GEGA - Vietnam Agri-Export

19/10/2026

CASHEW WW240 – Quality That Meets Global Market Expectations

Premium Whole White Cashew Kernels for Global Buyers

Cashew WW240 is a popular commercial grade of whole white cashew kernels, valued for its attractive appearance, versatility, and suitability for retail packaging, snack production, and food manufacturing.

However, a grade designation alone does not guarantee consistent quality. For international buyers, careful quality assessment is essential to ensure product consistency, protect commercial value, and meet market requirements.

What Should Buyers Look for When Sourcing WW240 Cashews?

1. Kernel Size & Uniformity
WW240 generally refers to approximately 220–240 kernels per pound. Buyers should verify kernel count, size uniformity, and compliance with the agreed product specifications.

2. Whole Kernel Integrity
The proportion of whole kernels, splits, butts, and pieces directly affects product presentation and commercial value. Careful inspection helps ensure the shipment meets the buyer’s quality expectations.

3. Appearance & Quality Defects
Inspect kernels for discoloration, scorching, shriveling, insect damage, mold, rancidity, and foreign matter to help ensure product quality and suitability for the intended application.

Beyond Appearance: Quality Assurance Matters

Moisture content, freshness, packaging integrity, storage conditions, and applicable food safety requirements should also be verified before shipment. Clear specifications and consistent quality checks help build reliable, long-term supply partnerships.

Looking for a Reliable Cashew WW240 Supply Partner?

Whether you are an importer, wholesaler, distributor, or food manufacturer, selecting cashew kernels based on clearly defined specifications is an important step toward a successful sourcing partnership.

Let’s connect and explore opportunities for your cashew sourcing needs.

17/10/2026

To be honest, I’ve been reading domestic news over the past few days and have already noticed quite a few inaccuracies, but I haven’t had the time to speak up. This time, I’ve decided to clarify the facts simply because I don’t want misleading information to keep spreading and damaging the reputation of Vietnam’s rice industry.

In particular, some reports claim that a Vietnamese company “exported rice with a broken rice ratio five times higher than the contractual limit.” I want to reiterate that this information appears to have been misrepresented. Please don’t let inaccurate reporting lead you to the wrong conclusions!

In this digital age, anyone can become a news publisher without having any industry-specific knowledge. All it takes is a controversial story or a sensational headline for information to spread like wildfire. But before sharing something, have we actually verified the source and understood the full context? 😩

1. Let’s clarify the information about the broken rice ratio in export contracts.

First, we need to compare the information circulating online with the official statement from the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA).

According to the interpretation I’m addressing here, the key issue that needs clarification is that the company contracted to supply rice with a 25% broken rice ratio but allegedly delivered rice with only 5% broken rice—not that it delivered rice with a broken rice ratio five times higher than the contractual limit, as some reports have suggested.

So, why might such a situation arise?

Around July, the Philippines introduced a temporary suspension on rice imports with a 5% broken rice ratio, reportedly to protect domestic rice prices. This was a decision made by the Philippine authorities. From the perspective of exporters, however, such a policy can create extremely difficult situations to navigate.

In this context, the type of rice, the broken rice ratio specified in the contract, and the actual goods delivered all need to be examined carefully. We should not rely on a sensational headline alone to conclude that Vietnamese businesses are engaging in dishonest practices.

As for why the shipment in question reportedly left in July but did not arrive until September, I do not yet have sufficient information to draw any conclusions about the specific circumstances. All I can say is that I sympathize with the company having to deal with such risks.

Official source from the Philippine Department of Agriculture:
https://www.da.gov.ph/da-ordered-bpi-to-cancel-permit-for-controversial-rice-import/

2. Rice exports: It’s about much more than buying, selling, and making a profit.

This case highlights just how complicated international trade can be.

Businesses must do more than manage sourcing, product quality, pricing, delivery schedules, and cash flow. They must also continuously monitor import regulations, tax policies, and legal requirements in both countries.

On top of that, exchange rate fluctuations, bank interest rates, political developments, weather conditions, and climate change can all directly affect a transaction that may have seemed perfectly manageable on paper.

