VN fruits need to gain domestic market before exporting: experts

Việt Nam’s fruit sector should focus on gaining trust from domestic consumers before focusing on exports.— Photo zing

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s fruit sector should focus on gaining trust from domestic consumers before focusing on exports, said deputy general director of the Plant Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Nguyễn Như Cường.

He said high quality fruit products that are well consumed domestically will lay a credible foundation for the exports in the future.

The domestic market is the most effective place for the country’s tropical fresh fruit industry to seek consumers. As the country’s economy is developing and people’s incomes increase, domestic consumers are also more conscientious than before, requiring food, including fruit, to meet strict standards of food safety and hygiene.

If the fruit sector wants to conquer domestic customers, it needs to adjust and produce high quality products capable of meeting export standards to serve the domestic market.

Nguyễn Đình Tùng, general director of Vina T&T Import Export Service Trading Co Ltd (Vina T&T Group), said that many foreign customers visited Việt Nam but had few chances to enjoy delicious fruits in the domestic market.

“This is a big problem for the entire Vietnamese fruit sector. There is no reason for domestic consumers to have no chance to enjoy the delicious and high quality fruits produced by the country’s farmers,” said Tùng.

Tùng said his group had planned to set up a system of tropical fruit shops that meet export standards for the domestic consumers. In this way, the consumers will be treated more equitably than before.

“Domestic consumers are willing to spend more to have safe products, and want to be treated the same as international customers,” said Tùng.

Việt Nam now has more than 70 different kinds of fruit consumed in the domestic market such as grapefruit, watermelon, durian, coconut, lime, lychee and plum. More than half of these types are currently exported to fastidious markets such as the US, Australia, Europe, South Korea and Japan, in addition to the Middle East and India.

As free trade agreements between Việt Nam and other countries have come into effect, it’s time for Vietnamese fruits to compete with imported fruits from many countries around the world. According to statistics from the Việt Nam Customs, Vietnamese consumers spend more than US$1.2 billion consuming imported fruits.

Nguyễn Lâm Viên, chairman and general director of Vinamit Joint Stock Company, said that his company provided the domestic market with processed fruit products that have quality equivalent to exports.

“Our products are processed in accordance with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic standards and European safety standards. All the fruit sources are granted international organic certificates,” said Viên.

“Vinamit does not discriminate between products for the domestic market and exported ones, customers everywhere are equally respected,” he added.

At present, Vinamit has eight processing lines for fruits such as frozen fruit, dried fruit, vacuum dried fruit, chocolate coated fruit, cold dried fruit and fruit candies. These products are mainly Vietnamese fruits such as dragon fruit, banana, jackfruit, durian, watermelon, avocado and strawberry.

Economist Phạm Chi Lan said that in a production chain, businesses are not only buying and selling but are also a bridge to develop quality brands in the market.

“High quality products which are strongly consumed in the domestic market will create prestigious momentum when they are exported,” said Lan.

“In order to meet the standards of rigorous markets such as the US, Europe, South Korea and Japan, the domestic market itself must be a tough market to verify the quality of the products,” she said.

Hoàng Trung, director general of the Plant Protection Department of MARD, said that to supply quality products to the domestic market and for export, Việt Nam must address problems including quarantine and safety for fruits, and especially needs to eliminate pesticide residue.

Việt Nam has currently more than 300,000ha of orchard where VietGap standards are applied to meet the domestic customers’ demands.

Trung said his department had issued nearly 6,000 plantation codes for dragon fruit, mango, longan, rambutan and litchi. It was in coordination with local authorities to issue additional codes for the orchard growing areas for export.

“MARD has been working with enterprises to complete construction on seven agricultural product processing factories, which will be operational this year,” said Trung.

The most important way to maintain the domestic market is ensuring that fruit growers and fruit processing enterprises make high quality products, building up confidence and enticing domestic consumers to choose Vietnamese fruits over many kinds of imported ones.