Vietnamese consumers are favouring more imported fruits as spending last year reached over USD700m. That has put more pressure on the local businesses.
The import turnover in the first month of 2017 reached over USD110m, an increase of 55% compared to same period last year. Vietnam is importing a large number of fruits from dozens of countries including Chile, New Zealand and Australia.
Nguyen Van Thanh, chairman of An Phu APP Company, said, "Fruit is one of the top imported products, especially during the Tet Holiday when they are used as gifts. Consumers often select fruits that are not grown in Vietnam such as the kiwi. In addition, it's also a way to show off their wealth."
Thailand has overtaken China in recent years to become Vietnam's leading fruit provider. Thailand exported USD218.8m worth of fruit into Vietnam in the first eight months of 2016, followed by China with USD125.2m.
One of the reasons for the shift towards imports have been the difficulty in finding quality locally grown fruit. Some customers said many local fruits had lost their quality while being sold at high prices.
