Standardizing growing areas: The foundation for Vietnamese agricultural products to conquer the world

The official approval for Vietnamese grapefruit exports to Australia marks a new milestone in the country’s agricultural integration journey. It crowns years of effort by regulatory agencies and businesses to meet the stringent standards of one of the world’s most demanding markets.

Behind this success lies a long process of reorganising production, beginning with standardized growing areas where farmers and enterprises work hand in hand to produce internationally compliant raw materials.

In an interview with VAN, Mr. Phan Quoc Nam, Business Director of Blue Ocean Company, shared the journey of building standardized grapefruit growing areas and the company’s direction for expanding exports to premium markets.

Reporter: Vietnam has officially been granted permission to export fresh grapefruit to Australia. From this story, what do you see as the decisive factor that helped us overcome such strict import barriers?

Mr. Phan Quoc Nam: In my view, the key does not lie in procedures or logistics, but in the growing area, the starting point of all value. When a product reaches the consumer, the first question is not who sold it, but where it was grown and how.

Australia is a market that places great emphasis on traceability and food safety. If the growing area isn’t standardized, every other effort becomes meaningless.

That’s why, as soon as we learned that Vietnam and Australia were negotiating market access, we concentrated on strengthening our raw material zones — reviewing cultivation practices, guiding farmers on proper use of plant protection products, and establishing a transparent record-keeping system. We see this not merely as a partner’s requirement, but as a new production standard that Vietnamese producers must embrace to integrate globally.

Reporter: What did Blue Ocean do to transform its grapefruit zones into internationally standardized production chains?

Mr. Phan Quoc Nam: The crucial step was reorganising production under the enterprise-cooperative-farmer linkage model. In the Mekong Delta, particularly Ben Tre (now merged with Vinh Long) and Hau Giang (now part of Can Tho), we work directly through cooperatives. They are the “roots” that anchor the company locally.

The cooperative acts as a technical liaison, a process supervisor, and a co-responsible partner in ensuring quality. Each licensed growing area maintains an electronic production log monitored via an application.

When a farmer records a “pesticide application,” the system automatically updates and verifies the correct pre-harvest interval. That level of transparency gives us full confidence when exporting to such a demanding market.

Reporter: Many say that standardizing growing areas requires significant cost and time. How did Blue Ocean persuade farmers to cooperate?

Mr. Phan Quoc Nam: It’s true that the process is not easy. But when farmers see their products have a stable outlet and fetch higher prices, they are willing to adapt. We don’t impose; we accompany them, providing seeds, technical guidance, safe input materials, and guaranteed offtake.

Each cooperative operates as a “satellite” of the growing area, supervising hundreds of farming households from planting to harvest. The most important change is awareness. Farmers now understand that a single procedural mistake can lead to a shipment being rejected at quarantine, losses not just for the company but for the whole community. That awareness is the foundation for sustainable production.

Reporter: Beyond the growing area factor, how do you assess the role of government agencies in opening the Australian market?

Mr. Phan Quoc Nam: Coordination between management agencies and local authorities has been crucial. The Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, together with local governments, provided close support to enterprises, from appraising growing area codes and guiding post-harvest treatment to monitoring chemical residues. They are the guarantors of Vietnam’s agricultural reputation.

Thanks to this coordination, the export licence to Australia is not just a success for one company, but a shared achievement for Vietnam’s entire agricultural management and production system.

Reporter: Blue Ocean’s first shipment to Australia is viewed as a tangible outcome of the standardization process. Could you share more about this order?

Mr. Phan Quoc Nam: Right after signing the export terms, we received our first order from an Australian partner, one container, about seven to eight tons of fresh grapefruit, valued at nearly USD 20,000. Though the volume was small, it carried enormous symbolic meaning. It proved that Vietnamese grapefruit meets the standards to stand alongside the world’s top fruit products.

Australia has virtually no domestic grapefruit, so the potential is vast. However, we’re not chasing volume. Blue Ocean currently works with only two distributors, each covering distinct territories to maintain stable value, avoid competition, and protect the prestige of Vietnamese produce.

Reporter: Following grapefruit, does Blue Ocean plan to expand the standardized growing area model to other fruits?

Mr. Phan Quoc Nam: Absolutely. We already export mangoes, longans, and dragon fruit to Australia, the United States, and the Middle East, all based on the same principle of standardized growing areas and electronic traceability.

Next year, we plan to expand several dozen hectares of grapefruit and mango cultivation in the Mekong Delta while deploying a QR code–based management system to better control production. We firmly believe that only when farmers, cooperatives, and enterprises stand together in a closed value chain can Vietnamese agricultural products go far and sustainably.

Reporter: From a business perspective, what does the grapefruit export to Australia signify for Vietnam’s fruit industry as a whole?

Mr. Phan Quoc Nam: This is a turning point. It not only opens a new market but also forces the entire system to shift from producing enough to producing correctly. Once production is right at the growing area, every other international door will open.

Grapefruit has a long shelf life and is resilient during transport, a major advantage. If we maintain current standards, I believe Vietnamese grapefruit will soon secure a firm foothold in Australia, just as mangoes and dragon fruit have done.