The Philippine market offers substantial demand, attractive business opportunities, and potentially fast capital turnover. However, these opportunities come with risks, particularly when import policies change and businesses are forced to deal with circumstances beyond their expectations.

International trade is already challenging enough. Running a profitable business while managing risks beyond your control is even more difficult.

Before making judgments about an individual company or an entire industry, I hope everyone will take the time to verify information through official sources and understand the full context.

Let’s not allow unverified information to become another burden that Vietnamese businesses must bear—one that could further damage their reputation in the international market.

The Department of Agriculture (DA), on the instructions of Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr.,...Read More

06/10/2026

🇻🇳 VIETNAM ORGANIC RICE MARKET 2026
From Commodity Rice to Premium, Traceable & Sustainable Rice
1. Executive Summary

Vietnam is moving into a new phase of rice exports: less dependence on commodity volume and more focus on premium, branded, sustainable and organic rice.

Vietnam's overall rice export capacity remains very large. For 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment estimates approximately 43.55 million tonnes of paddy production, with around 7.73 million tonnes of export-grade rice.

However, organic rice is still a niche within Vietnam's total rice industry, and this is precisely where the value opportunity lies.

Vietnam's national rice strategy for 2026–2030 targets high-value products—including nutritional rice, parboiled rice, organic rice, rice flour and processed rice products—to reach around 10% of rice export structure, while branded Vietnamese rice is targeted to exceed 40%.

The opportunity is not to compete with India or Thailand on commodity rice prices. It is to sell Vietnamese rice on quality, certification, origin, sustainability and brand value.

2. 🌾 Vietnam Rice Supply Base

Vietnam has one of the world's strongest rice production ecosystems.

2025 baseline
Rice cultivation: ~7.13 million ha
Paddy production: ~43.5 million tonnes
Mekong Delta is the country's key export-production region.
2026 outlook
Rice cultivation: ~7.09 million ha
Paddy production: ~43.55 million tonnes
Export-grade rice potential: ~7.73 million tonnes.

This enormous conventional rice base provides Vietnam with an important advantage:

Organic rice does not need to build an industry from zero.

The country already has:

Farmers
Milling facilities
Exporters
Ports
International buyers
Rice varieties
Processing infrastructure

The challenge is converting part of this ecosystem into certified premium supply chains.

3. 🌱 Organic Rice Is Still a Small but High-Value Segment

There is an important data limitation:

Vietnam does NOT currently publish a separate official national export statistic for "organic rice."

Organic rice is generally recorded under normal rice HS codes rather than a dedicated organic HS classification.

Therefore, claims such as "Vietnam exported X tonnes of organic rice in 2026" should be treated carefully.

Shipment databases can identify organic products from descriptions, but these are commercial trade-intelligence datasets rather than official national statistics.

For example, Volza identified 205 Vietnam-origin organic-rice shipments under HSN 1006, involving 45 exporters and 83 buyers in its August 2026 dataset.

This indicates that the market exists and is internationally traded, but remains fragmented compared with Vietnam's conventional rice exports.

4. 💰 What Is the Value of Organic Rice?

This is where the opportunity becomes interesting.

A Vietnamese organic-rice shipment to Europe in 2023 was reported at approximately:

US$1,800/tonne

for Quang Tri organic rice.

For comparison, Vietnam's average conventional rice export price in H1 2026 was approximately US$459.6/tonne.

This does not mean every organic-rice shipment today achieves US$1,800/t—the product, packaging, certification, market and Incoterm matter enormously.

But it demonstrates the potential difference between:

Commodity rice value → Certified premium rice value

A separate 2026 market report also estimates Vietnam's domestic organic rice segment at a 10.2% CAGR from 2023–2028, reaching approximately US$65.4 million in 2028. This is a private-market estimate rather than official government trade data.

Commercial conclusion

Organic rice can create value through:

Premium price + branded packaging + certification + direct B2B relationships + processing

rather than simply through higher tonnage.

5. ⭐ Vietnam's Premium Rice Benchmark

Vietnam already has a strong premium-rice story.

ST25 continues to command premium pricing; in 2026, industry data cited export offers around US$1,200/tonne for ST25, significantly above commodity white rice.

