Recently, according to Viet Nam Express (vnexpress), Chinese mangoes exported to Viet Nam are quite competitive in the local market due to price and other advantages, and fruit traders at Thu Duc wholesale market in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, said in an interview that mangoes and other fruits from China this year are very popular with customers.
It is reported that this year, Viet Nam mango importers have added the variety of chickpeas in addition to importing small mangoes from the mainland.
Compared with mangoes produced in Viet Nam, the price of mangoes from China is cheaper, taking chickpeas as an example, a fruit shop in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, sells for 40,000 Viet Nam / kg, which is equivalent to less than 6 yuan / jin, while the price of Viet Nam Lusa mangoes reaches 6-100,000 Viet Nam / kg.
In the report, the owner of the fruit store also said that at first, Viet Nam consumers were very resistant to Chinese fruits, but after trying them, they found them delicious, so the repurchase rate was very high.
I believe that from our perspective, after understanding the above relevant information, different friends in China will feel that there are many different problems.
For example, as a Southeast Asian country that originally produces mangoes, why does Viet Nam import mangoes from the mainland?
For example, from the perspective of the mainland fruit market, the price of imported fruits is much higher than that of domestic fruits, why is the price of mangoes exported to Viet Nam lower than that of local Viet Nam?
These questions are worth discussing.
In addition, through this report, it is also necessary to talk about some issues related to the development of the mainland's fruit export industry, such as why Viet Nam consumers are very resistant to Chinese fruits?
In fact, this matter is inseparable from the many agricultural rumors that have gone viral on the mainland Internet.
Let's talk about it in detail.
Viet Nam, China's largest importer of fruits
Because of the hot sales of tropical fruits such as Viet Nam durian and dragon fruit in the mainland market, many friends know that Viet Nam is a big exporter of tropical fruits.
But what few people know is that Viet Nam is also a big importer of Chinese fruits.
Viet Nam is indeed one of the main producers of mangoes in the world, but this does not prevent Viet Nam from importing mangoes from the mainland.
The source of the relevant information is Viet Nam media, so there is no need to question the competitiveness of Chinese mangoes.
In addition, for this reason, I specifically checked the data of the mainland's mango exports to Vietnam in the first half of the year, according to the data of the General Administration of Customs of the mainland, from January to June, the mainland exported about 4,184 tons of mangoes to Viet Nam.
Compared with 2,453 tons in the same period of 2023, it is a full increase of 70.56%, which is enough to prove the competitiveness of mainland mangoes in the Viet Nam market.
As one of the main producers of mangoes, Viet Nam also imports mainland mangoes for a simple reason.
First of all, this is normal international trade; Secondly, the Viet Nam fruit market also needs to be diversified, and mangoes from different families and different varieties and flavors are needed for Viet Nam consumers to choose; Moreover, there are indeed Viet Nam consumers who resist Chinese fruits, but not all of them resist;
In the end, more than 4,000 tons of mangoes were imported in half a year, and the import volume was not large, in general, just like the mainland is also one of the main producers of mangoes, but it also imports mangoes from Viet Nam, and it also imports about 6,000 tons of mangoes in half a year.
As a major importer of Chinese fruits, Viet Nam is "big" in their rare temperate fruits.
Such as apples, pears, plums, grapes, peaches, etc.
Taking apples as an example, according to mainland customs statistics, from January to June 2024, the mainland exported about 62,500 tons of apples to Viet Nam, accounting for 14.6% of the mainland's total apple exports in the first half of the year.
From the perspective of export objects, Viet Nam is the country that exports the most apples in the first half of 2024.
Several other temperate fruits produced in the mainland are also exported to Vietnam, and most of them are in the forefront of Viet Nam in terms of export targets.
In addition, according to the data of the General Administration of Customs of Viet Nam, from January to June 2024, China's fruit exports to Viet Nam reached 400 million US dollars, an increase of 28% over the same period in 2023, so Viet Nam is definitely a major importer of Chinese fruits, and the mainland's fruit exports to Vietnam are growing.
Why Chinese fruits are cheap in Viet Nam
From the report, it is not difficult to find that the price of local mangoes in Viet Nam is much higher than that of imported Chinese mangoes, which is in sharp contrast to the higher prices of imported fruits in the mainland market, in fact, this is not surprising, mainly for the following reasons:
First, there is the issue of demand.
