Despite Vietnam's great dragon fruit production, which can reach up to 20,000 tonnes per month, China absorbs the vast majority of this volume, about 70%. The Asian country has become the main market for companies such as Hai Thanh Dragon Fruit Export Factor, which cultivates three of the four varieties of this fruit worldwide: white flesh and pink skin; red flesh and pink skin; purple flesh and pink skin.
There are also other countries that demand dragon fruit of Vietnamese origin in its different varieties, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Dubai or India, thus leaving very little for the domestic market. "We would like to enter markets in other areas of the world, such as Europe, America, Japan or Russia, but we are faced with the problem of transport duration and its cost, as well as the fruit's shelf life," explains Ms Tram. The fact is that the shelf life of dragon fruit oscillates between 15 and 20 days, and it also needs a constant temperature of between 2 and 4 degrees Celsius. Consequently, maritime transport is basically discarded, but air shipments would increase the final price of the fruit to uncompetitive levels.
"Just as with other products, the production volume depends a bit on the weather." It is worth noting, in any case, that the number of hectares devoted to the crop has increased slightly in recent years. This has resulted in the supply being a little higher than the demand this past year and in prices being affected. The price per kilo paid for the large sizes, which stood at $ 0.79 last year, has now dropped to $ 0.66.
For more information:
Ms Tram
Hai Thanh Dragon Fruit Export Factory
Tel.: +84 988504258