Vietnam's durian industry faces escalating competitive pressure on the international market, particularly from regional producers such as Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Cambodia.

Durian represents a high-economic-value sector with tremendous export potential, with concentrated growing regions across the Central Highlands, Southeast, South Central Coast, and Mekong Delta. In 2026, the country's total durian acreage is estimated at roughly 200,000 hectares, with output projected to reach 2.08 million metric tons.

According to Customs statistics, in the first seven months of 2026, Vietnam’s durian export turnover reached approximately USD 1.77 billion, surging 47.1% year-on-year and accounting for 36.98% of the country’s total fruit and vegetable export value.

In July 2026 alone, durian exports brought in USD 681.2 million, up 30.2% compared to June and soaring 81% year-on-year.

Vietnam's durian exports remain heavily reliant on the Chinese market, which absorbs about 95% of the sector's export revenue.

Beyond China, this billion-dollar fruit is shipped to more than 20 countries and territories. Notably, in July 2026, India officially granted import clearance for fresh Vietnamese durian, creating additional headroom for expansion and market diversification.

Thailand’s conclusion of its summer durian season is seen as a favorable development for Vietnamese produce on global markets, particularly through September and October, when the Central Highlands provinces (Dak Lak, Lam Dong, Gia Lai) enter their peak harvest.

Dang Phuc Nguyen, Secretary-General of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (VINAFRUIT), forecast that durian exports in 2026 could surpass USD 4 billion—an unprecedented high in the industry's history. According to Nguyen, during the height of the harvest, monthly export turnover could reach approximately USD 1 billion.

Alongside the boom, leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment have also highlighted a series of hurdles and challenges that this billion-dollar industry must navigate.

Specifically, durian acreage has expanded rapidly without being tied to value chain organization. In several localities, expansion has been spontaneous, lacking close alignment with land conditions, water sources, infrastructure, and raw material belt planning.

Meanwhile, linkages among cultivation, procurement, preliminary processing, refining, and off-take remain loose, lacking closed-loop integration as well as clear mechanisms for coordination, responsibility-sharing, and profit distribution.

Crucially, technical requirements in importing markets are growing increasingly stringent. Meeting standards on phytosanitary measures, food safety, chemical residue limits, and traceability requires farmers, packing facilities, exporters, and related stakeholders to elevate capabilities, adhere to technical protocols, and enforce tight controls across every stage—from production, harvesting, and preliminary handling to storage, packaging, and export.

Production organization, cultivation zone management, and export support in several localities lack synchronization. The sector's ability to adapt to shifting technical regulations, market swings, and foreign competition remains constrained. Updating and standardizing data on growing zones, packing houses, traceability, and collaborative production in some areas have yet to meet actual requirements.

Preservation and processing technologies remain disjointed, largely centered on cold storage, freezing, and fresh fruit exports. While some facilities have adopted individual quick freezing (IQF) technology to preserve product quality, adoption remains limited due to high costs.

Vietnam's durian sector faces intensifying competition internationally, particularly from regional competitors such as Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Cambodia.

Thailand and Malaysia are aggressively expanding frozen durian exports, with Malaysia holding a distinct varietal edge. Cambodia is also expanding its cultivation area while stepping up standard operating procedures.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese durian exports remain heavily dependent on China, which consumes around 95% of export volume, underscoring the urgent imperative to diversify markets and sharpen competitiveness.

In testing and inspection, sample collection across certain consignments has failed to ensure representativeness—especially for non-homogeneous shipments—potentially compromising the accuracy and reliability of test results and threatening the maintenance of export-certified testing laboratory accreditation. Consequently, sampling protocols must be rectified and standardized to safeguard representativeness and test validity.

Addressing these issues, leaders from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment emphasized that the durian industry must pivot from a reactive "troubleshoot when problems arise" mindset to proactive, long-range preparation. Quality, food safety, and traceability must serve as the foundation, with market signals and enterprise needs steering production organization.

In parallel, stakeholders must reinforce value chain linkages, proactively diversify export destinations, and elevate value addition, thereby building an industry that develops stably, transparently, and sustainably.

Source: Bao VietNamNet