Branding: Key to elevating agricultural product value

In Dong Nai, agricultural, forestry, and fishery exports generate more than US7.4 billion annually, yet much of the added value remains outside the city’s production areas and processing facilities. This reality highlights the gap between agricultural branding efforts and the city’s vast growth potential.

Dong Nai holds advantages as a major production hub for many crops and livestock products, including cashew nuts, rubber, durian, bananas, mangoes, rambutan, pigs, and poultry. The pressing challenge now is to remove bottlenecks, develop agricultural value chains, and build strong brands capable of integrating into global supply chains.

Each year, Dong Nai supplies more than one million tons of agricultural products to domestic and international markets. However, most exports remain raw products, while deep processing still accounts for only a small proportion. If half of Dong Nai’s agricultural output were processed for export, annual revenue could increase by tens of billions of dollars. These products, which largely generate trade surpluses, could strengthen both local and national trade balances and help offset deficits in imported sectors such as animal feed materials, chemicals, and plastics.

According to economic experts, Dong Nai’s large agricultural output creates opportunities for greater value creation. Sorting harvests into fresh-export products and products designated for deep processing could increase product value by four to ten times while serving both domestic and export markets. Deep processing would also help farmers and businesses gain greater control over market fluctuations, reducing dependence on volatile price cycles. Stable markets would encourage growers to invest more confidently in science and technology to improve productivity and product quality while meeting the requirements of different export destinations.

Alongside stronger connections between production zones and processing enterprises to form integrated supply chains, there is also a need to develop brands for products such as cashew nuts, durian, bananas, and mangoes. Strong branding would expand export opportunities and improve competitiveness against similar products from other countries and territories.

To support agricultural branding, Dong Nai needs attractive policies to attract domestic and foreign investors to build processing facilities near production zones and industrial clusters. Local authorities should act as facilitators connecting farmers, businesses, banks, and scientists to establish green production chains for major crops and livestock sectors. Developing integrated farm-to-table supply chains would create greater opportunities for Dong Nai’s agricultural products to expand market share in major destinations such as the United States, Europe, China, India, Japan, and South Korea.

In reality, sustainable agricultural development and deeper integration into global supply chains require strong agricultural brands. From seed selection and breeding to cultivation, harvesting, and processing, every stage must meet green standards and ensure traceability. Businesses must also invest more heavily in market research to align production with consumer demands, especially in high-standard markets. Consumers in many countries are increasingly willing to pay premium prices for clean products produced through environmentally sustainable practices.

Over the past three to four years, numerous multinational corporations have visited Ho Chi Minh City each year to seek agricultural and food suppliers for their shopping centers, supermarkets, and retail networks abroad. This reality presents a major opportunity for Dong Nai’s agricultural supply chains if they can meet the standards required by international brands.

By Khanh Minh – Translated by Mai Nga, Minho