According to the General Department of Customs, in the past six months, South Koreans have spent more than 164 million USD (about 4,100 billion VND) buying fruits and vegetables from Vietnam. Most notably, bananas are the fruit that Koreans love.

According to data from the General Department of Customs, after the billion-people market of China, the land of kimchi, South Korea, is currently the second largest market for importing Vietnamese fruits and vegetables, with the most popular being fruit. Bananas. This market accounts for 5% of the total fruit and vegetable export market share.

For example, in the first 6 months of 2024, South Korea spent more than 164 million USD, equivalent to about 4,100 billion VND, to buy fruits and vegetables from Vietnam, an increase of nearly 55% over the same period last year.

On August 19, Mr. Vo Quan Huy, director of Huy Long An Company Limited, gave his views on the Korean market with Vietnamese fruits and agricultural products, especially bananas.

This "king of agricultural products" is said to top the list of fruits, Korean I like eating Vietnamese bananas the most. Huy Long An Company Limited's products are purchased by many Korean partners with many large orders and are sold in many supermarkets.

Mr. Huy also explained that because the climate in Korea is too cold to grow bananas, importing products from abroad is a matter of course.

"In the past, for Koreans, bananas were an expensive import and this fruit was only for the rich. In recent years, bananas have been targeted by many countries in this market, so they are popular. However, the price of Vietnamese fruit is also cheaper than other countries.

After the COVID-19 pandemic and when the world economy was in recession, the purchasing power of Korean consumers recovered after the pandemic and remained unchanged. Therefore, Koreans eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, Vietnamese fruit "It's understandable," said Mr. Huy.

According to the General Department of Customs, the three main agricultural products that contribute greatly to export turnover to Korea include bananas, mangoes and sesame seeds.

Of which, banana exports reached 35.4 million USD, up nearly three times compared to the same period last year. Mango exports reached 24 million USD, up 72%, and sesame seeds reached nearly 30 million USD, up 62%.

Discussing this with Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, Mr. Nguyen said that bananas are a typical tropical fruit that is very popular in a country located in a temperate climate zone like Korea… as a favorable trend of the market. Therefore, the scale of fruit and vegetable imports from Korea is always growing.

"In nearly 8 months, South Korea's import turnover of fruits and vegetables from Vietnam reached more than 200 million USD and is likely to continue to increase sharply during the year-end Tet holiday.

"For bananas alone, the Korean market size is over 300 million USD each year. Bananas have a lot of potential to grow and expand market share in this country," said Mr. Nguyen.

According to Mr. Nguyen, in addition to bananas, watermelon, pineapple, strawberry, grape, mango and jackfruit, durian... are also becoming familiar to Koreans and are being eaten more and more.

"Trade cooperation between Vietnam and Korea has many opportunities to develop when both countries participate in and benefit from bilateral and multilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

However, to compete with fruits from Thailand and the Philippines, Vietnamese goods need to meet food safety and hygiene standards and packaging requirements of this market," Mr. Nguyen recommended.