NZ horticultural exports: Vietnam expansion eyed after success with apples, cherries and kiwifruit

Last year, Vietnam was the second-largest market (after China) for New Zealand apples, earning $126m. Photo / 123RF

By Monique Steele of RNZ

• New Zealand earned $172 million in horticultural exports to Vietnam in 2024, mainly from apples, kiwifruit, and cherries.
• A new strategic partnership aims to expand market access for New Zealand’s horticulture sector in Vietnam.
• 16 business deals worth $130 million were signed, with plans to grow trade in premium food and beverage sectors.

Explained: Aotearoa earned $172 million in horticultural exports to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 2024, mostly from just three fruits.

But a new comprehensive strategic partnership signed in February has offered hope for more products from New Zealand’s horticulture sector to enter the lucrative market of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economy.

Some New Zealand fruit companies were making greater investments into the rapidly growing market, while the deepening relationship could bear fruit for new entrants too.

Top horticultural exports to Vietnam

Vietnam spent $3.13 billion on its total imported fruits and vegetables in 2019, and it was known to be a competitive, open-trading market for exporters.

Growers of New Zealand squash and strawberries have just gained new market access to Vietnam, with more in the works.

Vietnam was New Zealand apples’ second-largest market after China, last year earning $126m, followed by kiwifruit with $30m and cherries with $10m.

Family-owned apple company Heartland Fruit of Richmond in the Tasman District said it made $7.8m from apple exports to Vietnam last year.

General manager of sales and marketing, Brendon Osborn, said the work on-orchard dictated the life of the fruit on its four- to six-week journey by sea.

“Most of my friends go, ‘oh you’re just selling apples? How hard can it be?‘” Osborn said.

“We send into Vietnam, and it goes to the wholesale markets in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi and in Danang.

“Then from there, it’ll go out into the regions of Vietnam, but also we’ll have pallets or boxes put on a truck that will go up to Cambodia and Laos.

“So, your fruit’s got to be able to survive that.”

However, Osborn said the costs to export fresh produce did mount up for exporters - including transport, port costs, freight costs, compliance and more.

“It’s quite a long spreadsheet,” he said.

“But as part of our business, we realise everyone in the chain has to make money.

“Otherwise, the chain doesn’t survive.”

With the success of apples into Vietnam, industry group New Zealand Apples and Pears wanted pears to get in the market too, chief executive Karen Morrish said.

“It would be easy in the sense that the relationships have probably already been cultivated through the apple sector.

“But then it would be also teaching the Vietnamese about our pears, if we’ve got any different varieties or their different characteristics.

“So, it comes down to relationships and educating the consumer on how fantastic they are.”

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) confirmed Vietnamese officials were considering the request for new access for pears, and next on the list will be avocados and summer fruit.

Steve Ainsworth, MPI’s divisional manager for bilateral relations and trade, said its efforts in Vietnam involved continuing current trade and opening up new access too.

“For new access, the process typically involves submission of a detailed plant pest risk analysis by New Zealand, review by Vietnam, negotiation of requirements for export to manage any pests and diseases of concern, and an audit before trade can commence. This applies for each plant product,” Ainsworth said.

“No requests for access have been declined by Vietnam.”

One free trade deal, the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand free trade agreement (AANZFTA), saw passionfruit, persimmon, apricots and blueberries able to enter Vietnam tariff-free.

The ASEAN-New Zealand business council met last week (Tuesday, April 7) to discuss further market opportunities.

Executive director, Liz Bell, said there were opportunities across many areas, like primary sectors, to grow their trade with Vietnam or gain new access, particularly in areas like health and wellbeing, convenience foods and red meat.

She said the market had gone “from strength-to-strength” over the past 20 years, and its regulatory environment had improved a lot in that time, too.

“We see such a potential for growth,” Bell said.

A business mission will be going to Vietnam in October, including companies with existing business there and also new entrants.

Deals among ‘friends’

Prime Minister Chris Luxon in Vietnam, sharing a laugh with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính. Photo / RNZ, Giles Dexter

The prime ministers of New Zealand and Vietnam want their friendly business partnership to earn $3b in 2026.

A large New Zealand contingent travelled to Saigon and Hanoi in late February to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

While in Saigon - a city of nearly nine million people - Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the visit would “open the door to more opportunities”.

New Zealand already had about 600,000 employees working in export or export-supporting sectors.

Luxon said expanding economic trade aimed to grow incomes and create jobs at home.

“We see opportunities to build partnerships in high-value sectors like premium food and beverage, agritech, technology, innovation and also renewable energy,” Luxon said.

Vietnam Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, who Luxon described as his “very good friend”, said expanding economic trade was a priority.

“We will expand economic, trade and investment cooperation, we will work to improve market access for each other’s key products.

“We will diversify our supply chain, our markets and our production lines to meet the demands of the two sides.”

