“Moc Chau Highland JSC, Vietnam, exports fresh tropical fruits from Vietnam to the European market. Its key export products are passion fruits and dragon fruit. ”
Passion fruit is a year-round crop, except for two weeks in March when there is less fruit due to cold weather, and two weeks in June and July, when production is lower due to the rainy season.
The fruit is grown in the South of Vietnam and some mountainous regions in the North. Moc Chau Highland capacity is 20-30 tons per hectare per year. Farmers typically rotate crops year on year for soil health, rotating between passion fruits and alternative crops like corn or soybeans.
Mandy Bui is their export manager. She supplies markets across Europe, including in countries like France, The Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Spain.
Mandy explains: “The fruit we harvest for the European market is all premium grade. About five years ago, we were one of the first companies that started to export fresh fruits to Europe by air freight. Before Covid-19 struck, there were plenty of daily flights and logistics were not an issue. Now air freight has become expensive and less available. Currently, demand and supply is stable, but lower than in the years before Covid.”
Fresh passion fruit needs to be exported by air freight as the shelf-life of the product is relatively short. This year prices are higher than last year. The main difficulty is that air freight prices are high.
Mandy continues: “We now try to open markets in Asia and the Middle East and Dubai. But market prices are lower and there’s more competition. Another solution is that we sell to local processing plants. Since Covid-19 we've started to invest in dried fruits, which can be exported by sea. We dry passion fruits, mango, pineapple and dragon fruits.”
“Another change we witness is that due to lower export volumes, farmers are changing to other crops like coffee, corn and soybeans. As a result, fruit costs are increasing.”
“Aiming to to provide fresh tropical fruits to world consumers, we always work closely with Vietnamese farmer to grow the best fruits, control pesticides to ensure safety, healthy and meet EU MRLs requirement. Beside passion fruits and dragon fruits, we also export rambutan, durian, jackfruit, lychee, longan, mango and other tropical fruits from Vietnam. The company cooperates with farmers to meet Certificate criteria including FAIR Trade, Global G.A.P and social certificate Grasp.”
“From 15 March 2022, Vietnam has opened its borders, commercial flights are more available and airfreight prices are coming down. This might be a new incentive for our exports. In the fields, farmers are excited to prepare seedlings to grow a new crop.”
For more information:
Mandy Bui
Moc Chau Highland JSC Vietnam
www.mocchauhighland.com
Telephone: 0084 945 265 708 (Viber/ WhatsApp）
Email:
[email protected] / [email protected]