Huge upside for Vietnam’s organic products in Europe

Organic vegetable farming in a net house (Photo: VNA)

With the strong development of organic farming, Vietnam has extensive opportunities to boost the export of organic agricultural products to Europe, where those products are in high demand and fetch top dollar.

Tran Ngoc Thanh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association (VOAA), said after three years of implementing the organic agriculture plan, organic farming has grown strongly in the country.

Organic farm produce has brought home 335 million USD in annual export value and is present in over 180 countries and territories. Europe is the main importer of those products from Vietnam, he noted.

To introduce Vietnamese organic products to more European consumers, the VOAA has arranged a trip for 10 businesses to participate in BIOFACH, the world’s leading trade fair for organic food, in Nürnberg, Germany, from February 14 to 17.

Thanh said this is the sixth straight time the VOAA has assisted Vietnamese firms to take part in this event, a chance for them to explore business opportunities, seek partners, and enter global organic food markets.

Joining the enterprises at BIOFACH, Nguyen Van Chi, Deputy Chief of the Hanoi Coordinating Office for the new-style rural area building programme, said that in 2022, inflation, surging energy prices, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia - Ukraine conflict forced consumers in Germany and Europe at large to reduce buying more expensive organic products.

However, this was just a temporary situation, and the consumption of organic products is still a strong trend around the world, he added.

Lai Ngoc Thanh, Director of the HANUTI JSC based in Hanoi’s Dong Anh district, said the German Government pays great attention to organic farming, highlighting organic agricultural products from Vietnam, including Hanoi, to enter the European market.

Echoing the view, Do Viet Ha, a representative of the Vietnamese Trade Office in Germany, said that consuming organic products is an increasingly popular trend in this country and Europe.

With this trend and advantages created by the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), opportunities are increasing for organic farm products from Vietnam, she noted, recommending enterprises to maximise those chances, seize the consumption trend, and grasp import markets' food safety rules and other requirements./.