VIETNAM

Feedback from the Trade on Their Plans and Interest in the USA Pear Season:

PBNW representatives in Vietnam discussed and updated the season, the advantages of the 2025 USA pear season to all fruit importers. Importing a full container of USA pears during this time is a challenge for importers because Vietnamese consumers are not yet familiar with how to use ripen pears with enough sweetness and delicious flavor. We recommended that they import small quantities together with Washington apple containers. Some importers were interested and they said that they would discuss with growers and shippers to update prices and packaging methods to ensure the quality of USA pears and Washington apples.

Expectations for Any Freight or Logistics Challenges:

The USD/VND exchange rate is still 7% higher than the same period last year, causing shipping costs to remain high. The import tax of USA Pears remains at 10% and so far both the Vietnamese and USA governments are still negotiating to reach the best tariff. We hope that this trade agreement will be announced soon in detail with import tax at 0% to help reduce pressure on importers.

Opportunities in Your Market for Specific Varieties, Sizes, and Grades:

The USA pear market in Vietnam always pays special attention to pear varieties with long shelf life and firm fruit because high temperature and humidity make pears ripen faster. The importer said they still focus US1 grades with 3 varieties include: Green Anjou, Red Anjou and Bosc pear varieties with sizes 90, 100 and 10 kg boxes for Red Anjou pears and 20 kg boxes for Bosc and Green Anjou pears.

Update on the Competition in the Market:

USA Pears continue to compete mainly with Chinese pears, South Korea pears and South Africa pears

Political or Economic Issues Impacting Imports, Retail, or Consumer Behavior:

Vietnam continues to reform the country, focusing resources on public investment to anticipate the shift in the global supply chain, strongly attracting FDI capital flows and always maintaining political stability, economic growth is always maintained at a high level. The improved economy, along with new trade agreements, will be the driving force for the consumption of USA Pear in the coming time. According to the July macroeconomic report, GDP in the second quarter of 2025 increased sharply by 7.96% - the second highest level since 2020. Vietnam continues to strive to achieve an expected growth rate of 8.1 - 8.3% in 2025. Many large supermarket chains such as Aeon, King Food, Central Retail, Winmart+ and Bach Hoa Xanh are also continuously expanding supermarkets to provinces and cities besides the opportunities, we need to deploy more promotional activities to gradually change consumer habits.

Other Brief Comments:

During the meetings, we discussed sampling programs and social media to promote U.S. pears. This season, we also plan to hold a season kick-off event in December to attract importers and raise awareness of USA pears.