HCM City (VNA) - Companies interested in organicagriculture should engage in market research and brand building, and not justsimply chase trends without having first identified buyers, experts have said.

Nguyen Thanh Thuy, Director of Xanh Vietnam AgricultureCo. Ltd., said that farmers in Bac Giang province, for example, refused to buyher company’s organic fertiliser unless the firm could find traders who wouldbuy their fruits.

She said the company could not find traders who werewilling to buy at her requested prices.   

Nguyen Tan Phap, whose start-up involves growingorganic vegetables in Quang Nam province, noted that the "clean"market has high potential, but the prices are higher than traditionally grownproducts.

In addition, since many customers do notcompletely trust organic products, trust building and brands are especiallycrucial.

Do Ha Nam, former Chairman of the Vietnam PepperAssociation, said that developing organic farm products requires careful marketresearch and demands.

Firms should not just encourage farmers to adoptorganic production methods without making sure that buyers exist. Otherwise,farmers may lose faith in firms, he said.

Nguyen Van Bo of the Vietnam Academy ofAgriculture Science said that organic agricultural goods currently only accountfor a tiny part of Vietnam’s farm produce.

Many firms and households producing organicgoods are small, without proper planning or market research.

Organic agriculture has strict requirements thatfarmers have to follow, and they need help with better infrastructure andmarkets, as organic farming is environmentally friendly and produces cleanproduce, he added.

Nam said that several foreign firms wanted tocooperate with Vietnamese pepper firms, which could help sell Vietnameseorganic pepper to global markets.

Although Vietnam’s organic products such asseafood, honey, coconut, pepper and fruit are considered to have good value,organic farming requires understanding of market demands first, Bo said.-VNA