Mr. Duc's durian garden planted on the Bolaven plateau, Paksong district, Champasak province, Laos is preparing to harvest the first fruit. Photo: HAGL
At present, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Company (HAGL) owns 1,500 hectares of durian grown in Laos that are 4-5 years old. These areas are mainly grown at the farm of Bolaven High-Tech Agriculture Company Limited, Paksong District, Champasak Province, Laos (this company was previously acquired by Bau Duc).
Along with the durian area in Laos, Mr. Duc also has about 200 hectares in Gia Lai province. In August last year, Mr. Duc began to reap the sweet fruits when 30 hectares of durian in Gia Lai were harvested.
At that time, the price of durian sold in bulk to traders had reached 77,000 VND/kg. And although the harvest was sporadic, Mr. Duc had a revenue of 18 billion VND, while the cost was only about 3.6 billion VND.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Doan Nguyen Duc led the delegation to visit durian planting investment projects in Paksong district, Champasak province, Laos in 2023. Photo: HAG
In October and November this year, HAGL expects to harvest about 700 hectares of durian in Laos. It is worth noting that these durian gardens are harvested in the off-season, later than durian in Vietnam, so it can be said that Mr. Duc is almost “all alone in the market”; the selling price will also be higher than in the main season.
Currently, the Central Highlands provinces are in the early stages of the durian harvest, so output is limited and prices remain high. On July 22, durian export purchasing warehouses announced the price of Monthoong durian (also known as Dona durian, Thai) at 100,000 - 105,000 VND/kg (grade A) and Ri 6 durian at 59,000 - 62,000 VND/kg (grade A).
Meanwhile, the durian varieties that Bau Duc has put into cultivation are all high-quality varieties with yellow flesh and small seeds, and the most delicious today, such as Monthoong and Musang King.
With a vast durian garden that no one else in Southeast Asia has, HAGL expects that in 2024, its profit will reach about 2,000 billion VND, of which durian will make a large contribution.
It is expected that by 2026, HAGL will have 2,000 hectares of durian, of which 1,000 hectares are for harvest; 10,000 hectares of bananas, and 1 million pigs. Of which, bananas and durian will serve the export market, mainly China; while pigs will be consumed domestically.
When mature, durian produces 80-100 fruits, the weight of the fruit is controlled from 2-5 kg, the average yield reaches 25-30 tons/ha, then durian gardens will have very high economic value. "It can be said that the greatest value in the future of HAGL is durian", Mr. Duc once affirmed.
HAGL durian grown in Gia Lai. Photo: Ngoc Anh
Previously, when talking to shareholders, Mr. Duc said that the market was pricing durian "a bit too much" compared to its real value.
“I dare to tell everyone, the price of home-grown durian is currently only 20,000 VND/kg at most. Meanwhile, HAGL durian costs only 13,000 - 15,000 VND/kg. Everyone can openly research durian growing areas in the West, East, and Central Highlands to see if the price is correct. That means that no matter what price we sell our durian for, we will still make a profit. 30,000 VND/kg or 50,000 VND/kg is already too good,” Mr. Duc affirmed.
HAGL said that the company is strongly applying the circular agriculture model, increasingly contributing more value to Vietnam's agricultural sector. With projects present in the Central Highlands, southern Laos and northeastern Cambodia, HAGL creates jobs for thousands of workers. By 2030, HAGL will become a leading agricultural company in Vietnam with a production scale of about 30,000 hectares. Mr. Duc's company aims to become an agricultural product supplier to many countries in the Asian market.
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