Vietnamese fruit exports in 2024 is expected to exceed US$7 billion

Having good products will have good customers

According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable export turnover as of the end of September reached US$5.64 billion, up 34 percent compared to the same period in 2023. In particular, China is the largest market with a turnover of US$3.79 billion, accounting for 67 percent of Vietnam's total fruit and vegetable export turnover in the past 9 months.

As an enterprise with many years of experience exporting fruit, Mr. Nguyen Khac Tien, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ameii Vietnam Joint Stock Company, said that in recent years, the growth rate of the enterprise has always reached a very high level as the following year is almost double the previous year. To achieve this growth, Mr. Tien said, Ameii Company had to accompany farmers and cooperatives to change production processes, ensuring compliance with regulations on pesticide residues and conditions related to harmful microorganisms…

"We send technical staff to accompany farmers to guide technical processes, from planting and care to using plant protection chemicals to ensure safety during the production process. The time from harvest to processing factory must also be guaranteed to maintain the freshness of the product" - Mr. Tien shared.

Mr. Nguyen Khac Tien, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ameii Vietnam Joint Stock Company: Market information is a lighthouse for businesses to see what needs to be done to exploit the market well.

In addition, businesses also invest in processing machinery and technology to meet the needs of consumers while still retaining the unique value and identity of Vietnamese agricultural products. Mr. Tien believes that if you have good products, you will have good customers. If there are good customers but no good products, eventually good customers will leave.

Commenting on the strong growth of agricultural and fruit exports in recent times, Mr. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, Director of the Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development mentioned a number of reasons. First of all, farmers and businesses have gradually standardized farming processes and complied with regulations of export markets. Along with that is the investment of businesses in processing, preservation and packaging technology. In particular, according to Mr. Tuan, the fruit industry has recently received great attention from State leaders. This also received strong response from partners. Typically, the Chinese side has always affirmed its readiness to open the door for Vietnamese agricultural products, and specialized agencies of the two countries have coordinated closely to promote the market opening process.

Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association pointed out that, since the Protocol allowing fresh durian exports to China signed in July 2022, durian exports to China have continued growing rapidly and durian has become the number 1 export product of Vietnam's fruit and vegetable industry, with a value of more than US$2.2 billion in 2023 and has exceeded US$2.5 billion in the first 9 months of this year. Recently, Vietnam continued to sign two more protocols allowing the export of frozen durian and fresh coconut to China. It is expected that in the near future, these two Vietnamese products will also reach the Chinese market after businesses have a growing area code, a packaging facility code, and meet other regulations of the EU, China and signed export orders.

Space for sustainable development

With high and continuous growth in recent years, according to Mr. Nguyen Khac Tien, the space for fruit exports depends largely on the businesses and farmers themselves. Because the world's consumption trend is currently returning to agricultural products with green, clean and safe criteria. This is the space for growth in the coming time.

According to Mr. Tien, the support mechanism of State management agencies has created an open corridor for Vietnamese agricultural products to take off further. But whether it can really go far or not depends on how farmers produce products and how businesses accompany them to keep up with world consumption trends.

“In each export market, Ameii must carefully learn about consumer practices to make adjustments to packaging, labels, and different tastes for each market. After understanding and adjusting, demand in these markets has developed very well" - Mr. Tien shared.

Sharing the same opinion as Mr. Tien, Mr. Tuan believes that understanding the "taste" of each market will help businesses penetrate and develop better. In addition, Mr. Tuan also said that logistics is also a space for the development of Vietnamese agricultural products and fruits. Optimizing the logistics process not only helps reduce costs but also ensures product quality, thereby exploiting more new markets.

Regarding the Chinese market, Mr. Tuan said that for a long time, Vietnamese fruits have not reached cities like Beijing and Shanghai... Accordingly, businesses need to link together to research and share the market. By doing this, Vietnamese fruits will be able to go very far, reduce costs and build a Vietnamese fruit brand in the Chinese market.

From a business perspective, Mr. Tien also wants to receive support from the State on market information issues. Because not all businesses have enough resources to research the market. "Market information is a lighthouse for businesses to see what needs to be done to exploit the market well" - Mr. Tien commented. In addition, information about partners abroad is also an important factor for businesses to boldly move forward with cooperation.

Mr. Nguyen Phuc Nguyen also assessed that the population growth, the awareness and demand for healthy foods are increasing globally, which are the main reasons that are helping Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports have positive growth. It is forecast that this year, fruit and vegetable exports will exceed US$7 billion for the first time and can completely reach US$10 billion in the future.