Cheap Imports Are Crushing Vegetable Growers in Malaysia. The Ones Still Smiling Sell Something No Import Can Copy.
Update (October 2026): Can't match cheap imports on price? Storing your harvest lets you sell when prices recover. Read: Janny MT Controlled Atmosphere Storage Modules for Farmers and Exporters
Earlier this year, vegetable growers in Malaysia's Cameron Highlands watched their cabbage leave the farm for 30 to 40 sen a kilo. A sen is one hundredth of a ringgit.
The chairman of the local growers' association said farmers were selling below cost. Some were dipping into their savings just to keep planting.
So how do you compete with cheap imported produce? On price alone, you mostly can't. The growers still smiling have stopped selling only a commodity. They also sell what no container ship can carry: the visit, the picking day and the story of their farm.
Short answer: You will rarely beat an import on price per kilo or per pound. Stop trying. Keep your wholesale base if it still pays, then add something that only exists at your gate: a paid picking day, a farm stand with a real story, a prepaid box, or a small dinner or tour. Visitors pay for the experience, and the produce rides along at a better price. |
What Just Happened in Malaysia
On 20 October 2026, Malaysia's Agriculture and Food Security Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, told the Dewan Rakyat (the lower house of Parliament) that his ministry is in discussions with the Investment, Trade and Industry ministry. They are analysing what new measures are needed to protect vegetable and fruit growers.
Read that wording carefully. Discussing. Analysing. Help may come, but it has not arrived yet.
The minister named the crops in oversupply: chillies, cabbage, round cabbage, mustard greens, tomatoes and cucumbers. Complaints have come from growers including those in Cameron Highlands and Johor.
Here is what is already in place, as he described it:
Since 1 June 2026, imports must carry a Certificate of Analysis. The minister noted some views hold that this is still not enough.
Imports do not currently need good-farming-practice certification equal to Malaysia's myGAP in their home countries. They do still need import permits, plant-health (phytosanitary) certificates and inspection by MAQIS, the quarantine and inspection agency.
The ministry has asked FAMA, the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority, to step in and help market produce when a glut pushes selling prices below production costs. He gave chillies and okra as examples.
The pain behind those words is real. Earlier this year, Japanese cucumbers fetched 40 to 50 sen a kilo and tomatoes 70 to 80 sen. Wholesalers limited purchases to about 300 to 400 kg at a time, so even a cheap sale was a small one.
Back in October 2025, another association leader said farm-gate prices were often 50 to 60 sen a kilo, while land in Pahang rented for RM4,500 per acre per year. The rent does not drop when the cabbage price does.
It's Not Just Malaysia
If you farm in Ohio, Ontario or Lincolnshire, this story should feel familiar. The same squeeze is happening wherever cheap produce can cross a border.
Market | What the numbers say | Source |
United States | Imports were about one-third of all vegetables available (fresh and processed) in 2025 | HortiDaily, citing USDA ERS |
United States | Mexico supplied about 77% of fresh vegetable imports | HortiDaily, citing USDA ERS |
United States | Fresh cucumbers about 91% import-dependent; fresh tomatoes about 69% (2025) | HortiDaily, citing USDA ERS |
United Kingdom | Fresh vegetable self-sufficiency 53% on 2023 figures, the lowest since records began in 1988 | FarmingUK, citing Defra |
United Kingdom | Imports supplied 84% of fresh tomatoes sold (2023 figures) | FarmingUK, citing Defra |
Canada | Growers compete in the same North American import market | No verified figure used here |
In the UK, the NFU urged the government in 2024 to protect self-sufficiency. In the US, about 91% of fresh cucumbers and 69% of fresh tomatoes available are imported, so local growers compete with imports every single day. Canadian growers sell into that same North American market, so they feel the same downward pull on price.
Different countries. Different crops. Same lesson. When your product looks identical to one grown somewhere cheaper, the buyer picks the cheaper one.
Why Price-Matching Is a Game You Can't Win
Here is the trap. A wholesaler sees your cabbage and an imported cabbage as the same thing. So the only lever left is price, and the import sets it.
Even in good years, the gap between the shop and the farm is wide. USDA figures show farms received 11.8 cents of each dollar spent on domestically produced food at shops and restaurants in 2024. That is an average across all food, not just vegetables. Everyone between you and the shopper takes the rest.
Your costs, meanwhile, keep moving the other way: rent, labour, fuel, seed and fertiliser. When a glut hits, you cannot cut the rent to 30 sen.
I wrote about this squeeze in detail in when crop prices fall, how agritourism fills the gap. The short version: if you only sell by the kilo, someone else decides what your year is worth.
Reality Check: Tariffs, inspections and marketing help may ease the pressure in Malaysia, the US or the UK. They may not. Plan your farm as if no rescue is coming, and treat any help as a bonus. |
What an Import Can Never Copy
A container can bring in a tomato. It cannot bring in a Saturday morning with your kids in the rows, warm fruit in a basket and the farmer who grew it saying hello.
That is the experience premium. People will pay far more for a memory than for a commodity. I break down the pricing logic in the experience premium: how to price your farm for profit, not just cost.
Look at pumpkins in the US, using figures from my guide to starting a pumpkin patch:
How the pumpkin is sold | Price per pound | Times the grower price |
US average grower price, 2024 (USDA ERS) | About 19 cents | 1x |
Heiser Farms, Oregon (pick-your-own, 2026) | 50 cents | About 2.6x |
Butler's Orchard, Maryland (pick-your-own, 2026) | 79 cents | About 4.1x |
Johnson's Locust Hall Farm, New Jersey (pick-your-own, 2026) | 95 cents | About 4.9x |
Same crop, roughly speaking. The family that picks it themselves pays about 2.6 to 4.9 times the average grower price, and that is before admission and food sales.