This is important because it shows that international buyers are already willing to pay substantially more for differentiated Vietnamese rice.

The strongest future positioning is therefore:

ST25 + Organic + Traceable + Sustainable + Vietnamese Origin

rather than treating "organic" as the only selling point.

6. 🌍 Main Export Markets
🇺🇸 United States

The US is one of the most interesting markets for Vietnamese organic rice.

Trade-intelligence data show the US among the leading destinations for Vietnam-origin organic-rice shipments.

Potential customers:

Asian food distributors
Organic supermarkets
Health-food retailers
Private-label brands
Natural-food companies
Rice importers
Restaurants and food-service distributors
Best products
Organic Jasmine
Organic ST25
Organic brown rice
Organic black rice
Organic red rice
Organic Japonica
7. 🇪🇺 European Union

Europe is potentially one of the highest-value markets, but also one of the most demanding.

Vietnam already has preferential access under EVFTA, including an annual duty-free rice quota of 80,000 tonnes, of which 30,000 tonnes is allocated to fragrant rice. Several Vietnamese fragrant varieties—including ST25, Jasmine 85 and OM5451—are eligible for the preferential regime.

But organic rice requires an additional compliance layer.

For products from Vietnam entering the EU as organic:

Production must comply with EU organic requirements.
Certification must be performed through recognized control bodies.
Each organic shipment requires an electronic Certificate of Inspection (e-COI) through TRACES.

This creates a barrier—but also an opportunity.

The more difficult certification becomes, the more valuable a reliable certified supply chain becomes.

8. 🇯🇵 Japan

Japan is another strong premium market for Vietnam.

Vietnam has already exported low-emission rice to Japan, demonstrating that Japanese buyers are willing to engage with sustainability-oriented Vietnamese rice supply chains.

Japan is attractive for:

Organic rice
Japonica
Premium fragrant rice
Low-emission rice
Sustainable rice
Private-label products
9. 🌏 Other Potential Markets

Beyond the US, EU and Japan, opportunities exist in:

🇨🇦 Canada
🇦🇺 Australia
🇸🇬 Singapore
🇭🇰 Hong Kong
🇦🇪 UAE
🇰🇷 South Korea
🇲🇾 Malaysia
🇳🇿 New Zealand

Vietnam-origin organic-rice trade data already show activity involving countries such as Canada, Indonesia, Hong Kong, France, Germany and the UAE.

10. 🌿 Organic vs Low-Emission Rice

This is an important distinction.

Organic rice ≠ low-emission rice.

They can overlap, but they are different market claims.

Vietnam's 1-million-hectare high-quality, low-emission rice program had already reached more than 354,000 hectares by the end of 2025, nearly double its initial 2024–2025 target.

More than 5,000 hectares had already been certified under the program's "green rice" label.

The program also reported:

Emission reductions of around 3–4 tonnes CO₂e/ha
Average farmer income increase of 13.4% in participating models.

This creates a major future opportunity:

Organic + Low-emission + Traceable rice

This could become significantly more valuable than simply "organic" alone.

11. 🏆 Best Organic Rice Products from Vietnam
Tier 1 — Premium Organic Rice
Organic ST25
Organic Jasmine
Organic Japonica
Organic fragrant rice
Tier 2 — Organic Specialty Rice
Organic brown rice
Organic black rice
Organic red rice
Organic sticky rice
Tier 3 — Sustainable Rice
Low-emission rice
SRP rice
Sustainable Mekong Delta rice
Organic/ecological rice
Tier 4 — Processed Products
Organic rice flour
Organic rice noodles
Organic rice crackers
Organic rice porridge
Organic baby-food ingredients
Rice-based beverages
Rice bran products
12. 🏭 Value-Added Opportunity

The biggest mistake would be to sell organic rice only as bulk commodity.

A stronger value chain is:

Paddy

↓

Certified Organic Farm

↓

Certified Milling

↓

Laboratory Testing

↓

Organic Rice

↓

Premium Packaging

↓

Private Label

↓

International Retail / Food Service

This can dramatically increase the value captured by the Vietnamese supply chain.

