Innovating the mindset regarding fruit production and consumption.

In 2023, Vietnam's fruit exports are expected to reach a record high of over $5 billion. This is one of the commodities that has seen a significant breakthrough in exports since the beginning of the year. However, production, planning, and consumption of fruit in many localities are still limited, preventing the industry from fully exploiting its potential and strengths. A shift in mindset regarding fruit production and consumption needs to be implemented soon to gradually realize the dream of reaching $10 billion in export revenue in the future.

Lesson 1: The Market Drives Production

Producing according to market demand is a requirement for most Vietnamese agricultural products to ensure stable and sustainable consumption, especially for highly seasonal products like fruits. In reality, when trade promotion and market opening are prioritized, production efficiency is greatly increased.

The story of lychee consumption in recent years has become a source of inspiration for fruit consumption. While it's true that lychee production isn't huge and the season is short, it's undeniable that the methods used in key lychee-growing regions in the north have yielded significant and impressive results.

Lychee fruit reigns supreme.

According to a report by the People's Committee of Bac Giang province, in 2023, the revenue from lychee and related services throughout the province was estimated at over 6,876 billion VND, an increase of 91 billion VND compared to 2022. Lychees were sold successfully in both domestic and export markets, with exports accounting for approximately 111,200 tons, or about 55.1% of total consumption; domestic consumption was approximately 90,500 tons, or about 44.9%.

According to Nguyen The Thi, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Luc Ngan District (from August 1, 2023, he is also the Vice Chairman of the Bac Giang Provincial Farmers' Association): In the 2023 lychee season, Luc Ngan successfully sold 128,120 tons of fruit, with a total production value of 3,324 billion VND. Of this, domestic consumption reached 50,870 tons, accounting for 39.71%. In addition to consumption in major cities and wholesale markets (approximately 32,820 tons), lychees were also actively sold in supermarkets such as Metro, Mega Market, Saigon Co.opmart, shopping malls, convenience stores, traditional markets, and e-commerce platforms, with a production volume of approximately 3,800 tons.

In addition, 14,250 tons of lychees processed through drying and juicing were also sold successfully. Lychee prices fluctuated daily and even hourly during harvest. Early lychee varieties such as U Trung, U Hong, and Lai Thanh Ha ranged from 14,000-35,000 VND/kg, sometimes reaching 45,000 VND/kg. Fresh lychees ranged from 13,000-35,000 VND/kg. Dried lychees ranged from 35,000-55,000 VND/kg, with lychees dried using electric drying ovens fetching 80,000-120,000 VND/kg.

The total export volume of lychees in Luc Ngan district reached 77,250 tons, accounting for 60.29% of the total consumption; of which, 76,495 tons were exported to China, accounting for 99%. Exports to other markets totaled 755 tons, specifically: Cambodia and Thailand (384 tons); Japan (227 tons); Australia (46 tons); the European Union (EU) (20 tons); Dubai (15 tons); the United States (26 tons); the United Kingdom (2 tons); and Taiwan (China) (35 tons).

Regarding supporting services for lychee consumption and processing, the district has 5 enterprises producing styrofoam boxes and 42 factories producing industrial ice. Accordingly, the estimated sales value of styrofoam boxes is 226 billion VND; ice blocks are estimated at approximately 66 billion VND; and plastic containers are estimated at 31 billion VND.

“In 2023, the planning and issuance of sales promotion plans, strategies, and scenarios were organized early, thoroughly, and systematically, creating a proactive approach right from the start of the season. This was followed by proactive preparation of materials and logistics to support production, harvesting, and sales; and the regular updating of market policy information, technical barriers, and export difficulties to businesses, cooperatives, farmers, and traders… These were crucial factors for achieving high export efficiency,” Mr. Nguyen The Thi emphasized.

Regarding consumer promotion programs, Mr. Nguy Dinh Nghia, Director of the Bac Giang Provincial Center for Industrial Promotion and Trade Promotion, said: The "Luc Ngan Lychee Season" tourism program, taking place from May 15th to July 20th, includes a series of activities and diverse experiential tours related to lychee tourism, cultural experiences, and exploring the natural beauty of Luc Ngan.

The highlight of the program was the organization of a game show celebrating the lychee harvest season; hiring a media company to broadcast live on social media platforms such as Facebook, Fanpage, and YouTube, which attracted millions of viewers, creating a very positive media effect and yielding high effectiveness in promoting tourism and product consumption.

Notably, the Giap Son Agricultural Production and Ecotourism Cooperative collaborated with Phuc Lam Agricultural Products Company to organize a fashion show in the lychee orchard, leaving a strong impression and contributing to brand building and boosting lychee sales.

