Thai fruit exports surge: over one million tons of fruit exports in the first half of 2022

Thailand exported over a million tons of fruits during the first half of this year, generating over 2.2 billion USD in revenue. The Thai Ministry of Commerce expects fruit export to grow more this year with the support of Thailand’s strict safety standards and full cooperation from food producers.

Due to its geographical position as a tropical country, Thailand is the fertile ground for a variety of flavorful fruits. Thailand is recognized as one of the world’s top producers and exporters of high-quality tropical fruits, such as mangos, pineapples, coconuts, mangosteens, and durian, “the king of tropical fruits”.

Thanks to Thai farmers’ smart agriculture practices, premium-quality Thai fruits continue to gain popularity worldwide. China and Asian countries are the main export destinations, but the European market is also importing more Thai fruits. For the first half of 2022, Thailand exported over 1 million metric tons of fruits, generating over 80 billion baht in revenue for farmers. Higher shipments have been attributed mainly to strong demand for Thai fruit globally, alongside higher production in the 2022 harvest season. Therefore, the Thai Ministry of Commerce expects outbound shipments of Thai fruit exports, including fresh, frozen, dried, and canned fruits, to grow by 15% this year to reach a value of 287.50 billion baht (around 8.53 billion USD).

As the leading fruit exporter, Thailand delivers fruit products to consumers worldwide with a great emphasis on safety reassurance. As the Covid-19 pandemic pushed the issue of food security to the forefront of global attention, Thailand shifted the whole agricultural supply chain toward the new normal. To boost confidence among global trading partners and to reinforce the high potential of Thai agricultural products, the Thai Ministry of Commerce, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and Ministry of Interior, launched a campaign “Thailand Delivers with Safety” in 2020. The campaign includes the implementation of the COVID-19 Prevention Best Practice in food production for export. The refined measures are for manufacturers, exporters, business operators, fruit suppliers, and logistics operators to follow the hygienic and sanitary standard guidelines set by the World Health Organization and to ensure contamination-free products.