13. ⚠️ Major Challenges
1. Certification cost

Organic certification requires:

Farm conversion
Input control
Records
Audits
Testing
Segregation
Traceability
2. Small-scale farming

Organic rice needs sufficiently concentrated production areas to create consistent commercial volumes.

3. Supply consistency

International buyers need:

Consistent variety
Consistent moisture
Consistent broken percentage
Consistent taste
Consistent pesticide-residue results
4. Price competitiveness

Organic rice costs more to produce and cannot compete directly with low-cost commodity rice.

5. Market education

Consumers and importers need to understand the difference between:

Organic / Natural / Clean / Sustainable / Low-emission / Pesticide-free

These are not interchangeable claims.

14. 🚀 Biggest Opportunities 2026–2030
Opportunity #1
Organic ST25

Combine Vietnam's strongest premium rice variety with certified organic production.

Opportunity #2
Organic Jasmine

Particularly suitable for:

🇺🇸 US
🇪🇺 EU
🇨🇦 Canada
🇦🇺 Australia

Opportunity #3
Organic + Low-Emission Rice

This could become one of Vietnam's strongest sustainability stories.

Opportunity #4
Private Label

Instead of exporting anonymous bulk rice:

Vietnam origin → Organic certification → Buyer brand → Retail

Opportunity #5
B2B Ingredient Supply

Organic rice can become an ingredient for:

Baby food
Rice milk
Rice flour
Snacks
Gluten-free products
Organic food manufacturers

02/10/2026

🇻🇳 VIETNAM FROZEN FRUIT MARKET 2026 — EXPORT RESEARCH

Vietnam’s frozen-fruit industry is becoming an increasingly important part of the country’s agricultural export strategy. The key shift in 2026 is from seasonal fresh-fruit exports toward year-round, value-added products such as IQF fruit, frozen pulp, puree and frozen durian.

Important data note: Vietnam does not publish one standalone official export series called “Frozen Fruit.” Frozen products are spread across different HS codes/product groups. Therefore, the analysis below combines official fruit-and-vegetable export data with product-level trade-flow data. This avoids incorrectly treating the total fruit-and-vegetable export value as frozen-fruit exports.

1. 📊 Vietnam Fruit & Vegetable Export Context

Vietnam's broader fruit and vegetable exports are performing strongly in 2026.

January–August 2026
🇻🇳 Fruit & vegetable exports: ~US$6.02 billion
📈 +24.9% YoY
🇨🇳 China: 58.9% of export value
🇺🇸 US: 7.6%
🇰🇷 South Korea: 4.2%

In the first seven months, exports reached approximately US$4.83 billion, with July alone reaching a monthly record of about US$1.12 billion. Increased processing was identified as an important contributor to this growth.

This broader growth provides the foundation for expansion of frozen and processed fruit.

2. ❄️ Why Frozen Fruit Is Becoming More Important

Fresh fruit faces several structural limitations:

Seasonal availability
Short shelf life
Long-distance logistics
Border delays
Post-harvest losses
Price volatility during peak harvest

Frozen processing changes the commercial model:

Fresh fruit → Processing → Freezing → Longer shelf life → Year-round supply → Wider export markets

Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has specifically identified deep processing as an important future growth area, noting demand from China for frozen fruits and vegetables, concentrated juices and canned products.

3. 🍍 Main Frozen Fruit Products from Vietnam

Vietnam has a strong raw-material base for tropical frozen fruit.

Major commercial opportunities

🥭 Frozen Mango

Mango chunks
Mango dices
Mango slices
Mango puree

🍈 Frozen Passion Fruit

Whole pulp
Seedless pulp
Frozen puree
Frozen juice

🍌 Frozen Banana

🍍 Frozen Pineapple

🐉 Frozen Dragon Fruit

🥥 Frozen Coconut

🌿 Frozen Jackfruit

🥭 Frozen Durian

Whole frozen
Frozen pulp
Frozen segments
Puree

This product diversity is one of Vietnam's advantages compared with origins specializing in only one or two tropical fruits.

4. 🥭 Frozen Mango — Strong B2B Opportunity

Mango is one of the most commercially interesting frozen-fruit categories.

