Nafoods Group, a major Vietnamese dried-fruit and juice-concentrate company, has officially brought its core system SAP S/4HANA into operation across the group and grown its net profit for the first half of 2026 to nearly double the same period last year. In Long An province, a second plant specialized in freeze-drying has also started up. How a supplier that puts raw-material lot management and finance on a single ledger becomes stronger is directly tied to the yardstick by which Japanese food and OEM people who source Vietnamese dried fruit and juice choose their suppliers.
Over eight months, 10 group companies were put on a single ledger
Nafoods brought SAP S/4HANA into full operation after an eight-month rollout. In the company's explanation, it bundled 10 subsidiaries onto a unified data platform and, in a form including 12 subsystems, connected procurement, production, distribution, sales, quality control and finance into a single flow. Because raw-material intake from the field, processing, inventory, shipment and cost are linked in real time, it becomes a system that can trace which lot derives from which raw material, including down to the financial data.
Fruit processing is a succession of steps that align raw material, which varies by harvest season and growing area, into products of fixed specification. Integrating ledgers that had been split by subsidiary makes it possible to compare cost and yield across the whole group and to find loss-making processes and raw materials sooner. The surge in results happened in the same period as this groundwork.
First-half net profit nearly double the previous year, matching the full-year result in half a year
The first-half 2026 figures clearly show the growth of the processing business. Net profit was about 140.6 billion dong, up 96.3% year on year, and pre-tax profit about 164.9 billion dong, up 90.7%. By quarter, second-quarter sales were about 718.2 billion dong (up 5.6%) and net profit about 80.5 billion dong (up 37.2%). The first-half net profit alone works out to nearly match the full-year 2025 figure of about 145.6 billion dong.
| Indicator | First half of 2026 | Year on year |
|---|---|---|
| Net profit | about 140.6 billion dong | +96.3% |
| Pre-tax profit | about 164.9 billion dong | +90.7% |
| Second-quarter sales | about 718.2 billion dong | +5.6% |
| Second-quarter net profit | about 80.5 billion dong | +37.2% |
140.6 billion dong comes to roughly 830 million yen (1 yen = about 170 VND, as of September 2026). That the margin jumped while sales growth stayed in single digits can be read as the effect of raising the share of deep processing and tightening costs. The move in which the very structure of fruit exports is being swapped out is the change in fruit exports in which cashew drew level with longan also apparent, and it has entered a phase where companies with processing capability find it easier to take profit.
The second plant in Long An stepped into freeze-drying
The expansion of production capacity advances at the same time. The Long An second plant, which started up in April 2026, has freeze-drying and sublimation-drying equipment and specializes in premium-tier dried-fruit snacks. The fourth plant in Gia Lai province is also scheduled to operate within 2026, further widening the receptacle for deep processing. Because freeze-drying removes only the moisture while retaining color and aroma, it can make products with a higher unit price than sugaring or hot-air drying. The good keeping quality and lightness also work in favor of export logistics.
The flow in which processing such as freezing and drying generates added value on a par with, or above, fresh fruit is the background in which frozen durian trades at a price on a par with fresh fruit has this in common with that. A system that brings the plant close to the raw-material producing area and routes it to processing while freshness is high is pushing up Nafoods' margin.
What changes in Japanese dried-fruit procurement
Brought down to Japanese-side practice, the criteria for choosing a supplier rise by a notch. When sourcing dried fruit, powder and juice concentrate from abroad, what Japanese food manufacturers and OEMs care about are quality variation by lot, tracing the growing area, and responding to audits. A supplier that centrally manages everything from raw material to shipment with an ERP finds it easy to fulfill accountability on these three points. A system in which, give a lot number and the growing area and processing history come back, raises the trust of the trade by several notches.
That more suppliers have freeze-drying lines is also an expansion of options for Japanese buyers. Seen from the standpoint of handling domestic dried vegetables and dried fruit, processing technology that retains color and aroma has wide uses as confectionery and baking raw material and as a material for health foods. In purchasing discussions, it is best to confirm early on the drying methods they can handle (hot-air or freeze-drying), the minimum lot, and how they issue quality-assurance certificates. A growing area's move to broaden sales channels beyond China is the case in which tropical fruit opened up the Turkish market also visible, and the room to supply to Japan is also widening.
The aim of a supplier that gathered 680 billion dong in environmental funds
Nafoods is moving on the funding side too. Teaming up with the Netherlands' FMO and responsAbility Investments AG, it raised green funds on the scale of 680 billion dong. This funding, which comes to roughly 4 billion yen (at the same rate), is said to go toward sustainable raw-material procurement and investment in energy-saving equipment. The securities firm VNDirect values the fair price of the company's stock at 60,100 dong per share, and the market, too, views the strengthening of processing capability positively.
Investment in the environment and sustainability is not a mere signboard. Retailers and food manufacturers in the EU and Japan are increasingly building raw-material tracing and environmental consideration into trade conditions, and the sooner a supplier meets those requirements, the more easily it is chosen for long-term contracts. The move to line up an ERP and environmental funds at the same time can be read as a groundwork that reads ahead of export markets' required levels.
Three points purchasing staff should confirm
If you are considering procuring Vietnamese dried fruit or juice, it is best to put the following three points to the supplier. First, whether there is a mechanism to trace from raw material to shipment by lot. Second, whether it can handle high-unit-price processing such as freeze-drying, and whether the minimum lot and delivery time fit your plan. Third, whether it has a track record of responding to environmental and quality certifications and audits. A supplier growing its results and equipment at the same time is worth considering as a counterpart chosen on the basis of such systems, ahead of price negotiation.
Local reporting referenced
This article was composed based on reporting by the agriculture-and-environment newspaper (Nong nghiep va Moi truong), with the amounts verified against the original Vietnamese text.