Sixteen new business deals valued at an estimated $130m over the next three years and a comprehensive strategic partnership were signed while Luxon was in Saigon.

One recipient, far from a stranger to the fruit trade, was T&G Global - in the trade in Aotearoa for more than 120 years.

The deal will grow distribution of its premium Envy apple by 50% across WinCommerce’s network of stores that included popular WinMart shops.

The company celebrated the departure of Envy’s first shipment for the season this month, headed for Asia.

General manager for Asia James Gordon said it sent 7800 tonnes of Envy apples to Vietnam last year - which had doubled in the past four years and will double again in the next two.

“I think every primary industry has a lot of focus on Vietnam, and particularly for fresh produce, it’s been a real star,” Gordon said.

“Our top five markets go Hong Kong, Taiwan, China - not in order - and then Vietnam and Thailand are the five largest.

“And out of all of those, Vietnam is the fastest-growing and rapidly becoming one of our larger markets.”

Gordon said it had an office in Saigon - one of five in Asia - and it will invest in more offices soon to drive sales and marketing.

He said the sales model had changed in recent years.

“It was about getting good quality fruit in the hands of probably distributors.

“Now it’s about being on the ground ourselves and engaging with consumers.

“I think that’s a big change, and it’s probably led by someone like Zespri who really did that well early.

“But you can see some of the leading fresh produce companies in New Zealand are also going down that path, and that includes T&G.”

The New Zealand Stock Exchange-listed company of 21 years was founded as Turners and Growers in Auckland in 1895, before a majority buy-out by German multinational BayWa in 2012.

The company had roughly 1200 New Zealand growers, many of whom were still recovering from Cyclone Gabrielle more than two years ago.

BayWa announced in December it would carry out an international company restructure in December.

Greater trade possibilities as Vietnam becomes ‘more embedded’ in global supply chain

Though Vietnam may be considered a “star market” for exporters, there was uncertainty across primary sectors after United States import tariffs were announced earlier this month.

Liz Bell, executive director of the ASEAN-New Zealand Business Council, said Vietnam officials were currently in the United States on the topic of tariffs.

“[Vietnam] will want to keep its trade links open,” Bell said.

Vietnam was slapped with higher import tariffs than the 10% across-the-board rate most countries like New Zealand were facing.

With the US the largest exporter of apples into Vietnam, Bell said it was possible the market share could change as a result of the tariff situation.

“If not possible with the US, then there could be opportunities for others, like New Zealand.”

Speaking from Saigon in February, Luxon said trade with Vietnam has grown 40% in the past five years, and there was room to grow it even more.

“It’s going to be richer, it’s going to be more embedded in the supply chain.”

Major extensions and upgrades were tipped for Vietnam’s ports to facilitate maritime trade as a key hub into Southeast Asia and North Asia.

At its ports, pest assessments were yet to go electronic; a certification the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said it was encouraging officials to do for agricultural imports for greater efficiencies in the supply chain.

Leading kiwifruit exporter in Vietnam, Zespri, said Vietnam’s infrastructure in-market from port into retail was developing at pace.

Vietnam market manager Quang Nguyen said Zespri was excited by the growth potential of Vietnam, one of its fastest-growing markets, where it planned to enter more cities in the years to come.

“We’re investing heavily to develop the market as part of our efforts to grow new markets and create value for growers,” he said.

Last year, it supplied 4500 tonnes of mostly New Zealand-grown fruit with sales worth $30m - and it expects volumes to grow by more than 30% in 2025.

“To date, we’ve worked with three distribution partners - Tu Phuong (Tony Fruits), Biovegi Vietnam and Biovegi Southern, selling fruit across Vietnam,” Nguyen said.

“In order to enhance our nationwide distribution footprint, we’ve just appointed a fourth distribution partner taking effect for the 2025 New Zealand season, Joybee Fruits.”

Zespri was also trying to address the 40% of its total emissions, which came from shipping, by sending its first charter for the season to China (late March) powered by biofuel purchased outside of Aotearoa.

Shipping and aviation emissions were not counted in New Zealand and Vietnam’s shared net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 targets, despite recommendations in a report by the Climate Change Commission released in November.

However, climate change response was a new pillar in the comprehensive strategic partnership.

Vietnam’s economy had grown around 5% each year for more than two decades.

An economic update on Vietnam published by MFAT in September said the overall economic outlook remained upbeat, though external risks causing lingering headwinds had resulted in its growth not yet bouncing back to its pre-pandemic levels.

“While the trajectory is positive, there remain several downside risks that could jeopardise Vietnam’s momentum,” it said.

“This includes softened global demand caused by slow economic recovery among its key trading partners and a volatile international environment, both of which could slow down the recovery of its export-led growth.

“In addition, the lower pace of normalisation of interest rates in many developed economies will continue to put pressure on exchange rates.”

But in the meantime, New Zealand fruit companies were drooling at the chance of earning more Vietnamese dong in a market hungry for more.

- RNZ