Most of the bananas will be exported to China by ship or road. They will fetch VND22,000-VND23,000 (95-99 cents) per kilogram from September to March and VND13,000-VND14,000 (56-60 cents) at other times.

While China has a demand for 15 million tons of bananas a year, the company has only been supplying 240,000 tons, Doan Nguyen Duc, CEO of Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) Agrico, said.

But to reduce its excessive reliance on the Chinese market, Duc is also hoping to shift 20% of the company’s banana exports to the Republic of Korea and Japan.

It expects to harvest over 106,000 tons of bananas and earn revenues of around VND1.7 trillion (US$73 million) and VND983 billion (US$42 million) in gross profit this year.

The company already possesses 13,500 ha of farmlands in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. It is also a major producer and exporter of dragon fruit and chili.

HAGL used to be a leading property developer in Vietnam, but restructured in 2010 to focus on rubber and livestock farming.

HAGL Agrico has been growing fruits since 2016, and last year its passion fruit, banana, chili, and dragon fruit crops fetched revenues of VND1.6 trillion (US$71 million), accounting for around 49% of HAGL’s total revenues.

This year, the firm expects sales of VND3.7 trillion (US$164.4 million) and gross profits of VND1.67 trillion (US$74.2 million).