Big step for Vietnamese lychees towards US market
First lychees of northern Hai Duong and Bac Giang provinces have been shipped by sea to the US to be sold at Safeway and Albersons - two supermarket chains with the largest network on the West Coast of the US.
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| Vietnamese lychees penetrate into US market. (Photo: T.V) |
This is a result of the efforts by the Vietnamese Consulate General in San Francisco in bringing Vietnamese products to foreign distribution systems that started from early this year.
According to the Asia-America Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, this is a giant step forward in promoting the sale of Vietnamese fruits in general and lychees in particular in the US market, as the majority of Vietnamese fruits have been sold in only small markets and supermarkets to serve Asian consumers.
A representative from US Dragonberry Produce, the distributor of Vietnamese lychees in the US, said that two other containers of lychees are also on their way to the US. The fruit will continue to be sold in the two supermarket chains with a price tag of 4.99 USD for each bag of 430 grams.
The representative said that the firm has taken steps to introduce the fruit to local partners and consumers.
It piloted the marketing of Vietnamese lychees in early May during the San Francisco trade, investment and tourism promotion conference which was attended by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. The company then imported lychees by air to sell in Los Angeles supermarkets.
The high air transport cost made Vietnamese lychees less competitive in the market. This is the reason why the export of lychees to the US has been modest while the fruit has been accepted in the market since 2014.
Therefore, Dragonberry decided to transport lychees by sea and succeeded, which is expected to strongly increase the export of Vietnamese lychees to the US in the time to come.
(Source: VNA)
