In Ca Mau province, Vietnam's southernmost province, trial cultivation of a coconut called "dua dua" that gives off the sweet scent of pandan leaf the moment you split it open has begun to take shape. A trial farm under the provincial agricultural extension center has planted more than 300 trees on about 2.7 hectares, and a local agricultural paper reported the measured figures of 70–100 fruits per tree a year and 250–350 ml of juice per fruit (July 3, 2026). Coconut water that smells of pandan without adding any flavoring at all. For Japan's beverage and sweets development, where a simple ingredient list is becoming a competitive edge, this is the story of a new raw-material candidate where "the ingredient itself doubles as the flavoring."
A Ca Mau trial farm discloses measured data from more than 300 pandan coconut trees
The starting point was an article reported on July 3, 2026 by Nong nghiep Moi truong, a media outlet affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. An agricultural technology research and transfer farm (under the provincial agricultural extension center) in Binh My commune, Ca Mau province, has planted more than 300 dua dua on a site of about 2.7 hectares and runs a model that raises land-use efficiency by combining fish farming in the garden's canals.
The measured figures reported are concrete. Harvesting begins 3.5–4 years from planting, with yields averaging 70–100 fruits per tree a year, exceeding 120 fruits with good management. Juice is 250–350 ml per fruit, characterized as having a natural scent resembling pandan leaf, a clean sweetness, and soft, thick flesh. Nguyen Kim Thuy, the person in charge, said it is a variety that is easy to grow with few diseases, and spoke of a plan to advance the seedling certification procedure and build a supply system for farmers within the province. Beyond that, the person presented a prospect that combining it with eco-tourism, experiential agritourism, and investment in primary and food processing could greatly raise the product value of dua dua.
Why a land of shrimp and salt, Ca Mau, is about a "scented coconut"
Dua dua is a scented-coconut variety that originates in Thailand, and in Vietnam it has been grown in the Mekong Delta, especially in Ben Tre, a major coconut-producing area. In English it is called pandan coconut or aromatic coconut, and the standard style is to shave the husk off the fresh fruit and drink it with a straw inserted.
Ca Mau province, for its part, is a land of saline alluvial soil in the peninsular part, with shrimp farming and rice cultivation in the lead. There are not many options among fruit trees. That is exactly why there is meaning in a public institution demonstrating a variety that adapts to salt-containing soil and a climate near the equator and that also sells higher than ordinary coconut. In Vietnam, for coffee and nuts too, moves by public centers and pioneering farmers to launch new specialty origins have continued, and this can be read as the same type of origin-building as the case of an emerging macadamia origin growing in Cao Bang province in the north.
Yield, juice volume, and price gap seen in measured data
We organize the figures that could be confirmed in the article and the reference prices from origin-distribution sites. Yen conversions are at 10,000 dong = about 60 yen (an approximate rate at the time of writing).
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Trial-plot area | About 2.7 hectares |
| Number of trees planted | More than 300 (with fish farming in the garden's canals) |
| Start of harvest | 3.5–4 years after planting |
| Yield | Average 70–100 fruits/tree/year, over 120 with good management |
| Juice volume | 250–350 ml per fruit |
| Reference price for dua dua | 15,000–20,000 dong per fruit (about 90–120 yen) |
| Reference price for ordinary green coconut (Xiem variety) | 6,000–15,000 dong per fruit (about 36–90 yen) |
A simple calculation gives 300 trees × 70–100 fruits = 20,000–30,000 fruits a year, or on the order of 5–10 kiloliters in juice terms. As a commercial raw material it is still small, but as a base for variety demonstration it is ample. On price, the upper end of the ordinary variety only just reaches the lower end of dua dua, so a structure can be read in which a premium for the scent is always present.
"The scent is the variety itself, but it is weak to crossing": voices from the ground
From the original article and local distribution information, the following voices and movements can be confirmed.
- Thuy of the trial farm rated it as having "few diseases and relatively easy management." The person explains that the certification procedure is being advanced with a view to supplying seedlings within and beyond the province.
- The same person also touched on risk, noting that because pollination crossing with other varieties weakens the scent, isolating the orchard to keep purity is the key to cultivation.
- On the price lists of Vietnamese coconut-distribution sites, dua dua is always listed in a higher price range than ordinary varieties, suggesting that a premium for the scented variety is established in the market.
- In the pioneering origin of Ben Tre, operators already handle pandan coconut in the "got choc" form—husk shaved and shaped into a white sphere—for retail and export, so a format for fresh-fruit distribution is already in place.