Now meet Applecrest Farm Orchards in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. The farm was once nearly 90% wholesale. By 2014, it was about 80% retail and 20% wholesale.
In 2017, owner Peter Wagner told the Boston Globe: "If we were in the wholesale business, we'd be out of business."
Applecrest keeps festival admission and parking free. In 2026, a peck of apples that visitors pick themselves starts at $38. Read the full story in my Applecrest Farm Orchards case study.
Notice what they did not do. They did not try to out-cheap anyone. They changed what they were selling.
Three Field-Tested Plays for Vegetable Growers
You do not need a theme park. Start small, with the crops you already grow. For a longer menu, see my 15 proven agritourism ideas for vegetable growers.
Field-Tested Play: The Paid Picking Day. Choose one crop that is fun to pick, such as tomatoes, cucumbers or chillies. Open one or two weekend days. Sell by the bucket or basket, not by the kilo, so the price reflects the experience. Before you open, read what you need to know about pick-your-own. |
Field-Tested Play: The Farm Stand With a Story Plus a Prepaid Box. Put a simple stand at your gate with a chalkboard that says who grew this, when it was picked and how. Then offer a prepaid weekly or monthly box. Money arrives before the harvest, and customers stop comparing you with the supermarket. Here is how to set up a farm stand that attracts visitors. |
Field-Tested Play: The Small Dinner or Field Tour. Host a short field walk or a small dinner made from what is growing that week. Keep the guest list small at first. The meal is the product, and your vegetables are the star. Learn more about hosting farm-to-table dinners, then use my guide on how to price your agritourism activities. |
Reality Check: Experiences Are Not a Magic Fix
I would be doing you no favours if I sold this as easy money. It is not.
According to the USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture, US farms earned $1.26 billion from agritourism in 2022, up 12.4% from 2017 after inflation. That sounds great. But only 28,617 farms reported it, about 1.5% of US farms.
US agritourism farms, 2022 | Share of farms | Share of income |
Earned $25,000 or more (6,601 farms) | 23.1% | 90.9% |
Earned under $5,000 | 47.7% | Part of the remaining 9.1% |
Income split calculated from the USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture tables, as set out in my agritourism statistics roundup below.
Penn State puts the average at about $44,000 per participating farm. But averages hide the spread, and the top earners pull it up. Nearly half earned under $5,000. You can dig into the full picture in my agritourism statistics roundup.
Reality Check: The winners treat agritourism as a real business, not a sign at the gate. And it needs people. If your farm is hours from any town, a picking day may struggle. A prepaid box, online orders or a destination dinner may suit you better. |
Reality Check: Paperwork Before People. This is not legal or insurance advice. Before visitors walk your fields, ask your insurer: "Does my policy cover paying guests on a working farm?" Ask your local council or county: "Do I need a permit or planning approval for events, parking, toilets or food?" Ask a local adviser whether your area has agritourism liability rules and what signs they require. |
What I Learned on My Own Farm
I am Stephen Loke of AgritourismSuccess.com, whose farm is featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun.
Before visitors started coming to my farm, Bloopy Durians in Bentong, Malaysia, I grew chillies, cucumbers and bitter gourd for wholesale. I lost money.
The crops grew fine. The problem was who I was selling to and how.
Today, Bloopy Durians welcomes visitors from all over the world. Many companies send their staff and management to the farm, and we supply durians for corporate events. No import can copy a morning on our farm, because the farm itself is the product.
That is why I read the Malaysian news with such feeling. I have stood where those growers stand.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can a small farm compete with cheap imported produce?
Do not fight on price per kilo or per pound. Keep any wholesale sales that still pay, then add income an import cannot copy: picking days, a farm stand with a story, prepaid boxes, tours or small dinners.
What should I do when farm-gate prices fall below my cost?
First, know your true cost per kilo or pound. Then move some of your crop into channels where you set the price, such as direct sales and experiences. My post on crop prices falling, linked above, walks through it.
Is the Malaysian government stopping vegetable imports?
Do I need lots of visitors for agritourism to work?
You need enough people within reach. Nearly half of US agritourism farms earned under $5,000 in 2022. Start small, test demand, and build from what sells.
Do I need special insurance to let visitors on my farm?
Possibly. Ask your insurer whether your policy covers paying guests, and ask your local council or county about permits. This article is not legal or insurance advice.
Your Next Step
You cannot control what arrives at the port. You can control what happens at your gate. Find out where your farm stands today.
Then grab my free ebook, packed with ideas to earn more from the land you already have.
P.S. Remember the Cameron Highlands cabbage, leaving the farm for 30 to 40 sen a kilo? No grower can make a living at that price. But a family who picks with you, buys a box from you or eats at your table is not comparing you with an import. They are buying you. Start there.
Stephen Loke is the founder of AgritourismSuccess.com, whose farm is featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun. This article is for general education only and is not legal, insurance or financial advice. Prices and figures are as reported by the sources below and may change.
Sources
Free Malaysia Today: Cameron farmers urge stricter controls on vegetable imports (8 Oct 2025)
HortiDaily: U.S. vegetable supply one-third import-dependent in 2025
FarmingUK: UK's self-sufficiency in fresh vegetables hits record lows
USDA ERS: Agritourism, Census of Agriculture 2022 (Chart of Note)
USDA ERS: Farm share of the food dollar, 2024 (Chart of Note)
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