The news that frozen durian is officially exported to the Chinese market brings joy to farmers, cooperatives, businesses, localities, managers and the agricultural sector of Dak Lak.

As the locality with the largest durian area in the country and abundant output, Dak Lak province has many favorable conditions as well as great opportunities to increase the value of the industry and increase export turnover when the Protocol on official export of frozen durian to China officially takes effect. Enterprises, cooperatives, and localities in the province are taking steps to prepare for official export of frozen durian.

Seize the opportunity

The news that frozen durian is officially exported to the Chinese market brings joy and excitement to farmers, cooperatives, businesses, localities, managers and the Dak Lak agricultural sector. Mr. Nguyen Minh Cong, CEO of Ban Me Green Farm Joint Stock Company, said that since 2022, the company has peeled and frozen 2,000 tons of durian; in 2023, it has peeled and frozen more than 3,000 tons of durian.

Every year, the company focuses on making frozen durian from May to November. To prepare for the official export of frozen durian, the company has planned a detailed development plan for the scale of the factory, standardizing warehouses and operating procedures, preparing human resources, financial resources, building standard raw material areas, etc.

“The Decree will be a lever, bringing great growth to agricultural products, especially durian. The company has identified frozen durian as one of its key products, bringing in large revenue for the company. Therefore, the company is currently looking to prepare to build a second, standardized and professional factory, meeting the production scale and freezing durian" - Mr. Nguyen Minh Cong emphasized.

According to Mr. Pham Van Luong, Import-Export Director of Dung Thai Son Import-Export Trading Joint Stock Company, the Central Highlands region in general, and Dak Lak province in particular, will have abundant durian output, the company has identified this as the raw material area for the company to purchase and export.

“Currently, the enterprise peels 50 - 100 tons of fresh fruit/day, equivalent to 20 - 30 tons of fresh fruit/day. To prepare for the official export of frozen durian, the enterprise has upgraded its facilities, ensuring that the production process meets export conditions, and at the same time prepared basic documents and certifications related to food safety and management of input materials.

After the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Plant Protection Department provided specific instructions, the enterprise continued to supplement and complete the procedural documents to register for the official export of frozen durian,” Mr. Pham Van Luong shared more.

In fact, the official export of frozen durian will bring many advantages such as: reducing transportation and service costs, extending storage time, reducing pressure on fresh fruit consumption, extending product consumption time; at the same time, helping to better monitor quality, limiting violations of standards of the importing country. Exporting frozen durian also opens up opportunities to bring high income and stable output for durian farmers.

According to the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director of the Krong Pac Green Agriculture Cooperative (Krong Pac district) Tran Van Thang, the official export of frozen durian is a great, unprecedented opportunity for the durian industry in particular and other fruits in general. To seize this opportunity, the cooperative is completing facilities, techniques, equipping tools and means, maintaining an electronic diary, connecting with members and promptly responding and handling when the weather changes to ensure the quality of durian.

According to information from the Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee, the province currently has 17 durian processing enterprises with freezing and cold storage capacity, with a capacity of about 120,000 tons/year in 6 districts and towns; most of which are concentrated in Krong Pac district with 8 facilities. The province has reviewed qualified facilities, compiled and sent business information to the Plant Protection Department to negotiate with the General Department of Customs of China.

Quality is the most important factor

Dak Lak province currently has about 32,785 hectares of durian, an increase of more than 10,300 hectares compared to 2022; of which the harvested area accounts for 48.35%. The province's durian output in 2024 is about 300,000 tons. Thus, in the near future, when the entire durian area of ​​the province is harvested, Dak Lak will have abundant durian output for fresh and frozen export, requiring participants in the industry chain to continue to focus on and ensure the quality of durian.

Regarding this issue, according to Mr. Nguyen Minh Cong, CEO of Ban Me Green Farm Joint Stock Company, whether the product is fresh durian or frozen durian, the raw materials must be of good quality. Therefore, businesses and farmers need to improve their techniques and link up with 4 parties to find solutions to improve the quality of raw durian.

Improving quality to build and maintain the Vietnamese durian brand is a mandatory requirement, a top requirement for the industry today. In Dak Lak, it is necessary to carry out solutions so that the 2025 durian crop can overcome the problem of waterlogging and cope with the impact of adverse weather to ensure the quality of durian products.

In addition, enterprises, cooperatives and farmers must comply with the regulations of the import market, focusing on the quality of frozen durian to maintain prestige and brand, instead of competing for export quantity. Frozen durian packaging facilities must meet the requirements of food hygiene and safety, packaging processes, traceability and food hygiene and safety control processes. According to Vice Chairman of Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thien Van, the province will make more efforts, together with the business community and farmers to implement and ensure the correct conditions, criteria and principles in the signed Protocol on official export of frozen durian to China.

The Provincial People's Committee has directed relevant agencies to coordinate with the Plant Protection Department to compile documents and papers to organize training and improve the capacity of enterprises and farmers in the area on regulations, criteria and standards related to the Protocol. At the same time, the province has policies to attract reputable enterprises to invest in the deep processing of key fruit trees; including frozen durian.

Regarding the official export of frozen durian, according to Professor, Dr. Tran Van Hau, former senior lecturer, Can Tho University, one issue that needs to be solved is the durian peel. Normally, for a durian, the durian peel accounts for 50 - 60%.

Thus, with the current output of nearly 500,000 tons of durian in the Central Highlands, the amount of shell accounts for about 300,000 tons. Therefore, the livestock food and organic fertilizer production industries need to study the use of durian shell as raw material to take advantage of abundant raw materials, solve the problem of waste and bring economic efficiency.

Dak Lak durian has been and is being produced in different seasons. In addition to the attention and orientation of the province and the agricultural sector, the business community has actively promoted input services, building linkage chains in the production and consumption process.

Along with favorable local conditions, the current initiative of the province, localities, enterprises and cooperatives is bringing many optimistic signals, ready to conquer the goal of being the first locality to officially export frozen durian to the Chinese market.

Source: Bnews