Mr. Tran Ba Duong – Chairman of Thaco’s Board of Directors
“Producing 1 Million Items but Only 1 Defective Product Means Losing Everything”
According to information from Thaco Group, on November 26th, a strategic cooperation agreement was signed between Thaco and Fresh Del Monte.
At the event, Mr. Tran Ba Duong – Chairman of Thaco’s Board of Directors, stated that the signing ceremony included three key points: Thaco will sign a contract to sell bananas to Fresh Del Monte for 10 years, with 71,500 tons this year and an annual increase. Second, cooperation in developing pineapple cultivation for Fresh Del Monte, where they provide seeds, techniques, and pineapple branding for 2,000 hectares.
Third, cooperation in supporting mechanization in cultivation and automation in packaging for Fresh Del Monte. Fresh Del Monte has large farming areas, while Thaco has an automated fresh banana packaging plant. The implementation is scheduled for August 2026, possibly earlier in June 2026, with the handover of the plant. Around August-September 2026, machinery will be supplied for application in banana cultivation for Fresh Del Monte. Simultaneously, Thaco provides banana and pineapple solutions for other locations.
Sharing about the negotiation process with Fresh Del Monte – an agricultural conglomerate with over 130 years of experience and a revenue of $4.6 billion, Mr. Tran Ba Duong emphasized that the primary condition in agricultural production, especially for fruits, is stable yield and consistent quality. He supports the supply of fresh fruits, with any unsold fresh produce being processed.
“In agricultural production, we always face weather, climate, and natural disasters, especially diseases. A fundamental condition for product quality is that we guarantee if less than 90% is achieved, a penalty of $1 per box (13 kg) is applied. Similarly, if Fresh Del Monte signs for a certain volume but purchases less than 90%, they are also penalized; conversely, if we fail to meet 90% of the committed volume, we must compensate,” Mr. Tran Ba Duong shared.
Secondly, the billionaire believes that the approach to agriculture differs. For Fresh Del Monte and long-standing farmers, their process involves accumulating experience, techniques, and maintaining quality and yield, including aspects like seed development. For example, Fresh Del Monte has developed its own pineapple variety.
He mentioned that producing bananas with the right sweetness, size, and appearance is challenging but not impossible. Fresh Del Monte has extensive experience in both sales and cultivation, with over 40,000 hectares of directly cultivated banana plantations. Thus, they possess expertise not only in sales but also in cultivation and techniques. Thaco, on the other hand, approaches this with a focus on stable quality and yield, adhering to an industrial production philosophy that does not tolerate errors.
“Producing 1 million items but only 1 defective product means losing everything. I have explored and built a platform to mitigate certain risks such as land, utilities, labor, and management organization. With this cooperation, we view Fresh Del Monte as a long-experienced partner (135 years), while we are newcomers to agriculture with only 5 years of experience. This cooperation is between the new and the seasoned,” Mr. Duong said.
Lack of Stable Outlets Means No One Will “Rescue” the Produce
He noted that Fresh Del Monte needs banana volumes for sale in the Asian market and others, and sourcing from Vietnam is more cost-effective than from South America in terms of transportation. They have developed cultivation and procurement areas in the Philippines for 50-70 years. Vietnam, however, has only recently entered banana cultivation with small-scale, scattered plantations of a few hundred to a thousand hectares, making disease management inefficient.
Currently, Thaco has established the basics, and Fresh Del Monte must collaborate because they want their branded products to maintain high quality.
According to Thaco, the company approaches agriculture industrially, relying on personnel capable of quickly learning and adopting techniques. When partners possess technology and seek cooperation, the company is ready to engage. Thaco’s leadership stated that the current cooperation model meets core requirements for stable quality and volume, while persistently applying mechanization, automation, and industrial management standards.
“Fresh Del Monte, after inspection and understanding, has confirmed this. Mr. Ishida – Fresh Del Monte’s Procurement Director for Asia-Pacific, visited in 2023 upon hearing about Thaco’s banana cultivation. Last year, Fresh Del Monte’s Chairman flew from Miami to meet me, of course, with other business schedules. We discussed and had dinner, where I explained our banana and agricultural methods. He then returned and initiated cooperation.
Over the past 2-3 years, we have cultivated bananas for short-term partners without long-term strategic cooperation. Dole works with many companies but each only has 500, 1,000, or 2,000 hectares, with Dole providing technical support, procurement, and sales. In this traditional model, if one farm faces disease, others remain unaffected. However, Fresh Del Monte’s strategy with us is based on their trust in our ability to maintain stable quality.
After a 3-month visit to Costa Rica from August onwards, they started purchasing 5 containers per week, with bananas requiring ripening and meeting color standards. Now, they confirm our consistent quality, which many other long-standing companies struggle to achieve,” Mr. Tran Ba Duong recounted.
According to Thaco, in 2026, the company will sign for a minimum of 71,500 tons of bananas with Fresh Del Monte, equivalent to about 3,575 containers, averaging 12 containers per day. The partner is cautious in procurement, but the volume could increase to 240,000 tons/year if Thaco maintains stable quality and volume. Then, the company would need about 4,000 hectares dedicated to Fresh Del Monte. Thaco focuses on production, while branding and distribution are handled by the partner; they are even willing to operate a specialized farm if necessary.
Fresh Del Monte is also open to expanding into pineapples, a technically demanding crop, and will support Thaco with seeds from their African plantations, aiming to develop 2,000 hectares of Fresh Del Monte-branded pineapples.
Billionaire Tran Ba Duong believes that if Vietnamese agriculture fully complies with market standards, it can become a global fruit supplier. The company focuses on production and collaborates with partners for marketing and distribution. Choosing Fresh Del Monte, one of the most demanding partners, is seen as a crucial step in affirming Thaco’s capabilities and position in the global agricultural value chain.
“We are very meticulous because with fresh produce, without outlets, it should not be cultivated. Small farmers might have their produce rescued if prices drop, but we have no one to rescue us,” Mr. Duong emphasized.
According to Thaco, in 2026, the company plans to export about 512,000 tons of bananas, equivalent to 26,000 containers. Fresh Del Monte will consume about 15% of the volume, nearly 71,500 tons, with the remainder distributed through other partners. Once operations stabilize, Thaco aims to expand to 20,000 hectares of bananas, representing a significant share of the global supply.
Thaco’s leadership stated that the company has built a crucial foundation in agriculture after years of persistent investment: the current banana cultivation area is 5,800 hectares and is expected to reach 16,000 hectares by 2026. Therefore, the strategic cooperation with Fresh Del Monte, along with technical supervision and support, is key to enhancing volume, quality, and revenue.
By 2027, Thaco aims to maintain 20,000 hectares of bananas and develop about 2,000 hectares of pineapples over the next 2-3 years, despite the high technical requirements. The company will also continue to implement an integrated, circular agricultural model, combining cultivation and livestock on a large scale.
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