Australian and New Zealand fruit is growing in Vietnamese retail storefronts. First-half 2026 import value was US$102.8 million (about 15.4 billion yen) for Australia, up 55.7% year on year, and US$78.04 million (about 11.7 billion yen) for New Zealand, up 20.4%. Kiwifruit, apples, and grapes are shifting from the gift shelf to the everyday shopping basket. For Japanese buyers supplying fruit and processed goods to Vietnam and for retail and distribution staff handling imported fruit, this tectonic shift is worth reading on both the competitive-landscape and the assortment side.
What is happening behind the numbers is a change in how consumers buy itself. Imported fruit that had been limited to celebrations and Tet (Lunar New Year) gifts has begun, in urban areas, to enter the weekly table. If the shift moves from one-off high-value purchases to repeat purchases, the volume needed and the shelf allocation both change. It is fair to see the premise of growing-region selection as shifting.
From gift to everyday staple: how consumers buy has shifted
The major supermarket Co.opmart explains the shift in purchasing habits this way. Imported fruit was once bought as a luxury for festivals, Tet, and gift boxes, but now some urban consumers have come to pick up apples, kiwifruit, grapes, cherries, oranges, and more as everyday shopping, it says. Another chain, Kingfoodmart, also reports that consumption of imported fruit is growing strongly and cites kiwifruit, apples, grapes, oranges, and pears among its best sellers.
This move reflects the urban middle class, with growing disposable income, beginning to pay an everyday price for "safe, well-presented fruit." In Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the modern-retail store network has widened, and with refrigerated transport and freshness management in place, perishable temperate fruit can be put on the weekly shelf. From a producing country's view, this means entering the stage of going after the year-round shelf, not just the pre-Tet bulk demand. Items bought repeatedly are sensitive to how the price looks, and swapping between growing regions happens easily too. A growing region that took the top spot is not necessarily secure the next year.
Lining up first-half import value with Vietnam's own exports
Australian products' share of total imported fruit rose from 5.5% to 6.51%. The point is not only the growth rate but that the share of the market itself is thickening. At the same time, Vietnam is also a seller of fruit. Produce exports to Australia reached US$60.69 million (about 9.1 billion yen) in the first five months of 2026, having built up at an average 15.06% a year from US$37.21 million in 2022.
| Item | Amount (US dollars) | Year-on-year / notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vietnam's imports of Australian fruit (H1 2026) | US$102.8 million (about 15.4 billion yen) | +55.7% / share 5.5 → 6.51% |
| Vietnam's imports of NZ fruit (H1 2026) | US$78.04 million (about 11.7 billion yen) | +20.4% |
| Vietnamese produce exports to Australia (Jan–May 2026) | US$60.69 million (about 9.1 billion yen) | +15.06% average annual (vs. 2022) |
Yen conversions are approximations calculated at 1 US dollar ≈ 150 yen. The original is all denominated in US dollars.
The lean season, quality, and fourth-quarter demand push it up
Australia and New Zealand are in the Southern Hemisphere, so their harvest season is offset from Northern Hemisphere Vietnam. At times when Vietnamese and Chinese products thin out, they can supply temperate fruit such as apples, grapes, peaches, nectarines, cherries, plums, and pears year-round. Nguyen Van Muoi, deputy secretary-general of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, foresees Australia, New Zealand, and others capturing demand for quality-stable, good-looking gift fruit from the fourth quarter to before Tet. It is a picture in which the entrenchment of everyday buying and seasonal gift demand work as a double act.
Because the original does not make explicit the effect of prices or free-trade agreements, we do not assert it here. Still, that the offset harvest season and the quality management of grading and transport underpin "the same look whenever you go" at the storefront meshes with consumers' repeat purchases. Behind Australian products' share rising about one point in a year is this stability of supply and a position that can take both the seasonal peak of Tet gifting. Flip it around, and only growing regions that do not leave a hole in the lean season remain on the everyday shelf. With a mindset of earning on one-off high-unit-price sales campaigns, you drift away from this market's main battlefield.
Can Japanese fruit break into this shelf?
This is where the homework lies for Japanese buyers. Apples, grapes, and pears are items Japan is good at, yet fresh-fruit exports to Vietnam remain an area at a standstill because quarantine negotiations are not in place. In fact, turning the situation in which Japanese grapes cannot enter Vietnam to advantage, there is even a move locally to grow Japanese-type varieties domestically (the case of Shine Muscat bearing fruit on a Ha Tinh hillside). Australia and New Zealand already hold the lean-season supply slots and quarantine access and are securing the everyday shelf first. If Japan aims for the same shelf, it needs a design to catch up on the practicalities of year-round supply and quarantine, not just a story of sugar content and taste.
Another reading is the thickness of the imported-fruit market itself. Vietnam's fruit imports have swelled to the scale of US$1.6 billion in the first half, and Australia and New Zealand are only a corner of it (an analysis of the business opportunity that US$1.6 billion in imported fruit opens). For Japan, rather than competing head-on in fresh fruit, the realistic path is to make a difference with processed and gift formats and Japanese-brand processed fruit goods. With processed goods that can move at ambient temperature—dried fruit, jelly, juice drinks, and confectionery—you can appeal to Japanese taste and safety while sidestepping the quarantine wall. For pre-Tet gift demand too, a processed assortment with a longer best-before date than fresh fruit makes it easier to hold down inventory risk. In addition, Vietnam is also a seller of fruit to Australia (the example of soursop tea signing a three-year contract with Australia), and the flow between growing regions is not one-way but mutual.
Practical points to nail down in sourcing and trade
- Demand has two layers: "pre-Tet bulk" and "year-round everyday buying." Build shelf allocation and order lots separately for each layer.
- The best sellers are kiwifruit, apples, grapes, oranges, and pears. First secure the repeatedly-bought commodity band, and ride items like cherries on the seasonal peak.
- From the fourth quarter to before Tet, demand for the gift format rises. Settle the specifications for appearance, grade, and gift boxes early.
- For Japanese fresh fruit, items remain whose quarantine access is not yet in place. Before deciding to enter, confirm the progress of quarantine negotiations for the target item.
- Vietnam is both an importing and an exporting country. Trends in Australian and New Zealand products also become material for reading Vietnamese supply to Japan and Australia.
- For entry via processed goods, ambient logistics and best-before dates are the weapons. You can establish a Japanese brand while holding down inventory and freshness risk more than with fresh fruit.
Summary: the everyday shelf has become the main battlefield
The first-half gains of 55.7% and 20.4% for Australian and New Zealand fruit are not a mere extension of a luxury boom but the result of buying shifting from gift to everyday. For Japanese fruit to ride this flow, the work of removing the practical walls of year-round supply and quarantine one by one comes first, on top of appealing to taste. As the next move, we want to take stock of the current state of quarantine negotiations for target items and sort out items to compete on as fresh fruit from items to attack with processed and gift formats.
