Wholesale markets and distributors in Ho Chi Minh City have plans inplace to boost sales of lychee, a city leader told a meeting in HCM Cityon June 10.
Nguyen Thi Hong, People's Committeedeputy chairwoman, said last year the city had consumed 60,000 tonnes,or 50 percent of the nation's total.
About 80,000 tonnes areexpected to be sold in the city this year, she said, adding thatwholesalers and retailers had met with businesses in Hai Duong and BacGiang provinces to discuss transport of the fruits to the south.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the country's lycheeoutput is likely to top 200,000 tonnes this year, with 40 percent beingexported.
Trinh Diep Thanh Thao, deputy director of the ThuDuc Wholesale Market, said the market has set up three new stalls tosell lychee after getting 11,500 tonnes in the period between May 17 andJune 9.
Co-opMart supermarket chain expects to sell 800 tonnes of lychees this year.
It now sells 10-15 tonnes daily and the volume could reach 30 tonnesat times, Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, deputy general director of Sai GonCo.op,said, adding that the supermarket offers promotions to boostconsumption.
Ho Quoc Nguyen, Big C's public relationsdirector, said the supermarket is likely to sell more than 300 tonnesthis year and it too offers promotions.
Previously, Hanoiauthorities also said that they will soon grant trading licences tolychee traders in Hai Duong Province so they can open mobile lycheeshops at vacant places in Hanoi.
At the meeting in HCMCity, authorities also called on lychee farmers to adopt VietGap andGlobal-Gap standards on more areas to improve the quality of theirfruits and meet hygiene and food safety requirements in both domesticand export markets.
Hong said lychee is now mainly consumed as fresh fruit, and so preservation methods to keep it fresh for longer are needed.
Besides,research should be done into processing fresh lychee so that a spike insupply after a harvest would not send prices crashing, she said.
Thao said businesses should pay attention to packaging and building brands for the fruit.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said building a value chain for the fruit is very important.
Alsoon June 10, with the shipment of more than three tonnes of lychees toAustralia and two tonnes to the US, Rong Do Company was the secondcompany to export lychees to the US and the first Vietnamese company toship the fruit to Australia.
Robert Guillermo,pre-clearance specialist with the US Department of Agriculture, whoinspected the shipment, said the lychee quality met the standards forexport to the US market.
"It is fresh and sweet, and meetsthe quality standard," he said. "We have had two previous shipmentssent to the US. They were the same quality as this one," Guillermo said.
He predicted that the volume of lychees exported to theUS would increase sharply in the near future, depending on the state ofthe US economy.
Alex Alexopoulos, national sales managerfor PanasiaFresh, which imports litchis from Vietnam and sells them inAustralia, said he is satisfied with the quality of the lychees inVietnam and that the packaging facility is very good.
Allof the lychees will be sold in wholesale markets and supermarkets inAustralia. After this first shipment, his company plans to buy as muchas possible if customers in Australia like the Vietnamese lychees.
"Wehope this season we can import 15 to 20 tonnes of lychees every weekfor distribution in Australia," Alexopoulos said, adding his companyalso plans to import coconut, mango and dragon fruit from Vietnam.
DeputyTrade Minister Tuan Anh said his ministry will work with the ministriesof Agriculture and Rural Development and Science and Technology to fixquality standards for fruits, including lychee.
It will also work with relevant ministries to find packaging and post-harvest solutions, he said.
Authoritiesfrom BacGiang and Hai Duong provinces said they will increase the areaunder lychee adopting VietGap and GlobalGap standards to improvequality.
Nguyen Doan Quang, director of the Hai DuongDepartment of Industry and Trade, said the province will strive toensure safe production processes are adopted on 50 percent of thecultivation area by 2020, including VietGap and GlobalGap standards on20-30 percent.-VNA
Nguyen Thi Hong, People's Committeedeputy chairwoman, said last year the city had consumed 60,000 tonnes,or 50 percent of the nation's total.
About 80,000 tonnes areexpected to be sold in the city this year, she said, adding thatwholesalers and retailers had met with businesses in Hai Duong and BacGiang provinces to discuss transport of the fruits to the south.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the country's lycheeoutput is likely to top 200,000 tonnes this year, with 40 percent beingexported.
Trinh Diep Thanh Thao, deputy director of the ThuDuc Wholesale Market, said the market has set up three new stalls tosell lychee after getting 11,500 tonnes in the period between May 17 andJune 9.
Co-opMart supermarket chain expects to sell 800 tonnes of lychees this year.
It now sells 10-15 tonnes daily and the volume could reach 30 tonnesat times, Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, deputy general director of Sai GonCo.op,said, adding that the supermarket offers promotions to boostconsumption.
Ho Quoc Nguyen, Big C's public relationsdirector, said the supermarket is likely to sell more than 300 tonnesthis year and it too offers promotions.
Previously, Hanoiauthorities also said that they will soon grant trading licences tolychee traders in Hai Duong Province so they can open mobile lycheeshops at vacant places in Hanoi.
At the meeting in HCMCity, authorities also called on lychee farmers to adopt VietGap andGlobal-Gap standards on more areas to improve the quality of theirfruits and meet hygiene and food safety requirements in both domesticand export markets.
Hong said lychee is now mainly consumed as fresh fruit, and so preservation methods to keep it fresh for longer are needed.
Besides,research should be done into processing fresh lychee so that a spike insupply after a harvest would not send prices crashing, she said.
Thao said businesses should pay attention to packaging and building brands for the fruit.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said building a value chain for the fruit is very important.
Alsoon June 10, with the shipment of more than three tonnes of lychees toAustralia and two tonnes to the US, Rong Do Company was the secondcompany to export lychees to the US and the first Vietnamese company toship the fruit to Australia.
Robert Guillermo,pre-clearance specialist with the US Department of Agriculture, whoinspected the shipment, said the lychee quality met the standards forexport to the US market.
"It is fresh and sweet, and meetsthe quality standard," he said. "We have had two previous shipmentssent to the US. They were the same quality as this one," Guillermo said.
He predicted that the volume of lychees exported to theUS would increase sharply in the near future, depending on the state ofthe US economy.
Alex Alexopoulos, national sales managerfor PanasiaFresh, which imports litchis from Vietnam and sells them inAustralia, said he is satisfied with the quality of the lychees inVietnam and that the packaging facility is very good.
Allof the lychees will be sold in wholesale markets and supermarkets inAustralia. After this first shipment, his company plans to buy as muchas possible if customers in Australia like the Vietnamese lychees.
"Wehope this season we can import 15 to 20 tonnes of lychees every weekfor distribution in Australia," Alexopoulos said, adding his companyalso plans to import coconut, mango and dragon fruit from Vietnam.
DeputyTrade Minister Tuan Anh said his ministry will work with the ministriesof Agriculture and Rural Development and Science and Technology to fixquality standards for fruits, including lychee.
It will also work with relevant ministries to find packaging and post-harvest solutions, he said.
Authoritiesfrom BacGiang and Hai Duong provinces said they will increase the areaunder lychee adopting VietGap and GlobalGap standards to improvequality.
Nguyen Doan Quang, director of the Hai DuongDepartment of Industry and Trade, said the province will strive toensure safe production processes are adopted on 50 percent of thecultivation area by 2020, including VietGap and GlobalGap standards on20-30 percent.-VNA