Trade-data platforms show substantial international shipment activity for Vietnamese frozen mango, with South Korea, Australia, the US and Japan among important destination markets.

The broader global frozen-mango trade is also expanding: Volza recorded 23,897 global frozen-mango shipments in the Jul 2024–Jun 2025 period, up approximately 27%.

Vietnam's opportunity is particularly strong in:

IQF mango chunks
Mango dices
Mango slices
Puree
Food-service packs
Industrial ingredients
Target buyers
Beverage manufacturers
Smoothie companies
Yogurt manufacturers
Ice-cream producers
Bakery companies
Food-service distributors
Retail/private-label brands
5. 🟣 Frozen Passion Fruit — High-Value Ingredient

Passion fruit is becoming an increasingly important Vietnamese export product, especially in Europe.

Vietnam exported more than US$116 million of passion fruit to the EU in the first seven months of 2026, while Vietnam's total fruit-and-vegetable exports to the EU reached a record US$343.3 million.

For frozen passion fruit specifically, July 2026 trade-flow data showed Vietnam → South Korea as the dominant reported corridor, with 18 reported flows. Vietnam recorded approximately 208 tonnes of reported frozen-passion-fruit trade in that dataset during July.

Frozen passion fruit is particularly suitable for:

Puree → Juice → Beverage → Yogurt → Dessert → Cocktail → Food ingredients

There is also documented Vietnam-to-US trade in frozen passion-fruit juice/pulp products.

6. 🐉 Frozen Dragon Fruit

Vietnam has an established dragon-fruit production base, but fresh dragon fruit faces price and market pressure.

Frozen processing provides another channel.

July 2026 trade-flow data recorded Vietnam as the largest reported exporter in the dataset for frozen dragon fruit, with approximately 20.9 tonnes and an observed average transaction price of around US$1.47/kg.

Potential applications:

Smoothies
Purees
Desserts
Beverage ingredients
Food-service
Retail frozen fruit

The relatively small reported volume also indicates that frozen dragon fruit remains a developing rather than mature export category.

7. 🍈 Frozen Durian — The Biggest New Opportunity

Frozen durian may be the most strategically important frozen-fruit product for Vietnam.

Vietnam exported its first officially cleared frozen-durian shipment to China in May 2025, under the bilateral protocol. The first shipment was 22 tonnes.

By 2026, frozen durian had become a significant driver of export growth.

In Q1 2026:

Total durian exports: >80,000 tonnes
Fresh: ~68,500 tonnes
Frozen: ~11,600 tonnes
Average frozen-durian export price: ~US$4,302/tonne
Frozen durian's average price was reported 18–22% higher than fresh durian.

This is important because frozen processing can:

Extend the selling season + reduce dependence on fresh exports + utilize suitable fruit + create higher-value products.

Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is now explicitly encouraging increased exports of frozen and processed durian.

8. 🇨🇳 China — Major Frozen-Fruit Opportunity

China remains Vietnam's largest fruit-and-vegetable export market.

During the first eight months of 2026, China accounted for 58.9% of Vietnam's fruit-and-vegetable export value.

China is also particularly important for processed products.

Vietnamese industry representatives have identified Chinese demand for:

Frozen fruit
Frozen vegetables
Concentrated fruit juice
Canned fruit
Processed ingredients

as an important future growth opportunity.

The strategic advantage is that frozen products can be transported and stored with much less dependence on immediate consumption after harvest.

9. 🇰🇷 South Korea — Strong Frozen-Fruit Corridor

South Korea is particularly interesting for Vietnamese frozen tropical fruit.

July/August 2026 trade-flow data show Vietnam-to-South-Korea activity for:

Frozen mango
Frozen passion fruit
Frozen dragon fruit

For frozen mango, the Vietnam → South Korea corridor was the largest reported corridor in Tridge's August 2026 dataset, with 77 reported flows.

For passion fruit, Vietnam → South Korea represented the largest reported corridor in July.

This suggests a strong commercial fit between Vietnamese tropical fruit processing and South Korean food manufacturers.

10. 🇺🇸 United States

The US is another attractive market for frozen tropical fruit.

