Good Signals, new opportunities for Viet Nam’s fruits

Affirming the position of Vietnamese agricultural products

According to Mr. Huynh Tan Dat, Director General of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, officially exporting fresh mangoes to China reinforces the growing quality and competitiveness of Vietnamese produce. It also opens doors for other export crops not only to China but to international markets worldwide.

The signing of the mango export protocol is expected to benefit farmers and the Vietnamese mango industry. To meet the technical standards of importing countries, farmers, cooperatives, and businesses will need to enhance awareness, adopt good agricultural practices, and implement technical measures to ensure product quality, plant quarantine compliance, food safety, and traceability.

Director Huynh Tan Dat acknowledged that challenges remain but emphasized that Viet Nam is implementing comprehensive measures to improve the quality, safety, and traceability of agricultural products for export to China. Initiatives include raising awareness and applying good agricultural practices, strictly managing production inputs, strengthening inspection and monitoring systems throughout production, processing, and export stages, and building coordinated supply chains among businesses, local authorities, and farmers. These efforts aim to expand cultivation areas, adopt GAP standards, increase value-added production, and boost farmers’ incomes.

By mid-2025, Viet Nam had signed five export protocols for chili, passion fruit, bird’s nest, rice bran, and mango. Agricultural products continue to account for a significant share of exports to China, representing 65% of total Vietnamese agricultural exports to the country. Viet Nam and China are set to sign additional protocols for pomelo and other citrus fruits.

Over the years, Viet Nam has strengthened the reputation of its agricultural sector by standardizing production processes, tightly controlling input materials, and promoting good agricultural practices such as GAP, VietGAP, and GlobalGAP. Coordinated supply chains between businesses, farmers, and local authorities ensure smooth management and rapid risk response.

A new boost for Viet Nam’s mango market

According to exporters, officially exporting fresh mangoes helps reduce reliance on risky informal trade routes. China imported $8.7 billion worth of Vietnamese agricultural products in the first ten months of 2025, signaling strong demand. With mangoes officially included, stable consumption is foreseeable.

While not an immediate “rescue” for farmers, the protocol represents a long-term strategic move, providing Vietnamese mangoes with an official “passport” to China’s 1.4 billion consumers, reducing dependence on informal channels, preventing border congestion, and encouraging investments in orchards, cold storage, and logistics. Local traders predict that “just 2–3 weeks after completing procedures and restoring smooth transportation, mango prices are likely to recover.”

Mr. Nguyen Van Muoi, Deputy Secretary General of the Viet Nam Fruit and Vegetable Association (Vinafruit), noted that Vietnamese mangoes have long been exported to China, primarily through informal channels, leading to unstable prices, especially during harvest seasons. Viet Nam currently cultivates about 84,000 hectares of mangoes with a production exceeding 1 million tons, yet exports in 2024 amounted to only $146 million. “Official exports will help protect farmers against sudden policy changes or tightened quarantine measures. It encourages standardized production, certified packaging facilities, GAP application, and controlled use of plant protection products. This ensures stable and secure market access for farmers,” he emphasized.

Bananas “made in Viet Nam” seize new opportunities

Amid signs of stagnation in the fruit and vegetable market and adverse weather impacts, on November 26 in Ho Chi Minh City, Thaco Group and 135-year-old fruit company Fresh Del Monte signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The partnership targets the “1 million products with zero defects” standard, attracting attention from both business and agricultural communities.

Under the agreement, Del Monte will purchase at least 71,500 tons of bananas from Thaco in 2026 - about 12 containers per day - with potential expansion up to 240,000 tons annually (40 containers per day) if production scales allow. The 10-year cooperation aims to steadily increase annual volumes. Additionally, Del Monte will provide exclusive African pineapple varieties for Thaco’s production on a 2,000-hectare area.

After a three-month evaluation, Del Monte confirmed that Vietnamese bananas offer superior quality, uniformity, and consistency compared to other suppliers, forming the foundation for long-term collaboration. Initially focusing on pink pineapples and bananas, the partnership may expand to other crops such as dragon fruit, passion fruit, and pomelo, including a secret banana variety to be revealed later.

With this breakthrough partnership, Thaco plans to expand its banana cultivation from 5,800 hectares to 16,000 hectares in 2026, reaching 20,000 hectares by 2027, positioning Viet Nam as a major banana supplier in Asia.

To date, 16 Vietnamese fruit and vegetable products are officially exported to China. Eleven products have formal export protocols, including watermelon, mangosteen, black sapote, durian, frozen durian, fresh coconut, fresh banana, sweet potato, chili, passion fruit, and mango. Five traditional products - dragon fruit, rambutan, mango, lychee, and longan - have yet to be standardized under official export protocols.