Many tourism cooperatives have also been creative, organizing various activities to attract visitors to Luc Ngan, such as organizing competitions, experiential activities, nighttime lychee picking in orchards; processing culinary dishes from lychees: lychee sticky rice, lychee bread, lychee tea, lychee ice cream; proactively connecting with and welcoming celebrities, bloggers, TikTokers, and digital content creators, creating clips to promote tourism and lychees on social media to attract the attention of tourists. During the lychee harvest season, Luc Ngan is estimated to have about 230,000 visitors; including about 225,000 domestic tourists and 5,000 foreign tourists.

Many fruits are still "losing value".

While lychees are "on the rise," according to information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, fruit prices in some southern provinces are currently trending downwards quite sharply due to abundant supply during the harvest season, such as: dragon fruit, rambutan, jackfruit, seedless lemons, etc. Specifically, white-fleshed dragon fruit is 16,600 VND/kg; rambutan is 13,800 VND/kg; Thai jackfruit is 11,800 VND/kg; and seedless lemons are 10,800 VND/kg.

As a key fruit-growing province in the Mekong Delta, Dong Thap currently has 41,907.3 hectares of fruit trees, accounting for 96.49% of the total area of ​​perennial crops in the province. Specifically, the area of ​​mango trees is 14,457.4 hectares, with a production of 146,061.5 tons. The area of ​​orange trees is 1,994.9 hectares, with a production of 34,327.9 tons. The area of ​​tangerine trees is 1,936.6 hectares, with a production of 50,697 tons. The area of ​​longan trees is 4,452.1 hectares, with a production of 57,512.8 tons.

Mr. Tran Thanh Tam, Head of the Crop Production and Plant Protection Department of Dong Thap province, said: Besides some main fruit trees such as mangoes, longan, and citrus fruits that are produced according to the plan, many types of trees that farmers still grow on a large area, such as jackfruit and durian, are not according to the plan. This causes difficulties for state management and is the reason for price drops, and even the inability to sell them during peak harvest season.

According to Vo Phuong Thuy, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Dong Thap province: The Mekong Delta is a fertile fruit-growing region with a large volume of produce, but many types of fruit still face difficulties in consumption and low prices... This is due to fragmented and small-scale production, mostly seasonal, resulting in very large quantities being brought to market in a short period, leading to oversupply.

In the past, the province has implemented staggered planting, but most crops still fall within the peak season. Furthermore, product consumption still relies heavily on the trading system; direct connections with businesses for domestic consumption or export through contracts account for only about 10%. Exports, even those primarily through informal channels, are mainly to the Chinese market.

In Tien Giang province, although fruit is a key agricultural product, this strength has not been effectively utilized and exploited due to small-scale production areas, low fruit quality, and inconsistent fruit quality. The mindset and production skills of some farming households have not kept pace with new, high-tech production applications.

The market for some types of fruit is primarily China, thus posing a potential risk of price fluctuations. Furthermore, the infrastructure for preservation, processing, warehousing, and storage is underdeveloped; small-scale agricultural processing technology and outdated equipment also reduce the province's fruit consumption capacity. In addition, the linkages between production, processing, and consumption among economic sectors are weak, and there is a lack of appropriate mechanisms and policies to mobilize traders, foreign investors, and joint ventures with farmers to invest in the value chain.

Emphasizing the recurring problem of "bumper harvest, low prices; high prices, poor harvest," the Director of the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade, Luu Van Phi, stated that this situation is linked to the farming practices and production models of the people, the capacity of businesses, the supply chain, and the logistics system. Furthermore, the low operational efficiency of cooperatives and production groups leads to difficulties in negotiating product prices, making it easy for farmers to be pressured into accepting lower prices during the sales process.

According to the General Statistics Office, the total area of ​​fruit trees nationwide currently stands at approximately 1.17 million hectares. During the period 2010-2021, the average annual growth rate was 3.1%. Of this, the South has over 720,000 hectares of fruit trees, accounting for 62% of the national total. The North has approximately 445,000 hectares, accounting for 38% of the national total. The area of ​​newly planted fruit trees has been continuously increasing annually, especially for crops with good export potential in recent years such as dragon fruit, durian, jackfruit, banana, mango, and pomelo. In the South alone, the average annual area of ​​newly planted major fruit trees during the period 2017-2021 was 62,400 hectares.

Source: https://baosonla.org.vn/kinh-te/doi-moi-tu-duy-san-xuat-va-tieu-thu-trai-cay-KS74N63VR.html