Many studies have been conducted on the impact of supermarket development on the upstream component of the food chain but very few address the effect on the down-stream component: consumption. This study attempts to contribute to fill this deficiency, through (1) a synthesis of very scattered sources from various disciplines on the possible impact of supermarkets' development on food consumption and poor house-holds and (2) a survey on the present food purchasing practices of poor households in Vietnam. These practices have been studied in three places (see Table 36): Hanoi the capital, Ho Chi Minh City the largest city in the country and Moc Chau a secondary town in the northern mountain area (Son La Province). In Hanoi and Moc Chau, this work was carried out under the responsibility of Muriel Figuié - (Cirad) and Nguyen Duc Truyen (IOS-VASS), by enumerators from the Institute of Sociology, and with the support of the local Women's Union. In Ho Chi Minh City, this study was carried out under the responsibility of Phan Thi Giac Tam (Nam Long University). In Ho Chi Minh city and Moc Chau, food purchasing practices have been studied through a "24h recall survey" (reported practices for the last 24 hours). In Hanoi, purchasing practices have been monitored during one week. Survey has been conducted with the person with primary responsibility for food shopping in the household, and a comparison of prices between outlets in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has been made (by H. B. An, RIFAV and P.T.G Tam, Nong Lam University). We present in this synthesis the data regarding supermarkets in order to analyze the present and potential implications of supermarkets in the food purchasing practices of poor households in Vietnam.