Fruit and vegetable exports on track to set record

In the first 8 months of 2023, fruit and vegetable exports reached a turnover of 3.45 billion USD, an increase of 57.5% over the same period in 2022, surpassing the figure of 3.36 billion USD for the whole year of 2022. With many existing advantages, the fruit and vegetable industry is gradually approaching the record target of 5 billion USD in export turnover this year.

Packing durian for export at Chanh Thu Fruit Import Export Company Limited. (Photo: MINH HA)

Fruits and vegetables are also the commodity group that recorded the highest export growth of the entire agricultural sector in the first 8 months of 2023. China continues to hold the No. 1 position in the export market for these products from Vietnam.

Diversified export markets

According to Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, in recent times, Vietnamese fruit and vegetable products have been exported mainly to markets such as China, the US, South Korea, Japan, etc. According to preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs, in the first 8 months of 2023, China took the lead with an export turnover of about 2.26 billion USD, accounting for 63.6% of the total export turnover of the country's fruit and vegetable industry, an increase of 133.6% over the same period in 2022 and an increase of 47.7% compared to the total turnover for the whole year of 2022 (1.53 billion USD).

According to preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs, in the first 8 months of 2023, China took the lead with an export turnover of about 2.26 billion USD, accounting for 63.6% of the total export turnover of the whole fruit and vegetable industry in the country, an increase of 133.6% over the same period in 2022 and an increase of 47.7% compared to the total turnover for the whole year of 2022 (1.53 billion USD).

The reason is that since the beginning of 2023, China has reopened its borders after a long period of trade restrictions to prevent and fight the Covid-19 epidemic. In addition, there has been a strong growth in durian exports after being licensed for official export to this market. In the first 8 months of this year, Vietnam's durian exports reached about 1.3 billion USD, of which 90% were exported to China. It is expected that durian exports to China for the whole year could reach a record 1.5 billion USD. In addition, other fruits are also being purchased by China such as bananas, jackfruit, dragon fruit, watermelon, etc.

Along with China, the US, South Korea and Japan markets have also increased their imports of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables. Of these, dragon fruit, mango, jackfruit and banana are the four fruits with the largest export volume, accounting for about 85% of Vietnam's current fresh fruit export volume.

According to the Plant Protection Department ( Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ), the fruit and vegetable products that have opened their markets in Vietnam are: dragon fruit, longan, lychee, mango, rambutan, grapefruit, lemon, star apple, banana. The products that are negotiating to open their markets are passion fruit to the US and Australia; grapefruit to Japan, Korea, Australia, India; durian to India; citrus fruits, coconuts, and frozen durian to China.

Other products with the potential to open up the market in the future are avocados and seedless lemons. Most recently, in early August 2023, the US Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) officially announced the approval to import young coconuts from Vietnam. APHIS affirmed that Vietnamese producers can start exporting coconuts to the US. Vietnam is among the top 10 largest coconut growing countries in the world , currently with about 200,000 hectares of coconuts, with an output of about 2 million tons, mainly concentrated in the central coastal provinces and the Mekong Delta.

Along with negotiations on official export of coconut products to China, in the coming time, Vietnamese coconuts are expected to quickly become a billion-dollar commodity, contributing to increasing the export turnover of the entire fruit and vegetable industry.

Improve quality and processing capacity

With the current momentum of fruit and vegetable exports, the target of 5 billion USD in turnover for the whole year of 2023 is not too far-fetched. However, in the current rapid growth of many products, especially fruits, the requirement to maintain and continuously improve quality and ensure food hygiene and safety is the most important factor, determining the reputation and value of the entire industry.

For a specific example of durian, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan - Director of the Center for Digital Transformation and Agricultural Statistics said: Durian has been growing rapidly in recent times due to its great economic value.

However, this industry is also facing some shortcomings such as: competition in purchasing and collecting goods; processing infrastructure; quality management; linkages between gardeners, traders, and export enterprises; human resources... Therefore, Vietnam must build a policy framework and appropriate production and export standards; closely plan the development of durian growing areas nationwide. In addition to fresh products, the industry needs to develop more processed products, paying more attention to markets other than China such as the US, EU...

Sharing the same view, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Golden Field Company Nong Ngoc Trung commented: Vietnam is still weak in durian processing compared to Thailand. In the coming time, this sector needs to focus more on promoting exports. Accordingly, businesses need to have the mindset of joining hands to bring products to the world market instead of confronting and competing on price.

To partially solve the problem of product quality, Deputy Director of Plant Protection Department Nguyen Thi Thu Huong said: In the coming time, the Department will focus on solutions to make information and database transparent; complete technical instructions; complete industry documents to have standards on varieties, fertilizers, production techniques... for farmers to conveniently use.

In the coming time, the Department will focus on solutions to make information and databases transparent; complete technical instructions; complete industry documents to have standards on varieties, fertilizers, production techniques... for farmers to conveniently use.

Deputy Director of Plant Protection Department Nguyen Thi Thu Huong

The agricultural sector needs to promote digital transformation, invest in building databases, widely use software for managing growing areas and packaging facilities; coordinate with localities to strengthen inspection and supervision of the work of granting and managing codes for growing areas and packaging facilities.

In fact, the demand for imported fruits and vegetables in the world markets is still very large, so Vietnam's assurance of product quality will be an opportunity to exploit this potential. Specifically, in the period of 2018-2022, the US's demand for imported fruits and vegetables is about 46 billion USD/year on average, but the import value from Vietnam accounts for less than 0.6%. The Korean market has an average import demand for fruits and vegetables of 3.9 billion USD/year, but the import value from Vietnam only accounts for 4.3%. The Japanese market has an average import demand for fruits and vegetables of 10 billion USD/year, but imports from Vietnam only account for 0.6%...

In the US market alone, the demand for imported mangoes is very large, but currently the US imports only 0.19% of the total fresh mango import volume from Vietnam. The reason is that the remote geographical location and the difficult preservation process have prevented mangoes from fully exploiting their value in this potential market.

Meanwhile, with processed products such as mango juice, the US imports from Vietnam increased significantly from 2.73% in the first 5 months of 2022 to 5.84% in the first 5 months of 2023. Therefore, promoting deep processing is the direction that businesses should invest in to increase export turnover in the coming time.

( According to nhandan.vn )

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