Right from the beginning of this year, fruit and vegetable exports have been showing positive signs. Specifically, according to General Statistics Office, in January 2017, while most of the main agricultural exports of our country has decreased sharply compared to the same period last year, vegetables still keeps the manner by increasing more than 14%, earning 230 million USD. It is expected that Vietnam will export more than 3 billion USD worth of fruits and vegetables this year.
According to Zion Research, a global agricultural product market evaluating and forecasting company, global fruit and vegetable processing market is growing at about 8% per year and will reach 319.9 billion USD by 2020. Experts said the potential export fruit of Vietnam is great, if the enterprises invest in processing factories following the standards of importing markets, control the quality of inputs, export turnover of Vietnam vegetables and fruits may reach 5 billion USD per year in the coming years.
Thus, from the humble items, vegetables have stepped up at “lightening” speed to become the main export goods. It is noteworthy that up to now, Vietnam’s vegetables and fruit products have reached nearly 60 markets around the world. Litchi, rambutan, dragon fruit, mango, longan and so on of Vietnam have arrived in difficult markets such as USA, Australia, Japan and South Korea. In order to export these markets, the quality of vegetables and fruits of our country must meet the strict control conditions of pests with many criteria for food safety, origin traceability.
The export of Vietnamese fruits increasingly accepted in many markets in the world has opened up great potential opportunities for Westfood. Established in 1992, specializing in the manufacture and export of canned and frozen vegetable and fruit products, West Food Export and Processing Joint Stock Company (West Food) has set the target to become the largest vegetable and fruit export and manufacture company in Vietnam, meet international standard, be a model to build a reliable image of Vietnam agricultural products on the international market.
With the advantage of being located in the Mekong Delta that produces a great variety of tropical fruits, simultaneously, building the close connection between the factories and the farmer’s vegetable and fruit farms, West Food’s inputs are guaranteed with high quality and stable supply.
With the investment from its parent company, FIT Group, Westfood currently owns four IQF lines and two canned pasteurized lines based on European standard production technology. These lines are currently running at full capacity but have yet to meet the orders of customers in Europe, America, Japan, etc. With a target of 20% revenue growth in 2017, in this April, Westfood has invested millions of USD in an absolutely automatic pre-freezing, cutting and quick freezing system (IQF) to increase productivity and product quality. In November, West Food will continue to be equipped with the latest automatic weighing and packaging system of Japan. This is the preparatory stage for the signing of retail product direct supply contracts for supermarket chains and convenience stores in Japan and South Korea in 2018. Along with investing in more modern chains, participating in international trade fairs in South Korea, Japan, Europe and America is helping Westfood promote its image and brand to consumers in new markets, then opening up the potential for Westfood to become one of the world’s most prestigious brands.
