Thanks to domesticfarmers’ efforts to improve product quality, Vietnamese dragon fruithas managed to penetrate into demanding markets such as the EU, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (RoK).
Over therecent past, dragon fruit exports to the EU, in addition to othertraditional markets, including Thailand , Indonesia , andNetherlands , rose again, which was attributed to internationalrecognition and certification.
Specifically, thedragon fruit has satisfied strict quality requirements of the aforesaidimporters and has become the first Vietnamese fruit receiving exportcode granted by the US . In 2012, Binh Thuan dragon fruit wascertificated for its trademark protected by the US Patent andTrademark Office (USPTO) .
In addition, the PlantProtection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment has recently granted a certification for dragon fruit of theHong An Agricultural Products Import-Export Co., Ltd that satisfiesrequirements for export to the RoK.
New Zealandhas also started a plan helping Vietnam expand its farming andexport of the fruit, with the aim of turning Vietnam into theworld’s leading dragon fruit exporter.
According toDirector of the Southern Fruit Research Institute Nguyen MinhChau, around 54 percent of Vietnam ’s dragon fruit exports areshipped to the Chinese market, which suffers from unstable demand.
In lowering the dependence on the main importers, efforts have beenexerted by domestic dragon fruit exporters to seek and diversify newmarkets, namely Spain, the Philippines, Norway, India,and the Middle East.
According to a representativeof the E.K Prima Vietnam Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of LuLu GroupInternational which is one of the largest corporations in the MiddleEast, the company sells an average 120 tonnes of dragon fruit to theregion each month.
However, several countries suchas the US, Japan, Israel and Thailand have succeeded inplanting dragon fruit-trees and extending the cultivation, thus beingpotential rivals for Vietnam’s dragon fruit.
Therefore, domestic experts suggested that localities specialising indragon fruit should soon surmount shortcomings related to processing,especially preservation and packaging, as well as fostering tradepromotion activities.
Vietnam has around25,000 ha of dragon fruit mostly grown in the central and southernprovinces of Binh Thuan, Tien Giang and Long An. Due to high economicvalue brought to growers, the dragon fruit plantations in the localitieshave continuously increased over the recent past.-VNA