Fruit industry "giant" introduces Vietnamese durian at Asia's largest fair

Although China is a large market and Vietnam has exported a large amount of fresh durian to its neighbor, it has only reached nearby places. Therefore, "giants" in the fruit industry, including Vina T&T Group, have proactively attended fairs to seek large customers in this billion-people market.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung - Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Vina T&T Group, a "giant" in the fruit export industry in Vietnam, said that he and his staff had just had a trip to introduce durian and other key fruits of Vietnam at Asia Fruit Logistica - the leading international trade exhibition on fresh fruit and vegetable products in the Asia-Pacific region, which took place in Hong Kong recently.

At the fair, Mr. Tung and his staff had the opportunity to meet potential partners and customers from across the global supply chain; participating in discussions around expanding market opportunities for Vietnamese fruits. Mr. Tung said that China is a large market with great potential to expand durian products as well as other Vietnamese fruits. In 2023, the company exported 400 containers of fresh durian to China.

Vina T&T Group brought many types of Vietnamese fruits, the group's main products, to introduce to 800 international fruit importers and exporters at Asia Fruit Logistica (the leading international trade exhibition on fresh fruit products in the Asia-Pacific region) recently held in Hong Kong. Photo: Vina T&T

As the owner of a leading business in exporting durian, coconut, grapefruit, and dragon fruit in Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung said that the business currently has 10 packaging facilities distributed in major raw material areas in the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands.

In addition, Vina T&T also has 2 agricultural processing factories with modern production lines and technology in Ben Tre province. Each factory has a modern cold storage, with an investment of 50-60 billion VND. The processing and packaging process at the factories meets international standards ISO 9001:2015, HACCP, so Vina T&T is confident in meeting the requirements of the most demanding customers.

Currently, the company's orders from the beginning of the year have been maintained regularly at 2 days/container. Mr. Tung expects that the revenue of durian products for the whole year will increase by 20 - 30%.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung (sitting in the middle) often brings Vietnam's main fruits to participate in international fairs and exhibitions to seek export opportunities. Photo: Vina T&T

Talking to Dan Viet reporter, the owner of Vina T&T Group said that durian has many opportunities to penetrate deeper into the domestic market of China as well as other major markets. Previously, Vina T&T exported frozen durian to many places, mainly remote areas where fresh durian could not reach. Therefore, as soon as the Protocol on exporting frozen durian to China was signed, Vina T&T was ready to bring goods to this billion-people market.

"In addition to exporting fresh fruit, Vina T&T is producing many types of frozen products, such as whole durian, whole durian segments with seeds, whole segments without seeds; frozen in ice cream form, broken into pieces for processing. In general, depending on the needs of Chinese customers, as long as there are specific standards and quotes, Vietnamese businesses are ready" - Mr. Tung said.

Assessing the advantages of frozen durian, Mr. Tung said that frozen goods can be preserved for a long time and can easily penetrate into mainland China, while fresh durian can only be sold in convenient places, cannot travel far, and if the price suddenly drops, businesses will be very passive. The most important thing is that frozen durian entering the billion-people market will relieve supply pressure during the peak harvest season.

Although China is a large market and Vietnam has exported a large amount of fresh durian to its neighbor, it still only reaches a small customer base. Remote northern regions, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region..., Vietnamese businesses are almost unable to reach due to product preservation problems. In fact, Vietnamese durian is now available all year round, and frozen Vietnamese products have been exported to many distant countries such as the US and European countries.

"The issue of concern now is what the market needs, not whether we can export immediately after signing the Protocol," said Mr. Tung.

Customers learn about durian, grapefruit, and fresh coconut products at Vina T&T's booth at the Asia Fruit Logistica 2024 Fair, held in Hong Kong recently.

However, Mr. Tung believes that with a large partner system in China, notably the Sunwah Group, this year T&T will achieve a turnover of about 25 million USD from exporting frozen durian. Along with the official export of fresh coconut to China, Vina T&T is expected to earn an additional 10-17 million USD.

Currently, Mr. Tung's company is focusing on purchasing durian in the Central Highlands. When the durian season in the Central Highlands ends, the company moves to the West. Last year, on average, Vina T&T exported 1 container of 18-ton durian to China every day. The company's total fresh durian export output in 2023 reached 400 containers.

"To have enough raw materials for production and processing, Vina T&T has cooperated with thousands of farmers from Son La to the Central Highlands, Southeast and Mekong Delta provinces. We have worked hard to build a large raw material area, providing seasonal products, helping the factory always operate at full capacity" - Vina T&T's CEO revealed.

Since 2008, Vina T&T has been famous as the first enterprise to successfully export dragon fruit to the US. After trial shipments, Vina T&T has continuously grown, becoming the fruit exporter with the largest market share in the US (accounting for nearly 50% of the output of about 15 Vietnamese enterprises exporting fresh fruit to this market).

Vina T&T is also known as the enterprise with the leading orders for exporting fresh fruits from Vietnam to major markets such as China, EU, Japan, Korea, Australia,...

Regarding durian, to ensure sufficient durian for export, Vina T&T has signed cooperation agreements to purchase durian from growing areas including: Hoa Phat durian production cooperative (Dak Lak); Gia Trung farm (Dak Nong); Truong Phat agricultural cooperative (Can Tho); Long An Minh Hung fruit tree - service cooperative (Binh Phuoc)...

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/dai-gia-nganh-trai-cay-dem-sau-rieng-viet-nam-gioi-thieu-tai-hoi-cho-lon-nhat-chau-a-229082.html