Ben Tre's fresh coconut exports are still low compared to market demand

Mr. Bui Duong Thuat, Director of MeKong Impex Fresh Fruit Company Limited (Mekong Company) in Chau Thanh district, Ben Tre province, shared that after the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that the US would open the market for Vietnamese skullcap coconuts, both domestic and oversea demand for fresh coconuts highly increased, especially in the dry season. However, in the dry season, the productivity of coconut trees is low, often causing a state of insufficient supply.

The business's capacity to consume coconuts each month is about 600,000 to 700,000 fruits, but the ability to meet the market is now only about 200,000 to 300,000 fruits due to insufficient supply.

Therefore, to be proactive about supply sources for the domestic market and exports, for many years, the business has linked directly with about 400 gardeners with a total area of approximately 200 hectares to purchase fresh coconuts at market prices.

To ensure strict requirements on the quality of exported products, the business organized many activities to guide people through the process of caring for coconut trees and periodically surveyed and evaluated the level of alum in the soil, thereby supporting the improvement of soil quality in coconut gardens.

According to Mr. Thuat, Mekong Company always recommends that people grow coconuts according to organic standards to develop the value of coconut trees in a sustainable way. In addition, the business has built a coconut production process in drought and saltwater instrusion conditions and promptly provided information about salinity to ensure coconut output and quality in the context of prolonged drought and saltwater instrusion as of presently.

Mr. Huynh Quang Duc, Deputy Director of the Ben Tre Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that Ben Tre's fresh coconut area accounts for 20% of the province's coconut area, equivalent to about 15,000 hectares with a harvest output of over 150 million fruits. On average, Mekong Company exports about 4 million fresh coconuts to the US market each year. In addition, a number of other businesses located in the province are also investing and expanding export markets to the US, Japan, Australia, and Germany.

However, Ben Tre's largest fresh coconut consumption channel is still the domestic market. The output of coconuts for export is still low compared to market demand. Export market demand is increasing while the geographical balance for the coconut industry remains very large. Therefore, Ben Tre province sets a goal of striving to reach 20,000 hectares of organic coconut in the whole province by 2025, continuing to promote fresh coconut exports to the US market, and aiming for official exports to the Chinese market.

In addition to the quality factor, exporting to the US market and other high-standard markets also requires extremely strict requirements on preservation work, food safety and hygiene, traceability, and quarantine. Therefore, businesses need to link with farmers to build raw material areas according to the value chain and invest in adequate infrastructure and equipment.

Besides, the agricultural sector of Ben Tre province will continue to promote the transfer and application of scientific and technical advances in seeds, cultivation, and pest prevention and control. Build production areas associated with the value chain for coconuts.

The locality will strengthen production linkages between cooperative groups, cooperatives, businesses, and consumption markets; organic and biological production; and technical transfer to support coconut growers and businesses to meet new technical standards according to market requirements.

At the same time, Ben Tre province also continues to promote trade promotion, product promotion, digital transformation applications, geographical indication certification, and the construction of production chains associated with the construction of growing area codes and packaging facility codes.

Ben Tre is piloting 5 production areas according to organic standards, with an area of 2,162 hectares (an increase of 336 hectares); 1 drinking coconut production area with an area of 40 hectares; 98 growing areas with a scale of 6,180 hectares registered for code issuance; 9,284 participating households; and 19 packing facilities registered to be granted packaging facility codes.