While many businesses complain they are undergoing the hardest trials in their history, others are doing well as they understand their markets well.

Vietnam’s statistics agencies report that coffee and pepper exports in the first quarter of the year decreased by 9.5 and 8.6 percent, respectively, compared with the same period last year. But Phan Minh Thong, chair of Phuc Sinh JSC, reported the company grew by 33 percent during that time and plans to obtain a growth rate of 39 percent in 2023. Thong said that the figure is attainable, but more efforts are needed.

Pepper has multiple uses including as input material to make sausage and ham, which are popular products in many countries, he noted.

Thong said he had traveled all over the US and realized that Americans may not have breakfast, but must have coffee in the morning. 

“Since we understand this well, we still can sell products amid lower purchasing power when people have to tighten their purse strings,” he said.

Pham Thai Binh, CEO of Trung An Hi-tech Farming JSC, told VietNamNet that several days ago, his company signed a contract on exporting 11,000 tons of brown rice to South Korea at the price of $695 per ton.

“The number of orders in the first and second quarters is estimated to increase sharply compared with the same period last year,” he said. “We are negotiating to take orders for the third quarter, and we are going to close a deal on exporting 30,000 tons.”

Rice has gone for good prices this year. The contracts signed by Trung An all have export prices of $600-1,500 per ton. 

According to Binh, the rice export picture this year is bright and rice exporters should negotiate for the best possible prices.

Ngo Tuong Vy, CEO of Chanh Thu, a big fruit exporter, said that there are a lot of orders, not only from China, but also from the US and other markets.

“We will only have exact figures about export volume in late June, but I am sure the growth rate will be high, because there are even more orders than in 2022,” she said.

In 2022, Vietnam faced difficulties in exporting fruits, because of the zero Covid policy pursued by China, the largest export market for fruit for Vietnam.

However, Chanh Thu’s revenue still grew by 40 percent over 2021 thanks to its successful entry into some choosy markets. It plans to double the farm produce export turnover this year.

In order to obtain good business performance amid difficulties, Vy said businesses need to find out what the markets need.

Many years ago, when the majority of Vietnamese businesses believed that China was an ‘easy-to-please’ market, she believed that China would become choosier one day.

Four years ago, she went to Thailand and saw how China set standards for Thai farm produce and she was sure that China would apply the same standards to Vietnam one day. 

And this has come true: China has tightened control over imports across border gates and has raised its requirements on imports from Vietnam.

Thorough preparation in advance, product quality improvement, and branding must all be done well now. 

Thanks to thorough preparation, the first export consignment of durian to China saw great success. Orders for durian have been coming regularly and output is expected to reach 40,000 tons this year.

As for the US market, after the Covid-19 pandemic, the enterprise has exported more processed fruits instead of fresh fruits and has gained initial achievements. 

Vy believes that her company has been able to do this because it understands the market and new consumer trends.

Thong said that businesses need to travel regularly to keep up-to-date about information about markets. In the Middle East, for example, people previously mostly drank tea, but they now favor coffee.

“The costs of trips to survey markets are very high. But if businesses sit still, they won’t be able to sell products. No sales mean no revenue and no profit,” he said, explaining that Phuc Sinh always allocates budgets for trips, marketing and sale promotion programs.

Chair of the Handicraft & Wood Industry Association of HCM City (Hawa) Nguyen Chanh Phuong said that trade promotion activities are extremely important at this moment. Trade fairs and exhibitions are the most effective advertisement channel as they can attract hundreds of businesses and thousands of international attendants and buyers.

Viet Nam Net