According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the export value of vegetables and fruits will reach US$3.34 billion in 2022, down 5.9% from 2021. This year, the export of fresh and frozen vegetables will reach USD 2.32 billion; processed vegetables and fruits reached US$1.014 billion. The share of processed fruit and vegetable exports in the total fruit and vegetable export turnover has increased from 26% in 2021 (US$923 million/US$3.52 billion) to 30.4% in 2022 (US$1.014 billion/US$3.34 billion USD).

STRONG GROWTH IN THE EU AND THE US

While most of Vietnam’s fresh vegetables and fruits are exported to China, the group of processed fruit and vegetable products is growing rapidly in distant markets, particularly the EU and the United States.

This is easy to explain, as fruit and vegetables are perishable goods with a very short shelf life and are therefore only suitable for circulation and consumption in nearby markets.

In the European and US markets, it is difficult for fresh vegetables and fruits to cover the entire shipping route, which takes several months. When shipping by plane, the shipping costs are too high. Meanwhile, canned processed fruits and bottled fruit juices have a shelf life of 1-2 years, which helps to meet the challenges of long-term transportation.

According to the US International Trade Commission, US imports of processed fruits and vegetables will be about $11 billion in 2022, including $280 million from Vietnam. In the past three years, the export value of processed fruits and vegetables from Vietnam to the United States has grown rapidly, increasing by 30-45% per year.

The high growth rate of processed fruits and vegetables imported from Vietnam shows that these products of Vietnam are gradually meeting the needs of US consumers. However, processed vegetables and fruit from Vietnam still account for a very small proportion of total US imports. This is a great opportunity for companies to increase processed fruit and vegetable exports to the US market.

Referring to the European market, Mr. Tran Van Cong, Vietnam’s agricultural adviser in Europe said, “In recent years, Vietnamese fruit and vegetable companies have done a good job of large-scale, modern production technology, processing products to penetrate the European market. In the group of processed products exported to the EU, fruit juices and frozen juices occupy a large share.

Information from the European Statistics Agency (Eurostat) shows that imports of processed fruit and vegetables to the Netherlands in the first nine months of 2022 were 2.2 million tonnes worth 2.7 billion euros (equivalent to 2 million euros, 9 billion USD ) reached 10.8% in volume and 20.8% in value over the same period in 2021.

The Netherlands sharply increased its imports of processed vegetables and fruits from Vietnam in the first nine months of 2022, reaching 11,000 tons worth 40.3 million euros (equivalent to 43.1 million USD), a volume increase of 30.3 % and an increase in value of 88.8% compared to the same period in 2021. Despite the sharp increase in imports from Vietnam, the share of imports from Vietnam is still very small, accounting for only 0.5% of the total vegetable imports processed fruit in the Netherlands out.

According to Eurostat, EU imports of processed fruit and vegetables will reach almost 19 million tonnes in 2022, worth 26 billion euros ($12.5 billion). The world market for processed fruits and vegetables is expected to reach around US$392 billion by 2025.

Thus, it can be seen that Vietnam’s processed vegetables account for a very small share of the world market for processed fruits and vegetables. Fruit and vegetable industry experts therefore believe that Vietnam’s processed fruit and vegetable products have plenty of scope to expand their export market share globally.

INVESTMENTS IN FRUIT PROCESSING MUST SUPPORT

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the annual production of fruits and vegetables harvested in Vietnam is around 31 million tons. However, the processed production is only about 4.5 million tons, which is 12-17% of the country’s total fruit and vegetable production.

This means that 76% of the fruit and vegetables exported are still fresh or pre-preserved. While the dietary needs of people around the world in general, and in Europe in particular, tend towards the use of processed fruits and vegetables. For this reason, Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable export turnover accounts for only a small proportion.

There are 150 modern fruit and vegetable processing factories in Vietnam with a processing capacity of almost 1.1 million tons/year, which process only about 8-10% of the fruit and vegetable production every year. In addition, 3.4 million tons are processed by 7,500 micro-fruit processing and canning plants, households, these products are difficult to meet the quality for export.

Nguyen Van Thu, general manager of GC Food Joint Stock Company, said that the development of the fruit and vegetable industry towards processing not only helps control prices, but also increases the value of goods compared to fresh produce by the 3-4- times increased. In particular, this activity also contributes to extending the shelf life of agricultural products and relieving local oversupply.

However, this requires significant investment costs, while most of the fruit and vegetable processing companies have very low capital (more than 80% of the companies have less than VND 2 billion), which are not prioritized in terms of investments. Farmers’ post-harvest preservation has not been concentrated, resulting in more than 20% post-harvest losses…

Many companies involved in post-harvest fruit processing indicated that only about 30% of companies have access to bank capital, the rest are small and medium-sized enterprises, making access to credit difficult. not easy, political mechanism, little support.

Mr Nguyen Manh Hung, chief executive officer of Nafoods Joint Stock Company, said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade must propose to the relevant authorities to set up a centralized budget to prioritize the support of companies to borrow money preferential investments in Cold storage systems and investments in technological innovation and development of fruit and vegetable processing plants. When investing in factories, companies also need authorities to manage proper planning of planting areas to avoid the situation of creating a factory without raw materials.

Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association Secretary-General Dang Phuc Nguyen suggested that in the coming period, the government, ministries and branches should assist municipalities in planning processing zones and introducing policies to encourage investment; Support capital and technology transfer…

In particular, there is a need for capital support, links between farmers and companies to build an effective and sustainable linkage model in the commodity sector; Strengthen the management of cultivated land, quality control of materials, seedlings, and the production and processing process to ensure product quality.