Increase Vietnam's green-skinned pomelos' competitiveness

Building a green-skinned pomelo brand in the US market

The United States is a large import market with many strict standards set for exporting countries. But this is also a market that many Vietnamese businesses want to conquer, especially fruit and vegetable exporters. Recently, the export event of 40 tons of green-skinned pomelo of Chanh Thu Import-Export Group Joint Stock Company (Chanh Thu Company) to the US market once again confirmed the above determination. 

Up to now, Chanh Thu Company has had 6 fruit products exported to the US market. They include Longan, rambutan, mango, milkweed, dragon fruit, and green-skinned pomelo. Ms. Ngo Tuong Vy, General Director of Chanh Thu Company has many years of experience working with partners in the world's number one largest market. Ms. Ngo Tuong Vy assessed that, compared to many fruit products that the business has exported, the export standards of green-skinned pomelos are much stricter.

Specifically, in addition to basic criteria such as the code of planting area that meet the standards of the importing country, possession of a Code, a packing facility, and a farming process approved by the US side; the product must be irradiated. Especially with green-skinned pomelo, the issue of pest control in the United States is very focused.

“To ensure the export of this batch of pomelo, Chanh Thu Company must control the quality very carefully. If an aphid or a planthopper appears on the product and passes the quarantine system, the whole shipment will be canceled. The company's workers have to control the quality little by little, using lights to check each product," said Ms. Ngo Tuong Vy.

But from these requirements, Ms. Vy said that it is a way to help farmers become more aware of farming. Because after many encounters with US customers, Ms. Vy said that consumers are very interested in the quality of pomelo fruit, which is considered an important and top criterion. 

The first batch of green-skinned pomelos was exported to the United States. This time, the head of Chanh Thu Company said that regardless of the profit factor, this is considered an initial investment. The value that Chanh Thu Company wishes to aim for is to build a position in the US market for long-term development. Create a "boost" to penetrate deeply into other markets. Building a Vietnamese green-skinned pomelo brand strong enough to compete with other products. 

Ms. Vy assessed that, compared to many other fruits, green-skinned pomelo has a long shelf life, so there is less risk when exporting fresh products. Moreover, the product is also convenient when being transported by sea, which helps to reduce costs and increase export output. Currently, many large corporations in the United States are very interested in Vietnamese fruit products. However, Ms. Vy admits it is not easy to bring products into major US supermarket systems. Because in addition to quality, it must also have a large output. A business like Chanh Thu Company could not do it alone.

Planning a large raw material area

The General Director of Chanh Thu Company shared about the orientation after the first order of green-skinned pomelo was exported to the United States. General Director of Chanh Thu Company General Director of Chanh Thu Company wishes that businesses and local authorities in Ben Tre province will sit down to calculate the planning of a large raw material area for green-skinned pomelo. 

Because of the current reality, according to Ms. Vy, at the time of Tet, Chanh Thu Company received a lot of dense orders from the US market, but the business could not respond in time. The reason given by Ms. Vy is that the output in the planting area code is still very limited. According to statistics, the whole province of Ben Tre currently has 11 area codes for growing green-skinned pomelos exported to the US market, with an area of 156ha and an output of over 3,000 tons/year.

Meanwhile, consumers in the United States have a wide variety of fruit choices. According to the calculation of Chanh Thu Company, the shipping cost of each pomelo is equivalent to about $8 in terms of price, excluding the price of raw materials. This price is 5-6 times higher than the cost of raw pomelo. Therefore, Vietnamese green-skinned pomelo can hardly compete with other countries. The only way for Vietnam's green skin pomelo to get a good "place" in this market is to improve the quality of the product.

Ms. Ngo Tuong Vy expressed that she used to survey many countries such as Thailand, Mexico, the United States, and Australia. Consumers appreciate the quality of Vietnamese green-skinned pomelos. Therefore, Vietnamese green-skinned pomelo can confidently build its brand.

“We can orient people to produce in the direction of the market so that there is no longer a story about saving agro-products. Agro-products need to be produced according to the needs of the market and businesses to ensure favorable product output. To do this, people must change because the current market has also changed,” Ms. Vy said.

Ms. Vy explained that, in the past, the Chinese market was considered an easy market. However, since the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, this market has changed, becoming more difficult. And this change comes from the safety issue for consumers' health. The production of food safety is a trend that the whole world is interested in. This change contributes to promoting the development of the market, thereby creating more value for farmers.