Viet Nam holds great potential for coconut exports

ĐTO/NDO- According to the Agency of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the first nine months of 2025, Viet Nam’s total coconut export value reached nearly 400 million USD, a sharp increase compared with the same period last year, with processed coconut products rising by 54.8%. With more than 200,000 hectares of cultivation, Viet Nam’s coconut sector has strong prospects for expanding exports on the global market.

 

Van Huu Hue, Deputy Director of the Vinh Long Department of Agriculture and Environment, stated that the province has an estimated 120,000 hectares under coconut cultivation, accounting for more than half of the country’s total coconut-growing area.

 

At present, the province has 30,355 hectares of coconut grown to organic standards, representing one quarter of its total coconut area. In addition, 156 planting zones and 17 packing facilities have been granted codes by Chinese customs making them eligible for export to the world’s second largest economy.

The province is home to around 183 producers and processors of coconut products, including coconut oil, coconut water, coconut milk, coconut cream, desiccated coconut, coconut candy, products from coconut blossom nectar, coconut gel, cosmetics, coconut-shell charcoal, coir fibre and handicrafts. The value of the coconut processing industry in 2025 is estimated at about 4 trillion VND, up 3.9% from 2024 and accounting for roughly 8% of the province’s total industrial output.

Coconut farming in line with organic standards in Tuong Da Commune, Vinh Long Province. (Photo: Hoang Trung).

 

“The province has great potential to expand organic coconut production in line with international standards thanks to favourable soil conditions, climate, seed resources and the application of organic farming processes. Local organic coconut products are highly regarded both domestically and internationally, meeting the quality requirements of markets such as the US, Japan and the EU. To further improve productivity, quality and competitiveness, the province has proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment develop a project to assess the soil’s physical and chemical properties, create a soil map, apply geographic information systems to build a database of specialised coconut-growing zones, and propose solutions to improve soil health and nutrient management for coconut and organic coconut-growing areas,” Hue emphasised.

 

Coconut is one of six key industrial crops under the master plan for major industrial crop development to 2030, and export markets have been expanding steadily. Since August 2024, fresh coconuts from Viet Nam have been officially exported to China via formal channels. China is one of the world’s largest coconut-consuming markets, buying around 4 billion coconuts annually, including approximately 2.6 billion fresh coconuts, creating substantial opportunities for Viet Nam.

 

A representative of Vina T&T Group said the company currently exports coconuts to the US, Australia and Canada, and is stepping up exports to China to take advantage of geographical proximity and lower logistics costs. However, Thailand and Indonesia also export large volumes of coconuts to China, creating fierce competition and requiring Vietnamese producers to improve quality and maintain reasonable prices.

Besides China, the US is another major market for coconut products due to surging demand from retail chains and the beverage industry. Coconut exports to the US account for nearly 26% of Viet Nam’s total coconut export value. Recently, Spain has also increased its imports of Vietnamese coconuts.

 

To boost export revenue, the coconut industry needs to focus on developing deeply processed products.

According to Pham Anh Tuan, Director of the Viet Nam Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Post-Harvest Technology under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, only around 30% of the industry’s products currently belong to deep-processing value chains, including coconut water, coconut milk, coconut oil, and desiccated coconut. Several advanced technologies have already been applied, such as UHT sterilisation for coconut water and multi-layer aseptic packaging, and technologies for extracting pure coconut oil.

 

Tuan recommends that the coconut industry accelerate the development of coconut milk, as it is an important ingredient for the food industry. At present, the four leading Asian countries exporting coconut milk powder and liquid coconut milk are the Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

 

To penetrate this market segment, coconut processing and export enterprises must comply with strict quality standards, particularly in the EU, which imposes regulations on coconut cream content, fat and protein levels, and aroma consistency.

 

As the trend towards natural and environmentally friendly products becomes increasingly widespread, producers must expand organic production and fully meet food safety regulations on preservatives, microbiological criteria and heavy-metal residues under EU and other high-quality market standards.