According to the General Department of Customs, the RoK is the second largest market, after China, in importing Vietnamese fruits and vegetables, accounting for about 5% of the total market share of fruit and vegetable exports.
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| Banana exports to the RoK reached 35.4 million USD, up by nearly three times year on year. (Photo: baodautu.vn) |
The three main agricultural products that significantly contributed to the export turnover to the RoK include bananas, mangoes and sesame seeds. Of which, banana exports reached 35.4 million USD, up by nearly three times over the same period last year. Mango exports reached 24 million USD, up 72%, and sesame seeds reached nearly 30 million USD, up 62%.
In addition, other products such as dragon fruit, watermelon, shiitake mushrooms, durian and pineapple also recorded rapid growth from 40% to 217% over the same period. In particular, export of almonds, a type of nut from Vietnam, reached nearly 2 million USD, up 244 times.
Explaining this increase, a representative of the Korean Business Association in Vietnam said that the purchasing power of Korean consumers has recovered after the pandemic and prices of Vietnamese fruits are also cheaper.
Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, commented that the scale of fruit and vegetable imports from the RoK is constantly growing. Import turnover of fruit and vegetables from Vietnam to the RoK is expected to reach 190 million USD in the first seven months of the year and is likely to increase sharply during the year-end holidays.
The scale of the Korean market for bananas is more than 300 million USD per year. Therefore, this fruit still has significant potential to grow and expand its market share in this country, added Nguyen.
In addition to bananas, other products such as watermelon, pineapple, strawberry, grape, mango and jackfruit are also favored by Korean consumers. To compete with fruits from Thailand and the Philippines, Vietnamese goods need to meet food safety and hygiene standards and be packaged in accordance with the requirements of this market.
Recently, many Korean supermarket chains such as Lotte and Emart have worked directly with Vietnamese farmers, cooperatives and businesses to ensure quality, right from the planting and processing stages./.