Prepare a steady mind to face increasingly high market demands

Many types of fruit enter the harvest crop

The Department of Quality, Processing, and Market Development said that in August, some key fruit types will enter their peak harvest period. Typically, durian is expected to increase sharply in Dak Lak by 31,000 tons and in Lam Dong by 15,000 tons. Besides, mango in Son La is estimated at about 28,000 tons, Khanh Hoa at 9,000 tons, and Binh Thuan at 5,000 tons.

Longan in the Mekong Delta is also in the main crop. Specifically, Vinh Long reaches 8,000 tons; Dong Thap reaches 8,000 tons; and Tien Giang, Can Tho, and Soc Trang all reach 4,500 tons. Along with that, Son La plans to harvest 10,000 tons.

Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports are forecast to continue to be favorable in the coming time due to abundant domestic supply and increasing demand from traditional and potential markets.

The boom in fruit exports is clearly reflected in durian products. According to statistics from the Department of Quality, Processing, and Market Development, at durian purchasing warehouses in Dak Lak, Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc, and Tien Giang, purchasing prices have continuously increased since the beginning of July due to increased purchasing by China.

In the first 6 months of the year, durian export value reached over USD 1.3 billion, up 40% over the same period. If this pace is maintained, this main fruit of the Central Highlands and Southeast can reach the mark of USD 3 billion, contributing to helping the fruit set an export record of USD 7 billion in 2024. Particularly, if Vietnam can sign a protocol to export frozen durian to China within the year, the export value of the entire industry is forecast to increase by USD 500 million.

Clearly identify strong products

Fruit exports have actually increased since last year. The main highlight is the appearance of durian and some products with rich potential, such as mango, grapefruit, and passion fruit. Among these, mango (specifically Cat Chu mango) has been welcomed and favored by many demanding markets. Grapefruit has a lot of room for export to the US and EU, while passion fruit is growing rapidly, concentrated in the Central Highlands region, aiming to seize the opportunity as soon as there is a protocol.

After about 2 years of surveying raw material areas, based on the help of the Global Quality and Standards Programme (GQSP), Ms. Dinh Thi Tam, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Post Harvest Technology (VIAEP), evaluated that fresh mango products are currently growing steadily in South Korea, Japan, the US, and Australia. In particular, the opportunity to expand the market in South Korea and Australia is huge, based on the needs of the large overseas Vietnamese community here.

Vietnam’s mango export value now reaches approximately USD 400 million/year. With the current value of the global mango processing market of nearly USD 20 billion, Vietnam can completely increase the industry value if it can diversify product lines such as frozen, pureed, canned, and concentrated.

Along with orange and lemon, grapefruit contributes to the formation of many large citrus capitals nationwide. However, quality is a vital factor for exported grapefruit because, among traditional markets, China is the only one that has increased the import of Vietnamese grapefruit in recent times. Not to mention, Vietnam’s grapefruit also faces fierce competition from Thailand.

Passion fruit is a relatively new product, considered a key crop for economic development by some provinces, such as Gia Lai. However, according to Ms. Tam, controlling the quality of varieties as well as adapting to each ecological sub-region of passion fruit and other fruit trees is still a challenge.

Based on clearly identifying the current situation, the leaders of VIAEP proposed developing fruit trees in “new lands,”  such as the Central Highlands. With fertile land and a large area suitable for many types of crops, the Central Highlands has gradually become a large fruit tree granary in the country.

Green growth trend

Pleased with the encouraging results of the fruit, Mr. Le Thanh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing, and Market Development, said that the more deeply involved they are in international integration, the more export businesses must promote their role.

“Vietnam has participated in 19 FTAs, enjoying many tariff incentives. But on the contrary, we also need to prepare a steady mind to face increasingly high market demands, especially technical barriers,” Mr. Hoa said and recommended that businesses continuously update and innovate new technical infrastructure and address issues related to the process and operation of pre-processing and processing facilities.

According to the general trend, the world is moving towards green and sustainable development. In addition to requirements for quality, design, and food hygiene and food safety, export businesses must also pay more attention to the environment, society, or labor.

These contents are only clear in a few demanding markets but are merging in markets that Vietnam once considered easy-going and become new technical barriers. If businesses do not keep up with the trend, they can face risks in terms of costs, reputation, brand, and even impacts on the entire industry value chain.

This issue has been paid attention to and implemented on dragon fruit products through the “carbon footprint” tracking system in Binh Thuan province. Through the QR code attached to each dragon fruit, consumers will know the amount of carbon emissions during the production process and the quality of each product.

There, the product carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions (in CO2) determined over the entire life cycle of the product. This index will let consumers know whether the product they buy is truly “green” or not. The lower the greenhouse gas emissions, the more environmentally friendly the product is, and the easier it is to penetrate markets such as the EU, US, and Japan.

Although agreeing with the statement that “greening” production will take time for businesses to adapt, Mr. Le Thanh Hoa also assumes that this is an irreversible trend. Right now, in the joy of fruit exports possibly reaching USD 7 billion in 2024, the industry has had to raise the issue of perfecting the production system according to future market signals.