Vietnamese lychees hit shelves in Belgium

Brussels (VNA) – “Thieu” lychees from Vietnam have hit the shelves of Carrefour Tongre supermarkets in Brussels, Belgium, since June 23 thanks to efforts of the Vinamex company and partners in bringing the Vietnamese specialty fruit to Europe to utilise the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

This is the first time the tropical fruit has been sold in the supermarkets, with good feedback from consumers.

Weiss, the manager of five Carrefour Tongre supermarkets, said that he has never eaten such a tasty fruit. He decided to sell the fruit in the supermarket chain so that Belgian people can taste the wonderful fruit.

He said that Thanh Ha “thieu” lychees has outstanding taste compared to other kinds of lychees that he has sold in the supermarkets, expressing his belief that Belgian consumers will like the fruit once they taste it.

Weiss has decided to sell 100kg of Vietnamese lychees in five Carrefour Tongre supermarkets at the price of 25 EUR (nearly 30 USD) per kilo. He advised Vietnamese farmers to further improve post-harvest technology to keep the fruit fresh for a longer time.

The EVFTA has paved the way for Vietnamese farm produce to enter EU markets. Besides Belgium, Vietnamese lychee has so far reached many European countries such as the Netherlands, France, and the Czech Republic.

Minh Lien, Vinamex Director, said that its first batch of 500kg of “thieu” lychees was sold out only after two days. The firm will continue to import another batch of the fruit next week. Vinamex also plans to import Hung Yen longan to sell in Belgium, she said, expressing her belief that like lychee, longan will draw consumers' interest in the land of chocolate./.