Vegetable and fruit import turnover surged to the level of 1.6 billion USD in the first half of 2026, posing a major competitive pressure on domestic agricultural products right on the "home ground".

In the first half of the year, Vietnam's vegetable and fruit import turnover reached nearly 1.6 billion USD, up nearly 30% compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, vegetable and fruit exports only rose by 14%, demonstrating that imports are increasing significantly faster.

Imported fruits arrive in Vietnam more and more

“Only 150,000 VND/500 grams of red US cherries size 10” was the pitch on a livestream session, which attracted Ms. Binh Nguyen a consumer in An Hoi Tay ward, Ho Chi Minh City to immediately place an order for 3 kg.

Ms. Binh Nguyen stated that this serves as a quite soft price level against US cherries in many recent years back. “With the Chile cherry type, the selling price is even cheaper, starting from only 120,000 - 130,000 VND/kg, if buying a whole 5 kg box,” Ms. Nguyen said.

Recorded at a number of traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City such as Pham Van Hai (Tan Son Hoa ward), Pham Van Bach market (An Hoi Tay ward), Thach Da market (An Hoi Tay)… consumers encounter no difficulty to seek foreign imported fruit products from peaches, brown pears, apples, mangosteens, to kiwis, grapes.

Ms. Hanh a small trader at Thach Da market stated that, although domestic fruits are entering the season and prices are very cheap, consumers still possess demands to buy fruit types that Vietnam does not have or does not supply enough such as kiwis, grapes, apples, sweet oranges… Therefore, small traders like Ms. Hanh still have to import to serve daily consumption.

Also according to Ms. Hanh, currently imported fruit prices have become softer; for instance, imported brown pears previously had to sit above 100,000 VND/kg, but now only fluctuate from 80,000 - 90,000 VND/kg. Besides, import sources are also more abundant from China, Thailand, the US, South Africa…

In the retail supermarket bloc, Ms. Phan Bao Thy, Media Director of Kingfoodmart Food Supermarket informed that purchasing power in the imported fruit group is maintaining a growth momentum in the first 6 months, prominent in products coming from New Zealand, the US, Australia, South Korea, and South Africa.

“Our data records that the growth rate of the first 6 months rose at double-digit levels compared to the same period last year, particularly in fruit lines possessing stable quality and matching daily consumption demands such as kiwis, apples, grapes, oranges, or pears. Consumers currently do not merely buy during festivals, Tet, but progressively view imported fruits as a frequent selection thanks to stable quality, clear origins, and increasingly reasonable costs,” Ms. Thy shared.

Ms. Thy added that one of the factors driving up purchasing power is the abundant import supply source, helping the price plateau of many items decrease compared to the same period of the previous year. Depending on each crop season and origin, the selling prices of a number of kiwi, apple, grape lines… decreased around 5-15%. This helps consumers approach imported fruits with a more competitive price level than before.

Similarly at An Nam Gourmet retail chain, Ms. Tran Vu Ngoc Thuy, Head of Strategy and Operations, stated that the demand against imported fruits and agricultural products possessing high quality and clear origins always maintains at a positive growth level from 5-8%. Within this, the mid-end and high-end customer groups spend heavily on fruit lines such as strawberries, grapes, apples, blueberries, cherries.

Recording data in the first 6 months, Ms. Thuy stated that purchasing power against imported apples grew by 26% compared to the same period, followed by blueberries up 23%, cherries up 20%, grapes up 5%... In addition, a number of vegetable products such as broccoli, baby spinach also grew impressively with 2 digits.

Data from Vietnam Customs recorded that, statistically summarizing the first 20 days of June, along with the growth of export turnover, vegetable and fruit import turnover into Vietnam rose by 14.5% compared to the previous month, reaching over 270 million USD. Counting generally for the first 6 months of the year, vegetable and fruit imports into Vietnam reached nearly 1.6 billion USD, up nearly 30% compared to the same period last year. This speed rose higher compared to the 14% increase level of vegetable and fruit exports.

Regarding supply structure, China remains the largest market supplying vegetables, roots, and fruits for Vietnam thanks to advantages in production costs, close geographical positions, and complementary crop seasonal characteristics well suited to the domestic market (types of mushrooms, garlic, onions, apples…). Accordingly, in the first 5 months of the year, Vietnam imported vegetables and fruits from China reaching approximately 503 million USD, up nearly 49% compared to the same period last year, occupying approximately 39% in the total import turnover.

In addition, other high-quality temperate markets such as the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and South Korea are also supplying high-end fruit lines for supermarket systems and clean commodity chains at major urban centers of Vietnam.

Vietnamese people elevate the safety factor in shopping

Exchanging with Dan Tri, Mr. Nguyen Van Muoi, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (VINAFRUIT), evaluated that the growth speed of imported vegetables and fruits demonstrates the interest and demand of consumers, especially the quality issue. The above figures also reflect the two-way integration trend of the vegetable and fruit sector. Vietnam does not merely step up exporting signature tropical fruits of strength but also serves as a potential consumption market for typical agricultural products from temperate nations.

Mr. Muoi stated that, according to records from VINAFRUIT, the vegetable and fruit supply source for Vietnam in the first 5 months of the year, and the first half of June primarily concentrated on two distinct target groups, which are domestic consumption in the high-end segment and importing raw materials serving the deep processing industry.

Also according to this gentleman, apart from the supply increase leading to cost decreases, one of the impacts helping foreign vegetables and fruits become increasingly popular is that import tariffs decreased sharply, thanks to free trade agreements such as the EVFTA, CPTPP… which pulled the tariffs of many items to low levels, even 0%.

However, observing from a trade perspective, Mr. Muoi argued that the rapid surge of imported fruits also creates a considerable competitive pressure on domestic products, particularly in the mid-end segment. Many types of domestic fruits encounter difficulties in competing regarding appearance, preservation capacities, and the stability of supply sources.

“Therefore, elevating the output quality of domestic agricultural products and stepping up promotion from images to packaging of high-quality Vietnamese agricultural products… will be issues that need to be noted by enterprises, distributors, and even the farmer, cooperative bloc, especially against a backdrop where consumers increasingly elevate the safety of products,” Mr. Muoi emphasized.

Source: Bao dien tu Dan tri