Conquer the European fruits and vegetables market

Mr. Le Minh Hoan - Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) thinks of opportunities for enterprises to collaborate to create a confederate strength to conquer the European market.

Passion fruit is one of Vietnam's potential exports to the European market. Photo: Tung Dinh.

Just 1% of market share

The seminar “Promote the exports of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables to Europe” is held in the afternoon of October 26. The Minister of MARD - Mr. Le Minh Hoan and the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) - Mr. Nguyen Minh Vu preside the seminar.

At the seminar, Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu affirms that the potential and room for growth in exporting fruits and vegetables to European market is still large and open for Vietnamese enterprises.

The Vietnam Ambassador to Belgium and Head of the Vietnamese Delegation to the European Union, Mr. Nguyen Van Thao says that Europe is the world largest import market for fruits and vegetables, with an annual scale of EUR 35 billion. Of which, the demand for tropical and rare kinds of fruits and vegetables keeps getting bigger.

However, the turnover of exports of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables to the EU market just reaches about US$ 150 million, equivalent to 0.36% of the total import volume of this market. Ambassador Nguyen Van Thao says the room for export is still very large.

“Besides, when the Europe and Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) takes effect, it creates legal background and motivation to push up exports in general and exports of agriculture products in particular,” adds Ambassador Nguyen Van Thao.

Despite the above potentials, the amount of vegetables and fruits exported from Vietnam to Europe has not yet achieved a satisfactory turnover, as it accounts for less than 1% of the import volume of this market.

In addition, Vietnam Ambassador to the Netherlands Pham Viet Anh assessed that the Netherlands is a gateway country to Europe, a transshipment point across the continent with a large logistics system and geographical location, but the Vietnam's vegetables and fruits exported to this market are still few in variety.

In order to effectively exploit the potential and room of the European market, the businesses participating in the seminar raised a number of problems and recommendations to the ambassadors and trade offices of Vietnam in European countries.

Most of the recommendations of the business sector to the ambassadors are related to connectivity issues. The first is the provision of information about policies and requirements, and then the consumption habits and trends of the market. If businesses have early access to these information, the export process will be much more favorable.

In addition, many businesses also expressed their desire ambassadors to help them connecting and participating in famous fairs in Europe to help strengthen trade promotion for this market.

Ambassadors can also connect to help businesses importing advanced technologies and equipment for processing and preserving fruits and vegetables, so they can be ready to meet strict criterias and requirements of the European market.

This recommendation is agreed by the localities. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Cong, Vice Chairman of Son La Provincial People's Committee says: “We would like the ambassadors to support Son La and businesses investing in the province to import machinery, equipment and technology from Germany and Italy to Vietnam".

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung, General Director of Vina T&T Import-Export Company, says that, currently, the Europe does not have a product inspection unit in Vietnam, so many businesses face the risk of cancellation of order after it has arrived in Europe. In that case, it costs a lot in terms of cost and shipping time.

The small and fragmented raw material areas are also factors that make it difficult for many businesses to apply for certifications meeting European requirements, such as GlobalGAP.

Vietnam Ambassador to the Netherlands, Mr. Pham Viet Anh notes that Vietnam should not only expand the planting area, meet the technical standards, but also pay attention to the criteria of environmental friendliness and social responsibility, because these are the factors that are of interest to Europe.

Establish a bloc of exporting agricultural products enterprises to the EU

Sharing his views at the seminar, Minister Le Minh Hoan says: “When I see Vietnamese agricultural products being brought to Europe, I am very happy, but what we have achieved is still very little. Agricultural products are only in the retail stores of Asians but not yet in the large European distribution system. Therefore, it can be seen that there is still great room for this field.”

According to the Minister, it is time businesses should not go alone, no longer pave the way: "If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, you must go together. The time has come for us to consider the establishment of a bloc of exporters of agricultural products to the European market.”

“It is necessary to have an overall strategy on exporting Vietnamese agricultural products to Europe, setting out long-term strategies for 5 years - 10 years or longer,” emphasizes Minister Le Minh Hoan.

Specifically, the Minister proposes the ambassadors and trade offices to help the MARD understanding how Thailand penetrates the European market, from which to learn from experience, develop strategies, and come up with plans. specific action. "Our goal is to catch up and surpass the Thailand in the European market," he says.

“The exploratory phase is over. With the support of the ambassadors, we will develop a strategy for the raw material area to logistics, market expansion and product distribution," says Minister Le Minh Hoan.

Regarding the issue of promotion through fairs and events, Minister Le Minh Hoan suggests the ambassadors’ support should go along with the businesses’ will, that they must converge together and be able to create common spaces for promoting the image of Vietnam.

Minister Le Minh Hoan also says that it is necessary to connect and share information between each other in Europe and Vietnam. "Maybe, by weekly, there will be information about changes and risks of the market so that domestic businesses and localities can update and change to adapt," he gives an example.

Minister Le Minh Hoan especially emphasized that there is currently a change in the consumption trend in Europe, in which Europeans are increasingly interested in green products, ensuring the requirements of environmental friendliness.

“Businesses and localities need to pay attention to this, in order to change the product promotion plan, not only stop at clean but also have to mention being environmentally friendly, ensuring social responsibility," says Minister Le Minh Hoan.

Minister Le Minh Hoan had worked with the European Ambassador to Vietnam to open an office or send a quarantine expert to work in Vietnam as soon as possible, to avoid the case of returning goods, causing unexpected shipping costs.