Promoting sustainable durian exports

Ta Duc Minh, Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Japan, said Vietnam is a major durian exporter to this market. “The volume of Vietnamese frozen durian imported by Japan is tenfold the volume of fresh durian,” he added. Due to the high import demand, durian suppliers were sometimes unaware of the importance of ensuring product quality, causing serious consequences. In 2021, Japan decided to quarantine 100 percent of durian imports from Vietnam due to excessive pesticide residues. This increased storage time and caused losses for both exporters and importers. More importantly, customer trust in the product is undermined if quality is not ensured.

Nguyen Phu Hoa, Vietnamese Deputy Consul General in Sydney and Head of the Vietnamese Trade Office in Australia, said Vietnamese durian suppliers competed unhealthily with rivals in the Australian market by selling products of lower quality at lower prices. “Australia is a discerning but potential market for high-quality products. If suppliers compete on price but not product quality, they will damage their brands,” Hoa emphasized.

To achieve sustainability of durian exports, most overseas Vietnamese trade offices warned domestic durian suppliers of the need to abide by technical standards of importing countries, to compete on product quality and to build brands. Greater attention should be paid to durian plantation planning to ensure sufficient supply for export. Post-harvest preservation and transport should also be improved to ensure the quality of the fruit when it reaches consumers.

Ngo Tuong Vi, General Director of the Chanh Thu Fruit Import-Export Group Joint Stock Company, attributed the successful export of Vietnamese durians to discerning markets to the efforts of businesses and trade promotion agencies. In her opinion, negotiating for Vietnamese durians to access these markets was difficult, but it was much more difficult to make the fruit attractive to local consumers, making the achieved results more impressive.