Following durian, which brings in billions of USD annually for Vietnam, bananas and passion fruit are expected to become key export fruits, generating billions of USD. This expectation was highlighted at the "Solutions to Enhance Competitiveness and Promote Export of Advantageous Fruit Products: Passion Fruit, Banana, Pineapple, and Coconut" forum held on 18/7 in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Vietnam has over 1.3 million hectares of fruit trees, with a total output of about 15 million tons annually. Bananas account for 161,000 hectares, with export revenue reaching nearly 380 million USD in 2024, making Vietnam the 9th largest banana exporter globally. Vietnamese bananas are present in demanding markets like South Korea, Japan, the EU, the US, and China.

However, the average income from banana cultivation is currently only around 2,400 USD per hectare (62 million VND), far below its potential. Aiming to increase this to 20,000 USD per hectare, Unifarm, led by CEO Pham Quoc Liem, is implementing a high-tech banana farming model.

Instead of tailoring quality to each market, Unifarm maintains a consistent set of standards from variety selection and cultivation to harvesting and traceability. Liem believes that if the entire industry agrees on large-scale, systematic production with technology application, bananas could become a billion-dollar industry, potentially exceeding 4 billion USD in the long term.

Banana processing and packaging facility of Hoang Anh Gia Lai in Gia Lai. Photo: *Thi Ha*

Similar to bananas, passion fruit is also emerging as a "new star" in agricultural exports. Nguyen Manh Hung, Chairman of Nafoods, noted that in just a decade, the passion fruit industry has grown from zero to hundreds of millions of USD in annual revenue, with purees and concentrates alone contributing about 300 million USD. "If the Chinese market fully opens and the industry is strategically planned, passion fruit could reach the 1 billion USD mark," Hung stated.

Vietnam is currently negotiating for official passion fruit export to the US and has submitted technical dossiers to South Korea and Thailand. However, the industry still faces challenges: inconsistent cultivation areas, unstable seed quality, and overuse of pesticides.

To address these issues, Hung proposes four key solutions: reasonable planning of cultivation areas, seed quality control, stricter pesticide management, and production reorganization for better management of small-scale farms.

Pineapples and coconuts are also considered high-potential products. According to Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, the nearly 29 billion USD global pineapple market, with a growth rate of about 6.3% annually, presents a significant opportunity. Doveco's pineapple concentrate is currently exported to over 50 countries and is highly regarded.

To enhance competitiveness, Nguyen suggests addressing the biggest bottleneck, land access, through leasing, auctioning, and equitizing public land. Investment in varieties, irrigation, and technology is also crucial for the industry's growth.

However, according to the Department of Crop Production, several internal challenges hinder the breakthrough of Vietnamese fruit. These include pesticide violations, incorrect labeling, loose management after granting area codes and packaging facility codes, leading to warnings or code revocations from the Chinese market. To overcome these, the department proposes reorganizing production with cooperatives as the core, increasing on-site monitoring, and enhancing the capacity of local officials and businesses in complying with international standards.

According to Ngo Quoc Tuan from the Post-Import Plant Quarantine Center II, to achieve a breakthrough, the fruit industry needs to shift its focus from increasing output to improving quality, building brands, and investing in technology.

He emphasized the crucial role of compliance with quarantine regulations, especially for the Chinese market, which has strict requirements for both input and output, particularly in packaging and labeling. "Businesses must also work closely with cooperatives to maintain area codes and ensure traceability, which are prerequisites for long-term market retention," Tuan said.

Thi Ha