Although the export of vegetables and fruits in 2022 decreased by nearly 6% over the same period last year (mainly due to the reduction of fresh fruit exports), the export of processed products reached more than one billion USD.
According to the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), in 2022, the export of the whole fruit and vegetable industry was heavily affected by China’s Zero covid policy. It only reach 3.34 billion USD, down nearly 6% compared to 2021. However, the structure of Vietnam’s exports of vegetables and fruits changed positively when the proportion of processed products increased.
Processed passion fruit exports brought in 135 million USD in 2022, up 78% compared to 2021.
Specifically, the export value of vegetables and fruits in 2022 reached 3.34 billion USD, down 5.9% compared to 2021. In particular, exports of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables reached 2.32 billion USD; processed vegetables and fruits reached 1.014 billion USD.
In the structure of exported vegetables and fruits in 2022, the proportion of processed product exports accounted for 29.47%, up 3.8 percentage points compared to 2021.
With an export turnover of 1.014 billion USD in 2022, for the first time, the export of processed vegetables and fruits has exceeded one billion USD.
In particular, processed products from passion fruit rank first in value with strong growth in 2022. Next are products from coconut, fruits of all kinds, pistachios, pineapples, etc.
The growth rate of Vietnam’s processed vegetables and fruits has improved in recent years, showing that Vietnamese products are gradually meeting the strict requirements of the US, EU, Japan, and Korea. It is expected to continue to increase in the coming time when Vietnamese enterprises invest more in fruit and vegetable processing factories.
The global processed fruits and vegetables market is forecast to reach about 392 billion USD by 2025. Currently, Vietnam exports mainly in the form of fresh fruit, which is difficult to transport over a long distance due to the inability to preserve them for a long time. Therefore, enterprises in the fruit and vegetable industry need to focus on the segment of processed products since this is the trend of the market in the near future.
Fresh fruit is still the main export category in the structure of vegetables and fruits in 2022. It accounts for 61.02% of the total export value, down 4.3 percentage points compared to 2021.
However, in early Jan 2023, the export of vegetables and fruits to China has shown a positive signal since China reopened. It helps facilitate exports of Vietnam’s fruits and vegetables to this market in the coming time./.