Vietnamese cashews, civet coffee, dried fruit, and even frozen banh mi drew strong interest from international buyers this week at Vietnam International Sourcing 2026, held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in Ho Chi Minh City. The three day event brought buyers from the United States, Japan, China, India, and several other countries together with hundreds of Vietnamese exporters, raising hopes for new export deals across the agricultural and processed food sectors.
More than six hundred Vietnamese manufacturers and exporters showcased roughly twelve thousand export eligible products across multiple sectors during the event, with food and beverage items emerging as a particularly strong draw for the international delegations in attendance. Organizers reported thousands of direct business connections made between Vietnamese companies and prospective international buyers over the course of the three day fair.
Le Thi Thanh Hoa, director of Ho Chi Minh City based company LisaFood, said her business had met hundreds of potential customers interested in its range of products, including cashews, sacha inchi nuts, macadamia nuts, and rice. That level of buyer engagement reflects the growing international appetite for Vietnamese agricultural specialties beyond the country’s traditional bulk commodity exports.
One Chinese buyer attending the event said he was particularly impressed by the sheer variety of Vietnamese agricultural and seafood products on display, including dozens of different dried fruit items produced using varying processing technologies. He singled out civet coffee, dehydrated sea grapes sourced from Khanh Hoa province, and frozen baguettes and cream cakes designed to retain their flavor through extended storage periods as products that particularly caught his attention during the fair.
Despite the positive reception, the buyer cautioned that Vietnamese suppliers would need to guarantee stable production volumes and consistent quality standards while offering more competitive pricing in order to actually secure long term import contracts. That feedback highlights a persistent challenge facing Vietnamese exporters as they attempt to move beyond one time interest toward sustained international supply relationships with major overseas buyers.
Vietnam’s trade office in Spain reported that six Spanish companies attended this year’s event, with most delegates giving positive feedback regarding Vietnamese agricultural, seafood, and processed food offerings. That international representation from Europe adds to the broader geographic diversity of buyer interest reported across the three day sourcing fair, spanning markets across Asia, North America, and Europe simultaneously.
Vietnam has steadily built its reputation as a major global food exporter in recent years, with export turnover for several key categories including seafood, fruits and vegetables, cashews, coffee, and rice each individually exceeding two billion dollars annually. The country has increasingly focused on shifting toward higher value, deeply processed products rather than relying solely on raw commodity exports, a strategy reflected in the diverse range of specialty and processed items showcased at this week’s sourcing event.
As exhibitors and international buyers continue following up on connections made during the event, the coming months will reveal how many of these initial expressions of interest translate into concrete export contracts. For Vietnamese food producers looking to expand beyond established markets, this week’s strong buyer engagement offers an encouraging signal that international appetite for distinctive Vietnamese agricultural and processed food products continues growing, even as suppliers work to address the volume and consistency concerns raised by prospective international partners.