What "pandan scent with no flavoring" can be used for in Japanese OEM
A design material for clean-label beverages
This is the main point. To add pandan flavor to a coconut-water drink, flavoring normally has to be added, and the word "flavoring" enters the ingredient list. With dua dua, the ingredient is just "coconut juice" yet the pandan flavor comes through. For beverage brands built around additive-free, ingredient-driven appeal, or for limited drinks at Asian cafe operations, an ingredient that delivers both a simple label and a distinctive flavor at once is precious. Coconut water circulating in Japan has limited options, including scented coconut from Thailand, and the single point of "smells of pandan" makes it easier to explain on the shelf.
Effective for making Asian sweets "the real thing"
Pandan flavor is a standard in Singaporean, Malaysian, and Thai sweets, and in Japan too it is a field whose exposure has grown through specialty Asian-sweets shops and product fairs. For items such as pudding, ice cream, jelly, and shaved-ice syrup, placing the juice at the base lets you reproduce the world of pandan without relying on flavoring. The soft flesh can also be used as a topping or filling material, giving it the depth to develop into both beverages and confectionery.
The reality of procurement: Ben Tre if you move now, Ca Mau if you wait
Viewed calmly, Ca Mau's 300 trees are still at the trial stage and do not become a commercial-volume sourcing destination. If you start prototyping now, fresh fruit or frozen juice from Ben Tre, which has a distribution track record, is realistic. On top of that, there is value in waiting for the launch of a new origin like Ca Mau. In Vietnam's fresh-produce exports, standardization that drills origin codes down to the farm level, as in Dong Thap province, is advancing, and Ca Mau's effort, which begins from seedling certification, also has room to build in export-oriented traceability from the start. As an example of a scented farm-product material turning into a long-term overseas contract, the case where soursop tea signed a three-year contract with Australia is a useful reference.
As practical steps: first, order fresh fruit and frozen juice from Ben Tre and prototype; second, confirm by sensory evaluation how far the pandan scent survives through the sterilization and filling processes; third, track the progress of Ca Mau's seedling certification and acreage expansion on a half-year basis. In this order, you can finish honing your eye for the "scented raw material" first, without being jerked around by a thin-supply new origin.
From a Ben Tre monopoly to "the whole Mekong Delta": change in the coconut origin map
For Vietnam, coconut is an export-strengthening item, and the origin map has been drawn with Ben Tre at the center. This news can be positioned as a new dot plotted at the southern edge of that map from the angle of "scented varieties." If the movement of saline-soil belts taking on origin-building with high-unit-price fruit trees takes hold, the farming portfolio of the far south, long skewed toward shrimp and rice, will change. The concept of integrating processing and tourism within the origin is also a standard pattern common to Vietnam's emerging origins.
From the buyer's viewpoint, if supply widens, the price gap of the scent premium may gradually narrow. Put the other way, buyers who firm up quality standards and trading terms now, before origins multiply, can keep a long relationship on favorable terms. As is the rule with new varieties and new origins, this is a phase where there is value in moving early.
Procurement memo: variety, form, and points of caution
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Variety name | Dua dua. English notation is pandan coconut, aromatic coconut |
| Main growing regions | Ben Tre province and elsewhere in the Mekong Delta. Ca Mau province is at the trial-cultivation stage |
| Main distribution forms | Fresh fruit (husk-shaved shaped product), frozen juice, processed goods such as sweets |
| Time to fruiting | 3.5–4 years after planting |
| Points to confirm | Because crossing with other varieties lowers the scent, confirm the orchard's isolation status. Because fresh fruit loses scent as freshness declines, designing the logistics lead time is essential |
Since the scent is a varietal trait, orchard management translates directly into quality. When visiting the site or ordering samples, the quick way is to first confirm whether the orchard is a single, isolated variety and how the number of days since harvest is managed.
In sum: start the "scented raw material" from prototyping
Ca Mau province's pandan coconut trial cultivation is a small step of 300 trees and 2.7 hectares, but as an early report on launching an origin—complete with measured yield and juice figures, a path to seedling certification, and a concept for integration with processing and tourism—it was substantial reading. The key point for Japan's beverage and sweets OEM is one: juice that smells of pandan without using flavoring is a rare material that can differentiate on both label and flavor.
The next action is clear. First prototype with distributed goods from Ben Tre. Evaluate how the scent survives after going through the process. And observe the progress of Ca Mau's origin-building at fixed points. From the companies that finish honing their eye for the raw material first, this scent becomes a product.
