will be targeted, covering supermarkets/hypermarkets, chain stores, and non-chain grocery stores. The Collaborator will operationalize the sampling framework, including selection of wards, communes, and specific retail outlets, subject to IFPRI approval.

The study will collect information on all packaged beverages available in selected retail outlets through direct observation and standardized photography. Wherever possible, identical products will be matched across survey rounds using barcode, brand, product name, package size, and other characteristics to enable assessment of changes in prices and industry reformulation responses. Detailed data collection protocols will be shared with the Collaborator later.

4.The role of the Research Consortium

The researchers of the Research Consortium will take the lead in the following activities:

• Design of data collection and data entry tools to be used by Collaborator.

• Close involvement in the training of the selected enumerators and team leaders/supervisors during the 5 days training. During this training, it is requested that key senior staff from the Collaborator closely involved in the survey (including field coordinator) are present.

• Supervision of data quality in collaboration with the Collaborator.

5.The role of the Collaborator

The activities in this SoW are specific for round 1 of data collection (i.e., pre-implementation period (August-December 2026)).

Management activities

The Collaborator will conduct the following activities:

• Obtain all required ethical and administrative approvals from local authorities to conduct the study. In addition, the Collaborator will inform and sensitize authorities, local leaders, communities, retail outlet managers, and others as needed about the research.

• Design all field study activities:

• The Collaborator will put together a detailed plan of all field activities, the detailed timeline of these activities, and a detailed list of the human resources needs to carry out these activities.

• Recruit qualified field staff (enumerators/team leaders/field coordinator staff for survey) according to the agreed minimum qualifications. Detailed qualifications will be shared with the collaborator later.

The detailed list of survey staff shall be submitted to IFPRI before the start of training. IFPRI reserves the right to veto the hiring of any of the proposed survey staff, and the Collaborator shall then propose new individuals satisfying the above criteria. A larger number of field staff (+10%) will be recruited for training than the number that will actually be employed for the fieldwork to allow the selection of enumerators who have the necessary skills to conduct the fieldwork. The field coordinator and other senior staff of the Collaborator involved in the study is expected to follow the online FHI360 ethics course.

Development of data collection and data entry tools

The Research Consortium will design data collection tools and provide data entry tools (i.e., RedCAP) for recording information collected from photographs. Key senior collaborating staff shall assist in all phases of survey design, in order to familiarize him/herself with all survey tools and devices. The Field coordinator shall review draft versions of the data collection and data entry tools and provide feedback before and during enumerator training. In addition, extensive tests of the photo-taking procedures, data entry, and monitoring protocols will be performed by enumerators during training and pilot survey.

Collaborator’s responsibilities:

• Collect feedback on procedures and protocols, transfer it to IFPRI, and double check that reported mistakes have been adequately corrected.

• With assistance from IFPRI, the Collaborator will prepare the field implementation manual prior to enumerator training. The field manual will ensure quality of the data collection process.

• The Collaborator will develop spot- and back-check protocols and share these with IFPRI for feedback prior to the start of data collection.

• Training of enumerators: the training will last for 5 days, including 2 days of pre-test in the field.

The Research Consortium responsibilities:

The Research Consortium will lead select aspects of the training. The detailed training calendar (including who will be training on what) will be developed in close collaboration between the Research Consortium and the Collaborator.

Collaborator’s responsibilities:

• All logistical aspects of the training, including venue, materials, refreshments, transportation, and field-testing locations.

• Lead the training of enumerators and supervisors on collecting package beverage data.

• Throughout the training, evaluate each enumerator/supervisor with respect to his/her understanding of the photo-taking procedures, data entry, and monitoring protocols, capacity to work with a smartphone, field capacities and general motivation. The best enumerators will be retained to join the survey team.

Pilot phase

The study will be pilot tested in one site (to be selected by the Collaborator in coordination with IFPRI) that is not part of the study sites (2 days) until all procedures and survey instruments have been mastered by all field workers. Every enumerator is expected to complete at least 2 store audits, 1 supermarket or convenience store, and 1 traditional retail outlet (1 per day of pilot testing) in total. During the pilot phase we aim at testing the study tools and procedures, as if the study had started.

The Collaborator will be responsible for all logistical aspects of the pilot phase:

• Liaise with retail outlets managers, community or local authorities to retail outlets that are willing to participate in the pilot study. Ensure that all legal and other authorizations are obtained for the pilot study.

• Provide enumerators with the necessary official letters, badges for identification, etc. as needed for the fieldwork.

• Organize and implement the pilot as planned and ensure availability of all necessary equipment.

• Transport of enumerators to the pilot study area.

• Ensure informed consent is obtained as needed.

• Ensure data quality inspection of the pilot data by team leaders as planned.

• Ensure that all field staff are properly insured.

Organize data collection

The data collection is to be completed within the agreed schedule which will be shared with the Collaborator in due time.

The Collaborator will:

• Develop a sampling plan for retail outlet selection. This includes outlets in rural and urban areas in Northern, Central, and Southern Vietnam.

• Ensure that retail outlet selection represents modern retail (e.g., supermarkets and convenience stores) and traditional retail outlets in both urban and rural settings.

• Conduct retail outlet audits in selected urban and rural locations in Northern, Central, and Southern Vietnam. Activities will follow standardized procedures developed in consultation with the Research Consortium.

• Collect information on every unique packaged beverage available for sale within selected retail outlets (i.e., taxed, untaxed, and tax-exempt beverages). Information on different flavors and package sizes will be collected.

