Dragon fruit, individually quick-frozen (IQF) vegetables, dried fruits, and concentrated juices from Vietnam are being imported by Thailand to serve retail channels, food processing, and the tourism sector.

Vietnamese produce lines imported by Thailand

Despite being a major regional agricultural exporter, Thailand annually imports diverse fruits and vegetables to satisfy domestic consumption, tourism hospitality, and industrial processing. Among suppliers, Vietnam provides numerous commodities that complement Thailand's domestic production base.

Dragon fruit, longans, lychees, pomelos, and rambutans are among the Vietnamese fruits consumed in Thailand. According to the Agency of Foreign Trade (Ministry of Industry and Trade), Vietnamese dragon fruit holds a competitive edge across supermarket chains like Big C, Lotus’s, and Central Food Hall thanks to year-round availability, vibrant color, and competitive pricing.

Alongside fresh fruit, Thai enterprises are stepping up imports of frozen vegetables, dried fruits, fruit juice concentrates, and semi-processed agricultural commodities from Vietnam. These specifically include frozen mangoes and bananas, dried jackfruit and dragon fruit, as well as industrial processing ingredients such as concentrated lychee, pineapple, and acerola juices.

These commodity groups feed into Thailand's food manufacturing export industry and supply hotel and restaurant chains catering to international tourists.

The Agency of Foreign Trade noted that Vietnam supplies items in which Thailand lacks large-scale production advantages or those with counter-seasonal harvest windows, including dragon fruit.

Turnover declines, yet Vietnam’s market share expands

Citing figures from the International Trade Centre (ITC), the Agency of Foreign Trade reported that during the first seven months of 2026, Thailand imported over USD 1.68 billion worth of vegetables, flowers, roots, fruits, and processed produce (excluding cashew nuts), down 19.5% year-on-year.

Within this basket, Vietnam ranked as the fourth-largest supplier—following China, Laos, and the United States—generating roughly USD 71.17 million, a 13.8% contraction compared to the same period last year. Despite the dip in gross value, Vietnam's market share expanded from 3.94% to 4.22%.

Explaining the overall import contraction, the Agency of Foreign Trade pointed to mounting household debt and rising living costs, which have driven Thai consumers to tighten household budgets, trim purchases of imported mid-to-high-end foods, and pivot toward more cost-competitive domestic options.

Concurrently, more favorable weather conditions across the 2025–2026 crop cycle boosted local agricultural and fruit harvests. Abundant in-season domestic supplies suppressed import demand for comparable or substitutable lines.

Advantages from seasonal disparities

Dang Phuc Nguyen, Secretary-General of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, noted that although Vietnam and Thailand cultivate many overlapping fruits—such as mangoes, longans, durians, and dragon fruit—diverse consumer demand continues to create complementary opportunities between the two markets.

For durian, around June, Thailand’s harvest drops sharply just as Vietnam enters its peak production window. This harvest gap enables Vietnamese enterprises to export frozen durian to Thailand. Additionally, Vietnamese longans, lychees, and pomelos are shipped to the Thai market via maritime routes.

According to Nguyen, geographic proximity and multimodal transit links facilitate trade flows while keeping logistics costs lower than shipments to long-haul destinations. Nevertheless, product similarities intensify direct market competition. Exporters must elevate product consistency and rigorously comply with phytosanitary mandates and technical non-tariff measures to maximize this market's potential.

Source: Tap chi dien tu Nong thon Viet