The mainland has a greater demand for high-end imported fruits, while the Viet Nam market has a higher demand for low-priced and cost-effective fruits.
Therefore, the mangoes we export to Viet Nam are not high-end, brand mangoes, but ordinary mangoes, in fact, not only mangoes, but also apples, pears and other fruits exported from the mainland to Viet Nam are mainly ordinary.
I am not empty mouth, and I must be deeply touched by my friends who have done fruit import and export trade with Viet Nam.
Secondly, the high price of mangoes in Viet Nam at this stage is due to the decrease in supply, and after the new harvest period of Viet Nam mangoes enters the new harvest period in September, the supply will increase, and the price of mangoes in Viet Nam will fall.
In addition, low price and high quality are the main competitiveness of mainland export fruits in the international market, and the export volume of high-end and premium fruits is small.
Mango is one of the main fruits in Viet Nam, and if we want to occupy the market, we must have low prices and high quality.
This is just like Viet Nam exports mangoes to the mainland, which is also the main mango producing country, the same low-price strategy, according to customs data, in the first half of this year, the average price of Viet Nam's mangoes exported to the mainland is only about 2 yuan / jin.
Moreover, as the report said, it cannot be ruled out that some Viet Nam consumers are still resistant to Chinese fruits, and the transformation takes time and contact opportunities, and lower prices and higher cost performance are stepping stones to occupy a larger market.
This point, from the first half of this year, the average unit price of mangoes exported from the mainland to Viet Nam is about 4 yuan / jin, which is twice as expensive as that exported from Viet Nam to the mainland, but in the Viet Nam terminal fruit market, the price of hawksbill mangoes is only 2 yuan per kilogram to sell, Viet Nam consumers found that it is delicious after trying, and the higher repurchase rate can be reflected.
Of course, the fruits exported from the mainland to the Viet Nam market are not all low-priced, and there are also high-end premium fruits.
For example, peaches.
According to relevant media reports, in July and August 2023, a high-quality peach from China was very popular in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.
It is reported that at that time, a box of 6 Chinese high-quality peaches was sold as high as 500,000 Viet Nam dong in Viet Nam, equivalent to about 152 yuan; The price of peaches is more expensive, a box of 8, equivalent to nearly 160 yuan.
Of course, the export volume is small. In addition, consumers of Chinese high-quality peaches and peaches purchased in Viet Nam may also be complained about by Viet Nam.
Agricultural rumors affect China's fruit export industry
Finally, as an agriculturalist, I am most concerned about and want to talk about the issues.
In fact, whether from the reports I quoted in this article or on social media, some Viet Nam consumers did have some resistance to Chinese fruits.
Of course, there are subjective emotions in this, and I won't discuss these things.
My friends who are engaged in exporting fruits to Viet Nam and feedback from the Internet have learned that a big reason for the resistance of some Viet Nam consumers to Chinese fruits is the spread of agricultural rumors.
On the one hand, agricultural rumors similar to fruit bubbles and the like have spread from home to abroad, and there are people like me in China who objectively analyze popular science and refute rumors, and when they spread abroad, who will give you an objective analysis? Misunderstandings can easily arise.
On the other hand, the competitiveness of low-cost and high-quality Chinese fruits in foreign markets such as Viet Nam, coupled with the existence of some people's subjective emotions, will more or less amplify the rumors flowing out of the mainland, and even directly maliciously fabricate rumors to slander.
Looking back now, the rumors of "one's own people" slandering China's agriculture, such as "watermelon injection", "cyclamate", "cucumber with contraceptive pills", "bananas with medicine", and so on, have gone viral at home and have been moved abroad, resulting in a crisis of trust and economic losses.
The development of the mainland fruit industry to the present, focusing on the development of the export industry, is an important growth point of the fruit industry in the future, so I hope that the relevant departments can increase the crackdown on agricultural rumors in the future.
Of course, it cannot be denied that although there are few but still real incidents that endanger the safety of agricultural products, and completely eliminating them is also an important way to cut off rumors and rumors, so we must not only crack down on them, but also crack down on them.
Finally, I hope that with the joint efforts, the mainland's fruit export industry will get better and better.
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