Ms. Vu Kim Hanh, an investment consultant and exporter of high-quality Vietnamese goods, shared that Vietnamese durian is currently not only exported to China and Korea in fresh fruit form; Frozen durian is also the product most imported by Thailand

Strengthening the quality of farming and diversifying export products will be the appropriate direction to increasingly increase the value of this type of agricultural product.

Diverse markets, multilateral processing!

Mr. Vu Duc Con, Chairman of the Dak Lak Durian Association, said that a sustainable durian export strategy should be positioned for the locality, as well as the entire highland region; based on the opportunity of "off-season" harvest compared to other localities.

Specifically, Dak Lak durian has its main crop from July to September, then goes to Gia Lai province, Bao Loc district (Lam Dong). These times are different from the durian harvest in the Southwest (from March - May), and quite different from Thai durian (which is harvested from April - June every year). The harvest season deviation will create local "scarcity" in the main export stream of the market, and is the reason for a very competitive durian exporting country like Thailand to buy Vietnamese durian.

Furthermore, the long-standing export direction of durian in the Central Highlands has been to export fresh fruit, serving the natural citrus needs of users. China has become the main durian import market from the Central Highlands and Vietnam, due to this consumption direction. However, fresh durian requires a short transportation schedule and strict storage conditions, so the cost is high, the actual profit for farmers is not high and there are many risks. If we change to the form of exporting frozen durian segments like Thailand, targeting different intensive processing standards, Dak Lak and Central Highlands durians will have completely different opportunities.

Accordingly, Mr. Vu Duc Con said that the locality is coordinating with all levels of management to propose and negotiate the official export of frozen durian to the Chinese market. If this agreement is reached, Dak Lak durian will have more distribution directions, market diversity, and multilateral processing; attract many attractive investment projects into the area as well as make logistics connections to the outside more convenient.

Even in the domestic market, fresh durian is currently at a high price, which not all consumers can accept. Therefore, if we switch to processing frozen durian to serve intensive processing requirements and no longer depend on seasonal seasons, Dak Lak durian will have an even more competitive advantage in the market.

Pre-processing and packaging of frozen durian at the factory of Ban Me Green Farm Co., Ltd. (Buon Ma Thuot City). Photo: Minh Thuan

Three opportunities not to be missed

According to Ms. Vu Kim Hanh, there are at least three opportunities to change the market and quality of agricultural products when converting durian from fresh fruit to frozen.

First, the export of durian from key growing regions such as the Central Highlands will expand from China to Thailand, and if accompanied by a freezing and bagging strategy; Durian exports also include high-end processed products and specialized foods to go to Europe or the United States...If the domestic market gradually gets used to more modern methods of preserving and consuming frozen durian, people's food consumption needs will also change and be a huge opportunity for the development of Central Highlands agricultural products.

Second, instead of harvesting fresh whole durians, they can be peeled and frozen, which is a better form of processing, ensuring preservation time and stable and safe fruit quality. Premature harvesting and use of dangerous preservative chemicals that affect users' health will gradually be eliminated. On the contrary, the price of frozen durian is constantly increasing and consumption is more convenient and proactive, no longer dependent on the main season.

Third, a more important issue, shifting the direction of harvesting and preserving frozen durian will help change the farming process and awareness of farmers, creating new investment value chains in rural agriculture, diversify and socialize agricultural production resources in the Central Highlands. Farmers with the direction of preserving frozen durian will be proactive in their production schedules and comply well with farming and harvesting requirements in accordance with internationalized standards, increasingly innovating, increasing awareness and opportunity to get rich.

According to Mr. Vu Duc Con, these opportunistic warnings are worthy of attention from management levels and functional sectors, and practical application by local governments. The current difficulty in changing this product direction is the system of specialized cold storages and high-quality agricultural product preservation warehouses in the areas; Specifically, in Dak Lak, there are still limitations, lack of synchronous planning, focusing on ensuring quality and good harvest output for large-area specialized farming areas.

At the same time, the direction of exporting frozen durian also requires the cooperation of the business community and farmers to have specialized transport systems; coordinate to organize more quality, safe and sustainable logistics services.

Awareness of the supply chain of high-value agricultural products, from farming to food processing for consumers, needs to be widely promoted to the social community, down to each farmer; From there, it really creates a strong change for durian exports.

According to: Nguyen Duc - daklak24h