A batch of fresh Vietnamese lychees in the 2023 crop has just been successfully exported to the US market, opening up great opportunities for lychees in particular and Vietnamese fruits in general in this market.
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| Vietnamese lychee in the United States. |
“Supporting” Vietnamese fruits in the US
Recently, LNS International Corporation (importer) and L&V Food Supply Company (distributor) based in Houston, Texas (USA) have coordinated to bring the first batch of fresh lychees of the 2023 crop from Bac Giang province to be sold simultaneously at many of the largest supermarkets and Asian markets in Houston, Texas (USA).
This event is considered to have important significance in affirming the quality of Vietnamese fruit when accessing one of the most demanding markets in the world .
Ms. Chinh Nguyen, CEO of L&V Food Supply Group, said that L&V Food Supply and LNS International Corporation are Vietnamese-American companies in Houston that are joining forces and investing together to build and implement a plan to import large shipments of food and fruit from Vietnam to the US this year.
“After 3 batches of fresh lychee imports (about 9 tons) in June 2023 to the US, we have plans to continue importing frozen lychee batches (estimated at 2 containers/month, equivalent to about 30 tons/month). If in Vietnam, suppliers have enough qualified goods, we will plan to import about 3 more times (80-90 tons) in 2023,” Ms. Chinh Nguyen shared.
This is very good news not only for Vietnamese lychee, but also for Vietnamese fruit in general, because the US is a very demanding market and has high demands on product standards.
This "sweet fruit" also shows that the efforts of ministries and branches, including the Ministry of Industry and Trade , in promoting import and export, implementing trade promotion programs to export Vietnamese agricultural products to large, demanding countries and territories such as the US and EU have been effective.
In addition, the Vietnam Trade Office in the US has coordinated with relevant agencies at home and abroad to gradually remove difficulties to expand the market share of lychees in the US market, such as advising and proposing mechanisms to resolve problems related to the participation of the Hanoi Irradiation Center in the pre-certification program of the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); Negotiated with APHIS and was allowed to add 1 more irradiation point to export lychees to the US; Introduced and organized many delegations of US import enterprises to conduct field surveys and work with partners in Bac Giang.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, among agricultural, forestry and fishery products, the US buys the most cashew nuts, seafood, wood and fruit from Vietnam.
The US is identified as a market for many of our high-quality agricultural products and tropical fruits, such as: fresh lychee, dragon fruit, mango, and grapefruit. Up to now, there are 7 types of Vietnamese fruits exported to the US market (dragon fruit, rambutan, longan, lychee, star apple, mango, and grapefruit).
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) agricultural market report forecasts that US agricultural imports in 2023 could reach 199 billion USD, 5 billion USD higher than in 2022. This is an opportunity for Vietnamese exporters of agricultural, forestry and fishery products, including fruits.
The US market currently has over 331 million people with large consumption power and is a key market for agricultural products and food, including fresh fruits and vegetables.
In 2022, the US imported a record amount of over 31 billion USD worth of fruits and vegetables, including 19.3 billion USD worth of fresh and frozen fruits (equivalent to 23.5 million tons), an increase of 10% compared to 2021, mainly from Canada, Mexico and some Central and South American countries.
| The US is a huge fruit consumer market with diverse needs, increasingly focusing on healthy fruits, vegetables, and organic foods. The main customer group today is the Asian community, especially the growing Vietnamese community, concentrated in large urban areas and cities. |
For lychee, to meet the increasing demand, the US imports lychee from China, Vietnam, India, Thailand, of which Luc Ngan, Bac Giang lychee is always welcomed by US consumers and highly appreciated for its quality.
Mr. Do Ngoc Hung, Commercial Counselor, Vietnam Trade Office in the US, said that the US market still has a lot of room for Vietnamese fruits to expand and develop.
The US is a huge fruit consumer market with diverse needs, increasingly focusing on healthy fruits, vegetables, and organic foods. The main customer group today is the Asian community, especially the growing Vietnamese community, concentrated in large urban areas and cities.
Solving the irradiation problem for fruits
However, access to the US market for Vietnamese agricultural products in general and lychee in particular still faces some obstacles.
Specifically, the geographical distance is too far, leading to long transportation times, while fruits are easily damaged and lost during transportation. In particular, lychee is a fruit that is difficult to preserve, and Vietnam's current preservation technology is still unable to ensure long-term quality.
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| Investment in irradiation technology is needed. |
Not to mention, there is currently no irradiation facility according to US standards located in the North. To export to the US, lychees must be transported to Ho Chi Minh City for irradiation, increasing transportation costs and reducing the quantity and quality of exported lychees.
Ms. Chinh Nguyen added that when the Hanoi Irradiation Center comes into operation soon to help reduce the time and cost of transporting fruits when exporting to major markets, the competitiveness of lychee in particular and Vietnamese fruits in general will certainly be greater.
“When the cost of transporting and irradiating Vietnamese fruits is reduced, Vietnamese fruits will be warmly welcomed by the US market in much larger quantities and on a much larger scale (about 3-5 times larger than at present). This will also help farmers and import-export and agricultural processing enterprises gain more benefits,” Ms. Chinh Nguyen affirmed.
Air freight is too expensive, many times the cost of the product.
The Vietnam Trade Office in Houston also recommends that major fruit production and import-export associations and enterprises in Vietnam and the US need to exchange information, have close connections and define their roles when directly participating in or supporting the export of seasonal fruits such as lychee.
| In addition, our fruit exports to the US are currently only aimed at Asian consumers, mainly the Vietnamese community in the US. This is one reason why there are not many Vietnamese fruits entering the US. |
In particular, businesses should have and implement long-term commitments to ensure good coordination between exporters - importers - distributors for large shipments; contribute investment, cooperate in research and share market information, share responsibilities and risks with partners, create a healthy competitive environment... This will be an important factor to help export shipments successfully to large markets such as the US.
In addition, our fruit exports to the US are currently only aimed at Asian consumers, mainly the Vietnamese community in the US. This is one of the reasons why Vietnamese fruit is not widely exported to the US. It is necessary to promote and introduce products to other communities because the US is a United States of America.
( According to nhandan.vn )
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