• Take high-resolution photographs of all sides of each unique packaged beverage. What is essential are prices, barcodes (SKU), ingredients, nutrition facts panel, total size of package, preparation instructions (if applicable), and manufacturer information. For prices, the Collaborator will document the following:

• regular shelf price

• promotional/discounted price

• unit price (VND/L) if displayed

• promotion type (e.g., multi-buy, percentage discount)

• Develop and maintain the beverage database, including standardized coding of beverage categories, product characteristics, barcode/SKU identifiers, and retail prices.

• Draft a report with training procedures, quality assurance methods, and characteristics of the final database

The Collaborator will be responsible for all logistical aspects of the study to:

• Ensure that all legal authorizations are obtained to be able to conduct the study. This includes all necessary permits at the national, subnational, and local levels.

• Ensure that community/neighborhood representatives and retail outlet managers have been informed and consulted prior to the start of the survey (if deemed necessary).

• Provide enumerators with the necessary official letters, badges for identification, etc. as needed for the fieldwork.

• Ensure that all enumerators are well prepared with all necessary equipment for the study. This will include (but is not necessarily limited to):

  • Smartphones for all enumerators. Smartphones should be capable of capturing high-quality photographs and equipped with sufficient storage capacity to support photo-taking activities.

  • Portable batteries (wall and/or USB) to charge smartphones.

  • Pen and small notebooks for field notes for all enumerators.

  • Small sports bags for all enumerators.

• Transport of enumerators to the study areas.

• Organize and implement the study as planned.

• Ensure that all field staff are properly insured.

• Ensure informed consent is obtained as needed.

• Organize the necessary communication and meetings between enumerators and higher-up staff to provide updates, discuss and correct commonly made mistakes, etc.

• Organize for enumerators’ data to be uploaded daily to the data entry platform REDCap.

• Ensure that team leaders inspect the data from their enumerators within 24h after enumerators have entered the data to the data entry platform REDCap.

• Develop and implement a comprehensive data quality assurance and monitoring protocol, including an online dashboard to track fieldwork progress and key data quality indicators in real-time. The protocol should outline core quality control procedures (e.g., monitoring validation, and corrective actions).

• Organize weekly reporting to IFPRI on field activities.

• In case of serious measurement errors highlighted by team leaders or IFPRI, ensure enumerators can/will revisit retail outlets to correct errors.

• Enter survey data into a dedicated data entry platform, REDCap and ensure that the Research Consortium has access to the data throughout the data collection period.

• Check the quality of the data collected by enumerators and validated by team leaders and send a list of comments/checks to do/edits to the field coordinator to organize a return to retail outlet if data is deemed of insufficient quality.

• Deliver datasets with both the original language and English translation of any product characteristic.

• Provide a detailed report covering the survey fieldwork including any issues related to data management and cleaning.

Other activities

The Collaborator will coordinate with the General Statistics Office (GSO) to obtain monthly disaggregated Consumer Price Index (CPI) data to support price analyses.

6.Timeline

The activities will take place between August and December 2026 and will be repeated in 2027 and 2028. This SoW only includes activities for 2026. As funding for 2027 and 2028 has not been secured, the 2027 and 2028 activities are not currently included in the budget or list of deliverables.

The timeline below provides a tentative overview.

The timelines are approximate and will be finalized on signing the contract.

7.Deliverables

1. Detailed project workplan and study preparation package, including the finalized study protocol, field manual, and electronic data collection tools. Due on August 31, 2026

2. Ethical approval and sampling documentation, including the final sampling plan and list of selected retail outlets. Due on September 30, 2026

3. Cleaned beverage dataset, including product information, retail prices, photographs, and documentation (i.e., data dictionary, metadata). Due on December 18, 2026

4. Final report on fieldwork activities, including pilot testing, training of field staff, fieldwork implementation, and data quality assurance procedures. Due on December 18, 2026

8.Selection criteria

Proposals will first be reviewed for administrative completeness and compliance with the submission requirements. Technically responsive proposals will then be evaluated on quality and cost. IFPRI may invite short-listed firms to provide clarifications.

9.Required Qualifications

• Company, non-governmental organization, or organization with proven professional experience in setting up and conducting large-scale complex quantitative surveys with national and international research partners.

• Experience programming and using CAPI.

• Experience in getting legal approval to conduct the survey, in sensitizing and building trusting cordial relationships with communities, leaders and village chiefs, and interviewees.

• Excellent communication skills in Vietnamese and English.

10.Technical proposal

The following items must be included in the technical proposal:

• A presentation of the firm and previous experience (with references) in implementing surveys and studies.

• Detailed CV of people leading the survey firm.

• A detailed technical proposal for a period of 4 months. Clearly present any risks related to this work and propose mitigating strategies.

11.Financial proposal

The financial proposal must be submitted separately from the technical proposal. At minimum, it should include (but is not limited to):

• The Collaborator staff involved.

• The enumerator training, fieldwork, number of enumerators and team leaders/supervisors.

• Salary costs, per diems, transportation cost (car/fuel) and various logistic costs.

• Applicable taxes shown separately and the Collaborator’s tax status and any exemptions claimed.

• The budget should clearly show unitary costs, the number of units/persons and number of days leading to a (sub)total.

• The budget should be specified by study site.

12.Application process and submission requirements

Interested firms should submit their proposals electronically through the IFPRI website by August 28 Requests for clarification should be submitted by August 25 to p.h.nguyen@cgiar.org The proposal must remain valid for 60 days from the submission deadline, and include:

• A technical proposal, including the documents listed in Section 10.

• A separate financial proposal, including the information listed in Section 11.

• Legal registration, tax documentation, authorized signatory details, and any required declarations on eligibility, conflicts of interest, sanctions, or prior misconduct.

• At least three verifiable client references for comparable assignments.