Vietnam-origin frozen passion fruit is already entering the US market, while frozen mango is also a significant global category.

Potential customers include:

Asian food distributors
Beverage manufacturers
Smoothie brands
Dessert companies
Food-service distributors
Ingredient importers
Private-label retailers

However, US buyers generally require strong control over:

Food safety → Microbiology → Pesticide residues → HACCP → Traceability → Packaging → Cold chain

11. 🇪🇺 Europe — Premium Opportunity

Vietnam's fruit-and-vegetable exports to the EU reached US$343.3 million in the first seven months of 2026, up strongly over previous years.

The Netherlands is particularly important because it functions as a major distribution hub into:

Germany
Belgium
France
Nordic countries

Frozen and processed products are strategically suitable for Europe because they overcome some of the logistical limitations associated with fresh tropical fruit.

Potential products:

IQF mango + passion fruit + pineapple + dragon fruit + coconut + durian

12. 🏭 Processing Technology

The most commercially attractive model is increasingly IQF — Individually Quick Frozen.

Typical export formats:

IQF
10 × 10 mm
20 × 20 mm
25 × 25 mm
Chunks
Slices
Whole pieces
Puree / pulp
180 kg drums
Aseptic bags
Food-service packs
Retail
250 g
500 g
1 kg
Industrial
10 kg
20 kg
25 kg

The correct format depends heavily on the buyer's application.

13. ⚠️ Key Risks
1. Cold-chain reliability

Frozen fruit requires uninterrupted temperature control from:

Factory → Cold storage → Container → Port → Importer → Final warehouse

2. Food safety

Export markets increasingly monitor:

Pesticide residues
Microbiology
Heavy metals
Foreign matter
Additives
Pathogens

Australia, for example, has stringent biosecurity and residue requirements; Vietnamese frozen chili shipments were among products flagged for chemical-residue violations in Q1 2026.

3. Energy costs

Freezing and cold storage are energy-intensive.

4. Raw-material consistency

Factories need stable supply of:

Size
Brix
Dry matter
Color
Ripeness
Defect rate
5. Market concentration

Vietnam's overall fruit-and-vegetable exports remain highly dependent on China, making diversification important.

14. 🚀 Best Opportunities for 2026–2030
Tier 1 — IQF Tropical Fruit

Mango | Passion Fruit | Pineapple | Dragon Fruit | Banana | Coconut

Tier 2 — Frozen Durian

Whole | Pulp | Segments | Puree

Tier 3 — Industrial Ingredients

Puree | Concentrate | Frozen pulp | Juice ingredients

Tier 4 — Retail / Private Label

Ready-to-use frozen tropical fruit mixes

Tier 5 — Premium / Organic

Organic + traceable + sustainable Vietnamese

28/09/2026

🇻🇳 VIETNAM STAR ANISE & CINNAMON MARKET 2026 — EXPORT RESEARCH

Vietnam is emerging as a major global sourcing hub for cinnamon and star anise, with strong advantages in raw-material availability, processing capacity and proximity to Asian markets. However, 2026 is also showing a clear shift: buyers increasingly value traceability, food safety, processing depth and consistent quality—not just volume.

1. 🇻🇳 Cinnamon — Vietnam's export powerhouse

Vietnam has approximately 170,000–180,000 ha of cinnamon, concentrated mainly in the northern mountainous provinces, particularly Yen Bai and Lao Cai.

2026 export performance

January–August 2026:

83,433 tonnes
US$213.9 million
Volume: +0.5% YoY
Value: +1.6% YoY

For comparison, 2025 was a record year, with:

120,295 tonnes
US$300.2 million
Export volume +20.4% YoY
Export value +9.4% YoY

This means 2026 is currently showing stable rather than explosive growth, following the record performance of 2025.

2. 🌎 Main Cinnamon Markets

Asia remains the largest destination region, but Vietnam is increasingly developing the Americas and Europe.

India remains a critical buyer.

The United States is also becoming particularly important: during the first seven months of 2026, the US imported 20,404 tonnes of cinnamon, with Vietnam supplying 8,750 tonnes, or 42.9% of total US imports. Vietnam became the largest supplier to the US during this period.

