Dak Lak strives to be SEA’s durian logistics and trading hub

With only about two months left before Dak Lak enters the 2026 durian harvest season with an expected bumper yield, the province is facing pressure from a short harvest window, market demand, transportation, preliminary processing, and value-added processing. To ensure smooth consumption during the harvest, Dak Lak has implemented multiple synchronized measures.

From May 18 to 20, the Dak Lak Durian Association and major export businesses conducted a survey trip to Shenzhen and Guangzhou (Guangdong province, China), meeting with various enterprises to introduce and promote Dak Lak durians while seeking cooperation opportunities.

VAN News interviewed Le Anh Trung, Chairman of the Dak Lak Durian Association, regarding solutions for durian consumption and the outcomes of the recent survey trip.

Managing all data across the supply chain

Dear sir, Dak Lak’s durian harvest season is approaching. Could you share more insight about the purpose of this trip to China by the Association and businesses?

Viet Nam’s durian industry is entering a “special” stage of development. This can be considered a turning point for the entire sector. Dak Lak currently has the largest durian cultivation area and output in Viet Nam, with over 45,000 hectares under cultivation, including around 30,000 hectares expected to be harvested this year, producing more than 500,000 tons. Dak Lak also occupies a strategic position in the Central Highlands, conveniently connecting to Central Viet Nam, the Southeast region, and major production areas.

Under the province’s development orientation, particularly the current guidance of provincial authorities, Dak Lak is not only aiming to become Viet Nam’s durian capital but also striving to become a logistics, trading, processing, and agricultural connectivity hub for Southeast Asia.

This is a grand vision with long-term ambition. If we only sell fresh whole fruits, added value remains limited. If Dak Lak develops logistics systems, cold storage, trading centers, traceability mechanisms, and deep processing, the value of the durian industry could be on an entirely different plane.

Therefore, this trip by the Dak Lak Durian Association and businesses was not merely about trade promotion but also strategic studies into China’s models for logistics, cold storage, full-chain management, traceability, and high-tech agriculture.

The delegation worked with major corporations, universities, logistics firms, agricultural technology enterprises, and leading media organizations in China. This demonstrates that Chinese partners highly value Dak Lak’s potential.

What do you consider the most notable outcomes of this trip?

The most important lesson we learned is the model of managing the entire supply chain through data. Farmers, businesses, cooperatives, logistics providers, cold storage facilities, traceability systems, and retailers are all connected within a unified data ecosystem.

Each shipment contains detailed data: where it was grown, who managed cultivation, what inputs were used, harvest dates, transportation methods, storage temperatures, and final buyers. In other words, they manage the industry through data rather than intuition.

During this trip, the delegation worked with major entities including Shenzhen Fengnong Holdings Co., Ltd., Haijixing (Shenzhen Haijixing International Agricultural Products Logistics Park), CIMC (China International Marine Containers), South China Agricultural University, and An Xing. Regarding Shenzhen Fengnong Holdings, both sides agreed to study the deployment of a “smart durian orchard” model in Dak Lak, applying AI, IoT, and digital data to plantation management.

Haijixing expressed a strong interest in investing in logistics, cold storage, and agricultural trading centers in Dak Lak. Meanwhile, CIMC is one of the world’s leading logistics and cold-chain corporations.

CIMC has already invested heavily in agricultural distribution and operates seven processing plants in China. The company highly values Dak Lak’s production potential and plans to revisit Viet Nam at the end of June to explore concrete opportunities for cooperation.

As for South China Agricultural University, it agreed to collaborate on establishing a Durian Research Institute in Dak Lak to study soil, nutrition, cold-chain logistics, and post-harvest preservation.

What requirements are Chinese businesses currently placing on Viet Nam’s durian industry?

Through discussions with these organizations, I realized that China is now concerned not only with output volume but with transparency and stability throughout the supply chain. Previously, they bought durian fruit; now, they are buying trust.

They require genuine management of cultivation areas, transparent traceability, and strict control of Cadmium and Auramine O. All data must be accurate, and businesses must take responsibility for their linked supply chains.

This trip made me realize that China's vision encompasses the entire durian production ecosystem.

Consumer habits for durian have changed

What impressed you most about China’s durian consumption market?

What truly impressed me was the significant shift in consumption patterns among young Chinese consumers. They increasingly prioritize convenience, cleanliness, and compatibility with online shopping. They no longer prefer opening whole durians themselves because of bulky shells, waste generation, and inconvenience in apartment living.

This trend has created large-scale processing centers specializing in the separation of durian flesh. There, durians are sorted, quality-checked, peeled, packaged, chilled, and delivered directly to online customers.

This is no longer simply selling fruit but selling a consumption experience. Therefore, I believe the future of the durian industry will not center solely on whole fresh fruit but increasingly on separated flesh, freezing, deep processing, cold-chain logistics, and e-commerce. This represents a major opportunity for Dak Lak if investments are made in the right direction.

Dak Lak plans to organize a Durian Festival in the near future. How did your delegation introduce this to Chinese partners?

We presented in depth the potential of Dak Lak’s durian industry, Central Highlands culture, ecotourism, logistics, and investment opportunities. According to provincial leadership, the Dak Lak Durian Festival will not only promote fruit products but also serve as an industry festival for investment promotion and cultural and tourism promotion.

Through cooperation with An Xing, an organization with a media ecosystem reaching over 500 million followers in China, we hope to introduce Dak Lak’s durian industry and tourism to millions of Chinese consumers.

If we effectively implement traceability, supply chain management, logistics, technology, and brand building, Dak Lak could indeed become a logistics, trading, and durian-processing center for Southeast Asia in the future.

In my opinion, the most important issue right now is changing the mindset of managing the industry. We must manage the entire supply chain through traceability. Traceability does not simply mean attaching QR codes; it requires complete supply-chain data covering cultivation areas, farming practices, inputs, harvesting, logistics, cold storage, packaging, and consumption.

In addition, quality control from the beginning of the season, testing for Cadmium and Auramine O before harvest, building genuine supply chain linkages, and investing heavily in logistics and cold storage are all necessary. Without solving logistical challenges, it will be very difficult to increase the industry's value.

Thank you, sir!