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Recently, Tra Vinh Farm Company Limited (Sokfarm) in Tieu Can District, Tra Vinh Province, in coordination with related units, has successfully exported an order of nearly 20,000 bottles of fresh coconut nectar drink (250ml/bottle) named 'Tra Vinh Specialty' to the US market. This is the first order of Tra Vinh Farm Company Limited to officially export to this market.

Mặt hàng trái cây nào chuẩn bị gia nhập ‘câu lạc bộ’ xuất khẩu tỷ USD

Export turnover from 2024 is expected to reach 1 billion USD/year.

Up to now, the company's 6 main products have been present in over 30 provinces and cities in the country; at the same time, they are officially exported to the markets of Japan, the Netherlands, Germany and the United States. The company currently has a 20ha raw coconut area that meets international standards such as the United States, EU, Japan, and Canada...

'After the success of the first order, the Company will export an average of 20 - 40 thousand bottles of fresh coconut nectar drink to the US market each month,' said Mr. Pham Dinh Ngai - Executive Director of Tra Vinh Farm Company Limited.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh - President of the Vietnam Coconut Association said that in the past 10 months, the Vietnamese coconut industry has developed and prepared for new markets. Enterprises have prepared fresh coconuts for export to the United States, in addition, all processed coconut products have many large markets. Although affected by conflicts in the world, coconut products continue to develop in the United States and some other countries.

Vietnamese coconuts have been exported since 1990 - 1992, but the products are mainly processed into food ingredients, coconut farmers are left to their own devices because the products do not have a brand and do not have specific production standards.

If in previous years, coconut and coconut product exports only reached over 100,000 USD/year, by 2022, it had reached 940 million USD in coconut and coconut product exports.

In the first months of 2023, the difficult economic situation caused the coconut industry to decline severely. However, in the second and third quarters of 2023, the coconut industry received a lot of good news when coconuts were officially exported to the US market and some European countries, along with China actively considering importing Vietnamese coconuts into this market.

Currently, the country has 90 coconut and coconut-related enterprises, of which 42 enterprises produce coconut products nationwide. In particular, the coconut business community has boldly invested in technology, organic material growing areas, and many coconut farms of hundreds of hectares have been established in Tay Ninh, Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan, Binh Dinh... to stay ahead of the trend, contributing to outstanding export turnover in the coming time.

Considered the coconut capital of the country, the total coconut area of Ben Tre province is currently estimated at 78,310 hectares, an increase of 1.35% over the same period last year. Mr. Huynh Quang Duc - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the province said that up to now, the whole province has built a pilot of 6 concentrated coconut production areas. Of which 5 areas produce according to organic standards and 1 area produces coconut water.

Since the beginning of 2023, the province has developed an additional 554 hectares of organic coconut, bringing the total area of coconut produced according to organic standards to 17,846 hectares (accounting for 22.9% of the total coconut area of the province), of which the certified area is 11,418 hectares. In particular, the area certified organic according to US, Japanese, EU, Chinese, Korean standards... is constantly maintained and developed every year.

However, according to businesses in the industry, coconut exports still have certain difficulties that need to be resolved, especially in logistics. For example, compared to Thailand, Vietnam's coconut prices are currently quite good, but in terms of logistics, Thailand has many advantages and the government of this country also has a policy to support transportation costs. In addition, the domestic coconut export industry currently lacks connectivity. For example, the same type of exported coconut, with quality equal to that of Thailand, but in our country, four factories will have four different prices. Meanwhile, in Thailand, they will have the same price.

Obviously, in the process of building a brand and making the Vietnamese coconut industry more present in the world market, creating momentum for the development of many other coconut-based industries, Vietnam still has a lot of work to do.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh, the biggest goal of the Vietnam Coconut Association is to turn the coconut industry into a key production and export industry; maximize efficiency and increase the economic value of coconut products. Export turnover from 2024 is expected to reach 1 billion USD/year.

The Association will continue the plan to build a standard coconut material area, towards forming a coconut map across the country as data for investors and businesses to refer to, supporting the development of the coconut industry. In particular, aiming to build an organic material area for the coconut industry.

At the same time, we will accompany coconut farmers in cultivation, harvesting and processing to help stabilize coconut prices. Support coconut businesses to improve competitiveness, develop markets and affirm product brands in domestic and foreign markets.

From a local perspective, Mr. Le Van Dong - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tra Vinh province said that among the 19 products in the food group that achieved 5-star OCOP status recognized in 2023, Tra Vinh province has 3 products and these products are all exploited from coconut, including: Fresh coconut nectar, coconut flower sugar and coconut wax fibers.

In the period of 2022 - 2025, Tra Vinh province mobilizes many resources to implement the strategy of upgrading the coconut value chain, in which priority is given to attracting investment, promoting linkages, supporting and encouraging enterprises with strengths in deep processing technology, creating products with high added value and stable consumption markets.

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