7 Reasons to Export Fruits and Vegetables

Exporting fruits and vegetables is a lucrative business opportunity for many farmers and traders around the world. Fruits and vegetables are in high demand in various markets, especially in regions where they are not grown locally or seasonally. Here are some of the benefits of exporting fruits and vegetables:

1. Diversify your income sources

Exporting fruits and vegetables can help you access new markets and customers, increase your sales volume and revenue, and reduce your dependence on domestic demand. You can also take advantage of favorable exchange rates and price differences between countries.

2. Expand your product range

Exporting fruits and vegetables can help you offer a wider variety of products to your customers, including exotic, organic, or specialty items. You can also cater to different preferences, tastes, and dietary needs of consumers in different regions.

3. Enhance your brand reputation

Exporting fruits and vegetables can help you build your brand image and recognition in the global market. You can showcase your quality, safety, and sustainability standards, as well as your social and environmental responsibility. You can also leverage your country’s reputation as a producer of high-quality fruits and vegetables.

4. Extend your shelf life

Exporting fruits and vegetables can help you extend the shelf life of your products by using appropriate packaging, processing, storage, and transportation methods. You can also use technologies such as refrigeration, freezing, dehydration, canning, or irradiation to preserve the freshness, flavor, and nutritional value of your products.

5. Reduce your waste and losses

Exporting fruits and vegetables can help you reduce your waste and losses by finding alternative markets for your surplus or unsold products. You can also avoid price fluctuations and market saturation in your domestic market by diversifying your export destinations.

6. Increase your competitiveness

Exporting fruits and vegetables can help you increase your competitiveness by exposing you to new challenges, opportunities, and best practices in the global market. You can also learn from other exporters, importers, distributors, and consumers, and improve your product quality, innovation, and customer service.

7. Contribute to economic development

Exporting fruits and vegetables can help you contribute to the economic development of your country by generating foreign exchange earnings, creating employment opportunities, supporting rural livelihoods, enhancing food security, and promoting trade relations.

If you are interested in exporting fruits and vegetables, you need to follow some steps to ensure a successful venture. Some of these steps are:

Conduct market research

You need to identify the potential markets for your products, analyze the demand, supply, competition, prices, trends, regulations, standards, preferences, and opportunities in each market. You can use various sources of information such as trade statistics, reports, websites, publications, trade fairs, exhibitions, missions, or contacts.

Develop an export plan

You need to develop a clear and realistic export plan that outlines your objectives, strategies, resources, budget, timeline, risks, and contingency measures. You need to consider various aspects such as product selection, adaptation, pricing, promotion, distribution channels (direct or indirect), logistics (transportation mode, documentation), payment methods (advance payment or letter of credit), insurance, and legal issues (contracts or disputes).

Obtain necessary certifications

You need to obtain the necessary certifications for your products from the relevant authorities in your country and the destination country. These certifications may include phytosanitary certificates (to prove that your products are free from pests or diseases), organic certificates (to prove that your products are grown without synthetic chemicals), or quality certificates (to prove that your products meet the required standards). You may also need to comply with other requirements such as labeling, packaging (size or material), or traceability (origin or batch number).

Establish reliable contacts

You need to establish reliable contacts with various stakeholders involved in the export process such as exporters’ associations, government agencies (customs or trade promotion), banks (foreign exchange or
financing), freight forwarders (shipping or air cargo), brokers (clearance or inspection), importers (wholesalers or retailers), or consumers (individuals or institutions). You need to communicate effectively with them and maintain good relationships with them.

Monitor and evaluate your performance

You need to monitor and evaluate your performance regularly by collecting feedback from your customers, partners, and competitors. You need to measure your results against your objectives, strategies, and indicators. You need to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You need to make adjustments or improvements as needed.

Export Fruits and Vegetables: A Growing Industry

Fruits and vegetables are essential for human health and well-being, but they are also important for the global economy. According to the USDA, the value of U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable exports to the world reached $7.2 billion in 2021, a 4-percent increase from the prior year . In this blog post, we will explore some of the trends and challenges of this industry, and how it affects consumers and producers around the world.

Top Markets and Commodities

The top markets for U.S. fresh fruits and vegetables are Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, which accounted for a combined $6.2 billion in 2021 . Canada alone imported 52 percent of U.S. exports, valued at $3.7 billion, followed by Mexico with 14 percent . The top fresh fruit export commodities were apples, grapes, oranges, strawberries, and cherries, while the top fresh vegetable export commodities were lettuce, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions/shallots, and cauliflower .

Drivers and Challenges

The demand for fresh fruits and vegetables is driven by several factors, such as consumer preferences, income levels, population growth, urbanization, health awareness, and trade policies . However, the industry also faces some challenges, such as climate change, pests and diseases, food safety standards, logistics and transportation costs, and market access barriers . For example, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the global supply chains and affected the production and consumption of fresh produce .

Outlook and Opportunities

Despite the challenges, the outlook for the fresh fruits and vegetables industry is positive, as consumers are increasingly seeking healthy and diverse food options . The U.S. has a competitive advantage in producing high-quality and safe products that meet the demand of various markets . Moreover, there are opportunities to expand exports to emerging markets, such as China, India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East . To seize these opportunities, the U.S. needs to continue to invest in research and innovation, improve market access and trade facilitation, and promote its products abroad .

References:

http://faostat.fao.org/Portals/_Faostat/documents/pdf/FAOSTAT-Forestry-def-e.pdf

https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FO/visualize

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Share-of-the-major-countries-in-sturgeon-production-A-Share-of-the-major-countries-in_fig2_348296880

https://www.fas.usda.gov/fresh-fruits-and-vegetables-2021-export-highlights
https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/commodities/fruits-and-vegetables
https://www.fruitlogistica.com/fruit-logistica/downloads-alle-sprachen/auf-einen-blick/european_statistics_handbook_2021.pdf

https://www.fas.usda.gov/fresh-fruits-and-vegetables-2021-export-highlights

https://www.fas.usda.gov/fresh-fruits-and-vegetables-2020-export-highlights

https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL/visualize

http://www1.cbs.gov.il/publications/haklaut06/pdf/e_print.pdf