"The look of the production area has changed from two or three years ago, when A-grade was all that lined up." In September 2026, at a durian-quality seminar held by major processor Chanh Thu in Dak Lak province in Vietnam's Central Highlands, about 200 people from administration, agricultural extension, companies, cooperatives and growers gathered. Harvest volumes grow at double digits every year, yet the share of A-grade fruit that can be exported falls—how to rein in this paradox was the agenda. For Japanese importers who handle Vietnamese durian frozen, processed or as gifts, it is material for reconsidering which production areas and which plants to work with.
Why 200 people gathered at the Dak Lak plant
The venue was Chanh Thu's Dak Lak plant. The company's chairwoman and CEO, Ngo Tuong Vy, showed that the company's purchase volume is projected to reach 40,000 tonnes in 2026, up from 18,000 tonnes in 2024 and 31,000 tonnes in 2025. The speed at which purchases more than double in just two years directly mirrors the swelling of the production area as a whole. The shared recognition at the meeting was that only the volume is increasing, while the yield of fruit that can be sorted and exported is not keeping pace.
Chanh Thu is known for exporting frozen durian and fresh fruit to China, and it buys raw material widely from farmers and cooperatives. The more it increases purchases, the more how the plant evens out quality that varies by field governs its profit. That is why the seminar, while taking the form of a technical seminar, actually became a venue to discuss rebuilding the sourcing network.
Purchases of 40,000 tonnes, with national production heading toward 2 million tonnes
Tracking the figures shows the scale of the swelling. National durian production is projected to grow from 1.533 million tonnes in 2024 to about 1.8 million tonnes in 2025 and 2.0–2.1 million tonnes in 2026. It is the result of planting spreading rapidly across the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta, led by Dak Lak, the main stage of production.
| Indicator | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (projected) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chanh Thu purchase volume | 18,000 tonnes | 31,000 tonnes | 40,000 tonnes |
| Vietnam national production | 1.533 million tonnes | About 1.8 million tonnes | 2.0–2.1 million tonnes |
| Average price of A-grade fruit | 90,000 dong/kg | 80,000 dong/kg | 70,000 dong/kg |
The period of September to December, which falls in Thailand's off-season, is also the time when Vietnamese product stands at the center of world supply. On this phase when the supply window opens, the article covering Thailand's off-season and the sourcing window went into detail. Now that volume has grown to among the world's largest, the next challenge is shifting to quality.
The A-grade average fell from 90,000 dong to 70,000 dong
The trend in prices backs up the loosening of quality. The average price of A-grade fruit is projected to fall from 90,000 dong per kg in 2024 to 80,000 dong in 2025 and 70,000 dong in 2026. 70,000 dong comes to about 410 yen (1 yen = about 170 VND, as of September 2026). That A-grade prices break down even as the overall market falls was pointed out at the meeting as a sign that sorting standards are loosening and lots mixing B- and C-grade are circulating as "A-grade."
Ngo Tuong Vy cited four factors that undermine quality: the practice of buying at low prices, the low adoption rate of growing-area codes (tracking numbers for cultivation sites), excessive fertilization and inappropriate pesticide use, and the lack of unified cultivation standards. Le Minh Hoan, the former minister of agriculture and rural development, said the very structure in which production areas and companies move separately chasing short-term high prices should be reviewed, and urged long-term cooperation based on contracts. SC Vietnam, which proposed sensor technology, showed a system that measures field soil and weather in real time and translates fertilization and irrigation into region-specific guidelines. The direction of managing quality with field-level data also overlaps with the case of a Dak Lak farmer who evened out fertilization and raised the A-grade ratio to 80%..
What Japanese food importers look at in a plant
The implication for Japan is clear. The more the supply of Vietnamese durian increases, the more room there is to choose a plant by quality stability rather than unit price. What buyers want to confirm are three points: whether fruit can be traced back to the field by growing-area code, whether the plant holds its sorting standards in figures, and whether it keeps managing yield even as purchase volumes surge. A company like Chanh Thu, which hosts a quality seminar while expanding purchases toward the 40,000-tonne scale, reads as a supplier that outwardly shows its intent to reconcile volume and quality.
Conversely, an offer clearly cheaper than the market may include lots with loose sorting. When handling frozen durian or processed raw material in Japan, a process of confirming before the contract whether there is a growing-area code and what the plant's sorting process is—rather than trusting the "A-grade" label alone—is the shortest insurance against returns and quality complaints.
Another weakness carried by 50% dependence on China
What has supported the swelling is the Chinese market. In 2025, China imported 941,000 tonnes of fresh fruit from Vietnam, surpassing Thailand's 920,000 tonnes for the first time ever. Vietnam's share in the Chinese market grew from 34.55% in 2023 to 50.37% in 2025, forming a structure in which Vietnam holds half the supply.
However, concentration on China alone is the flip side of fragility: shipments stop the moment quarantine operations tighten. Production areas are already advancing diversification of export destinations; the growth to South Korea is one example, and the move in which durian to South Korea rose 188% in seven months holds many implications for Japanese buyers too. A production area that can prove quality in figures holds up in markets other than China as well. The more a company advances volume expansion and quality management at the same time, the closer it comes to a position of being able to choose its export destinations.
What procurement managers will want to confirm next
If you are considering sourcing Vietnamese durian, the following three moves are practical. First, have candidate plants provide the management scope of growing-area codes and the figures for their sorting standards. Second, for the 2026 crop, whose purchases surge, ask how the A-grade yield moved from the previous year. Third, confirm whether there is a shipping plan to reduce dependence on China, and discern whether it is a relationship in which quarantine risk can be shared with the supplier. Now that volume has grown to among the world's largest is the perfect chance to switch to negotiations that choose a plant able to prove quality, rather than the cheapest line on the price list.
Local reporting referenced
This article was composed based on reporting by the agriculture-and-environment paper (Nong nghiep va Moi truong), with figures verified against the original.
