“We regularly export 320 tons of durian and 500 tons of coconut each month. Also, we export 3-4 containers of longan each week (16 tons per container) and 7-9 containers of dragonfruit,” said Vina T&T Group CEO Nguyen Dinh Tung said about exports in the first months 2025.

He said Vietnamese companies have prepared for the anticipated durian fever in the Chinese market and taken full advantage of other Vietnamese tropical fruits, such as coconut, longan, pomelo, and mango to export to various markets around the world. Therefore, orders are always plentiful, and revenue is high.

Vina T&T has benefited from the trend. The company earned VND2 trillion in revenue in 2024, a sharp rise of 30 percent over the year before.

According to the General Department of Customs (GDC), after setting a new record of $3.81 billion in 2018, vegetable and fruit exports began going flat or dropped sharply, earning $3.26 billion only in 2020 and $3.36 billion in 2022.

However, Vietnam’s farm exports once again witnessed a boom in 2023 with $5.7 billion of revenue, which far exceeded the $3.36 billion worth of revenue in 2022 and the $3.81 billion in 2018.

Vefetable and fruit exports continued an upward trend in 2024, with export turnover soaring to $7.15 billion, the highest peak in history, twice as much as export turnover in 2018.

Nguyen Thanh Binh, chair of the Vietnam Veggie and Fruit Association, said Vietnam’s vegetables and fruits have been present in 60 markets, while Vietnam is the second largest exporter of mango, banana and durian to China, the world’s biggest fruit consumer.

Vietnam’s veggie and fruit market shares continue to increase in various markets. In China, for example, Vietnam has jumped from the third position to the second in China. The exports to the US have increased by 30 percent, and to Thailand by 80 percent.

Binh believes that the success in exploring new market is a major reason behind the sharp rise in fruit exports.

Prior to 2018, vegetables and fruits became a ‘bright star’ of the agriculture sector with export turnover increasing over years. However, at that time, veggie and fruits were mostly exported across border gates instead of official channels.

That was why when markets began setting higher technical barriers on imports and China began tightening cross-border imports, Vietnam’s veggie and fruit exports began slowing down and exports encountered congestion many times.

However, the situation improved as ministries in recent years have opened many export markets for Vietnam’s farm produce, such as durian, passion fruit, coconut, pomelo and banana, paving the way for businesses to export through official channels.

Vietnam's durian, which was once considered a low-priced fruit, has seen exports gallop since mid-2022, when the protocol on exporting Vietnam’s durian to China was signed. 

In 2024, durian exports brought turnover of $3.3 billion, an increase of $1 billion over 2023. Durian made up nearly 50 percent of total export turnover of the vegetable and fruit sector.

Durian prices always stay high, which brings high profit of VND1 billion per hectare to farmers. Some households report that they made a huge profit of VND50 billion just after one crop.

$10 billion target

Under the plan on developing key fruit trees issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in 2022, Vietnam strives for $5 billion worth of vegetable and fruit export turnover by 2025 and $6.5 billion by 2030.

However, export turnover in 2024 far exceeded the targeted $6.5 billion. Experts said Vietnam can export $8 billion worth of vegetables and fruits in 2025 and reach the peak of $10 billion in the near future.

Nguyen Khac Tien, Chair of Ameii Vietnam JSC, noted that 2023 was a "kickoff" year for Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports, and there is still great potential to access other export markets.

Vietnam is exploiting 1.2 million hectares of fruit growing area with annual yield of 12 million tons of fruits. However, analysts said the fruits are exported fresh, while processed fruit exports just account for 14 percent of total exports ($1 billion).

Meanwhile, amid consumer trends, the demand for processed fruits is increasing to satisfy the busy urban life, and fruit processing is an attractive market the country needs to eye.

Tam An