Vietnamese grapefruit officially on supermarket shelves in Korea

Vietnamese grapefruit officially hits the shelves at Lotte Mart in Korea from today. Photo: T. Linh

South Korea is currently the fifth largest fruit export market of Vietnam, after China, the US, the EU and Japan. With an annual fruit output of more than 12 million tons (according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment ), of which grapefruit output is about 1.2 million tons, fruit has great potential to expand exports to South Korea.

Korean consumers increasingly favor nutritious tropical fruits, creating opportunities for Vietnamese grapefruit to compete with products from the US (oranges, apples) and Thailand (durian, rambutan).

The average price of grapefruit exported to Korea is 2.4 USD/kg, 30% higher than the price in China (1.8 USD/kg), showing the significant added value that the Korean market brings.

In September 2024, Hoang Huy Company successfully exported the first batch of grapefruit with an output of 5 tons, opening the strategy of developing this product to become a staple in the Korean market. In 2025, Hoang Huy aims to export 500 tons of grapefruit, with an estimated total value of up to 1.2 million USD (equivalent to about 30 billion VND).

Lotte Mart representative highly appreciated the potential of Vietnamese grapefruit thanks to its sweet taste, high vitamin C content and suitability to Korean consumers' taste.

After the first batch was distributed at Lotte Mart Jamsil branch, the group plans to expand distribution to other branches if it receives positive feedback from the market.

The Trade Office and the Vietnamese Embassy in Korea pledged to continue supporting businesses in accessing market information, connecting with partners, completing export procedures and diversifying products, opening a new and promising chapter for the Vietnamese agricultural sector.

By the end of 2024, South Korea will remain Vietnam's third largest trading partner after China and the United States. Bilateral trade turnover in 2024 will reach about 82 billion USD, up 7.4% over the same period in 2023.

Vietnam's key export products to the Korean market still grew well despite the negative impacts of the world economy , including coffee reaching 141 million USD, up 22%; seafood reaching 810 million USD, up 2%; fresh vegetables and fruits reaching 319 million USD, up 40%.

South Korea's fresh fruit imports soared to a record $1.45 billion in 2024, marking a 20.1 percent increase from the previous year, amid a slowdown in domestic production, according to data from the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI).

Experts estimate that total fruit imports, including fresh, dried and frozen varieties, will increase by 6.8% to 817,000 tonnes in 2025, reaching 865,000 tonnes in 2034, with an average growth rate of 0.6% per year.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/trai-buoi-viet-nam-chinh-thuc-len-ke-sieu-thi-tai-han-quoc-698515.html