Fruits and Vegetables in Vietnam - International Food Policy ...

Box 4-2. Problems with longan markets
Longans are an important crop in Hung Yen province. About 60 percent of the harvest is normally dried to
produce long nhan, used in traditional medicine. A large share of the harvest is typically exported to China.
Longan growers in Hung Yen province face a difficult year. After bumper crops in 1999 and 2000, the
harvest for 2001 was significantly smaller. Part of the problem is the weather. Longans need cool weather to
flower, but unusually high temperatures in the spring of 2001 disrupted the tree’s natural cycle.
In addition, Hung Yen producers are facing increasing competition with producers in the south of Vietnam
and in Thailand. Although the Thai longans are more expensive than those from Vietnam, Chinese consumers
consider them to be of a higher quality. In contrast, longans from the south of Vietnam are sold very cheaply
and northern producers cannot compete with them on price alone.
A third problem is that last year, China stopped buying longans from Hung Yen. The fruit was transported to
the border at Lang Son, but had to be returned. One trading household lost VND 100 million as a result of the
loss of the Chinese market.
Source: Vietnam News Service, 1 September 2001.
11.3 Exports
In 1998, Viet Nam exported about US$52.6 million worth of fruits and vegetables. The main
two markets for Vietnamese fruits and vegetables were China and Taiwan, which were responsible for
about 30 and 25 percent of export revenue, respectively. About 28 percent of the produce was sold to
other countries within Asia and the EU and the US constituted only about 10 and 4 percent,
respectively (GSO 2000). By 2001, fruit and vegetable exports had risen to US$ 330 million. China
remains the most important buyer of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables (see Chapter 6).
The IFPRI-MARD Survey of Fruit and Vegetable Traders included in its sample 19 exporters.
Based on this small sample, it appears that exporters have a relatively small number of contacts
abroad. Furthermore, these contacts are established primarily through a relative or friend (47 percent
of exporters), or through a relationship established from a previous job or employer (37 percent)
through which they sell.
11.4 Transportation
Overall, 91 percent of the traders in the sample use some form of transport. About 73 percent
use dry trucks, 23.2 percent use vans and minivans, and 11.6 percent use boats and ships to move their
produce.
Domestically traded fruits and vegetables were shipped over 500 kilometers on average
within Viet Nam in 2000. In particular, produce items in the North were shipped considerably longer
distances than those originating in the South.
As described in IFPRI (2000), cold chains are quite underdeveloped in Viet Nam. Only about
15 percent of meat processors and none of the domestic traders of meat in Viet Nam had cold
transport or storage facilities in 1998/99. In 2000, less than 17 percent of the fresh fruit and vegetable
Chapter 4. Fruit and Vegetable Traders Page 4-16