Enterprise investments and market demands are helping processed products secure an increasingly larger market share within Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports.

Investing in processing technology for strategic products

Invested in and put into operation since 2014 at Phu Hoi Industrial Park, Duc Trong District, Lam Dong Province, the fruit processing factory of Truong Hoang Lam Dong Trading Service Co., Ltd. is currently focusing its manufacturing lines on core products derived from passion fruit, such as passion fruit juice concentrate and dried passion fruit.

Ms. Bui Thi Thuy Ha—Deputy Director of Truong Hoang Lam Dong—shared that the factory originally held an annual capacity of 52,000 tons of raw materials, which is currently being upgraded to 78,000 tons. Beyond processed items from passion fruit, the factory also processes products from several other fruit varieties, including avocado and mango.

Even prior to constructing the factory, Truong Hoang Lam Dong had secured an export contract for passion fruit juice concentrate to the EU. To date, the entire output of the factory's passion fruit juice concentrate is bound for export, with the EU market accounting for roughly 80%. Meanwhile, the total volume of soft-dried passion fruit is exported entirely to the US.

Ms. Thuy Ha revealed that the demand for processed passion fruit products is rising. For instance, in 2026, client demand for the factory's dried fruits surged by 30%, while fruit juice concentrate climbed by 10%. Consequently, since its commissioning date, Truong Hoang Lam Dong's fruit processing plant has expanded its capacity multiple times.

Concurrently, the company has formed alliances with farmers in Lam Dong and various other localities across the Central Highlands to cultivate raw passion fruit materials, covering an area spanning 1,500 to 2,000 hectares. Following harvest, up to 70% of the passion fruit volume is channeled into processing lines, leaving only 30% to be sold as fresh fruit.

Matching Truong Hoang Lam Dong's trajectory, many corporations within the fruit and vegetable sector have recently invested in building processing factories to manufacture fruit-based products, catering to domestic and export market demands. Driven by corporate investments, processed fruit products are occupying an expanding market share in Vietnamese fruit exports.

In 2025, processed fruit and vegetable exports surpassed the 2 billion USD milestone for the first time, marking a 42.1% surge compared to 2024. Reaching a turnover of 2.06 billion USD, processed fruits and vegetables accounted for roughly 24% of the total fruit and vegetable export value in 2025, climbing from a market share of just over 20% in 2024.

According to the Agency of Foreign Trade (under the Ministry of Industry and Trade), during the first 4 months of 2026, the structural variety of exported fruit and vegetable products continued to showcase a powerful shift from traditional fresh items to higher value-added goods.

Data from the General Department of Customs reveals that the export proportion of the processed product group grew from 29.33% in the first 4 months of 2025 to 35.82% in the first 4 months of 2026. This structural evolution is successfully lifting the added value of Vietnamese fruits and reducing reliance on the seasonal nature of fresh fruit trading.

Restructuring the fruit and vegetable commodity matrix

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung, Vice President of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association (Vinafruit), evaluated that the export composition of fruit and vegetable commodities is undergoing a positive shift as the share and turnover of processed goods climb; enterprises are increasingly focusing investments on deep processing such as frozen, dried, or concentrated juice products.

The potential to expand the export market share for processed fruits and vegetables remains vast. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung noted that over 70% of Vietnam's fruit and vegetable products are still exported in fresh forms. Deep-processing capacity within the sector remains constrained, processed product varieties are relatively sparse, packaging designs are not yet appealing, and the segment lacks the capability to regulate product consumption during peak harvest seasons.

Consequently, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung recommended that the Government and local authorities need to enact incentive policies to encourage major conglomerates to invest heavily in deep-processing factories directly within concentrated fruit and vegetable raw material zones.

The robust expansion of processed fruit and vegetable exports is driving up overall fruit and vegetable exports. According to the Agency of Foreign Trade (under the Ministry of Industry and Trade), in the first 5 months of this year, fruit and vegetable exports are estimated to reach 2.98 billion USD, a 29.4% increase compared to the same period in 2025.

Source: Bao Nong nghiep va Moi truong