Other important markets include:

🇮🇳 India
🇺🇸 United States
🇧🇩 Bangladesh
🇨🇳 China
🇪🇺 EU
🇧🇷 Brazil
3. ⭐ Star Anise — Smaller volume, high-value spice

Vietnam is estimated to have around 55,000 ha of star-anise plantations, producing approximately 22,000 tonnes annually, making Vietnam the world's second-largest producer after China.

The main production area is concentrated in:

Lang Son — ~40,000 ha
Quang Ninh
Cao Bang
Other northern provinces

Lang Son star anise is particularly valued for its relatively high essential-oil content.

4. 📊 Star Anise Export Performance
January–August 2026

Vietnam exported:

9,605 tonnes
US$38.6 million
Volume: -6.3% YoY
Value: -13.3% YoY

The export market is undergoing an interesting structural change.

Asia

7,215 tonnes — 75.1% of total

But volume declined 17.3% YoY.

India alone accounted for:

5,845 tonnes — 60.9% of Vietnam's total star-anise exports

but was down 24.1% YoY.

Meanwhile, other markets are growing:

🇺🇸 United States: 834 tonnes, +30.3%

🌎 Americas: 1,635 tonnes, +48.6%

🇪🇺 Europe: 701 tonnes, +77.5%

🌍 Africa: 54 tonnes, +68.8%

This is one of the most important developments in Vietnam's 2026 star-anise market:

Growth is increasingly coming from market diversification rather than Asia alone.

5. 🌿 From Raw Spice to Value-Added Ingredients

Both cinnamon and star anise offer significant opportunities beyond whole/raw products.

Cinnamon

Potential products include:

Cinnamon sticks
Cinnamon chips
Ground cinnamon
Cinnamon powder
Cinnamon essential oil
Cinnamon extracts
Food ingredients
Pharmaceutical ingredients
Cosmetic ingredients
Private-label spice products

Vietnamese companies have already invested in modern processing lines for ground and powdered cinnamon.

Star Anise

Potential products include:

Whole dried star anise
Broken star anise
Ground star anise
Star-anise powder
Essential oil
Extracts
Food ingredients
Pharmaceutical ingredients
Spice blends
6. ⚠️ Key Challenges in 2026
Cinnamon

The major challenges include:

Price pressure
International freight costs
Food-safety requirements
Coumarin limits in some markets
Heavy-metal/residue controls
Raw-material consistency
Competition from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other origins

The US and EU are particularly important markets where quality specifications need to be carefully managed.

Star Anise

The main challenges are:

Heavy dependence on India
Price fluctuations
Competition from China
Market concentration
Quality consistency
Limited deep processing
7. 🚀 Biggest Opportunities 2026–2030
① US market

Vietnam has already become the largest cinnamon supplier to the US by import volume in the first seven months of 2026.

This creates opportunities for:

Direct B2B sourcing → Food manufacturers → Spice brands → Private label

② Market diversification

For star anise, the rapid growth of:

US + Europe + Americas

shows potential to reduce dependence on India and other Asian markets.

③ Organic & sustainable spices

International buyers increasingly look for:

Organic certification
Traceability
Sustainable cultivation
Responsible sourcing
Consistent laboratory testing
④ Processing

The higher-margin opportunity is increasingly moving from:

Whole spice → Powder → Extract → Essential oil → Food/pharma/cosmetic ingredient

⑤ Direct sourcing

International buyers increasingly want reliable origin-based supply rather than purely commodity trading.

This creates opportunities for Vietnamese exporters that can provide:

Farm → Processing → Testing → Documentation → Export → Long-term Espressoman Supply
📌 The Big Strategic Shift

Vietnam's spice industry is moving from:

“Export more raw spices”

to:

“Secure supply → Improve quality → Trace origin → Process deeper → Build products → Connect directly with global buyers.”

For cinnamon, Vietnam already has significant scale and a strong position in global trade.

For star anise, the key opportunity is diversifying beyond India and increasing value-added processing.

The combination of cinnamon + star anise + pepper + other Vietnamese spices could become a powerful platform for global B2B sourcing.