Vietnamese fruits conquer the US market

Vietnam’s fresh lychee batch in the 2023 crop has just been successfully exported to the US market, opening up great opportunities for lychee in particular and Vietnamese fruit in general in this market.

“Powering up” for Vietnamese fruits in the US

Recently, LNS International Corporation (importer) and L&V Food Supply Company (distributor) based in Houston, Texas (USA) cooperated to bring fresh lychee shipment in the first season of 2023 in the province. Bac Giang sold simultaneously at many supermarkets and the largest Asian market in Houston, Texas (USA).

This event is considered to be of great significance in affirming the quality of Vietnam’s fruit when approaching one of the world’s leading fastidious markets.

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 working together and investing together to develop and implement a plan to import large shipments. food and fruit industry from Vietnam to the US right this year.

“After 3 batches of importing fresh lychees (about 9 tons) in June 2023 to the US, we have a further plan to import frozen lychees (estimated 2 containers/month, equivalent to about 30). tons/month). If in Vietnam, the suppliers have enough qualified goods, we will plan to import about 3 more times (80-90 tons) in 2023,” said Ms. Chinh Nguyen.

This is very good news for not only Vietnamese litchi, but also Vietnamese fruit in general, because the US is a very fastidious market and requires high product standards.

This “sweet fruit” also shows the efforts of ministries and branches, including the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in promoting import and export, implementing trade promotion programs to bring Vietnamese agricultural products to export to Vietnam. Large, fastidious countries and territories such as the US and EU have taken effect.

In addition, the Vietnam Trade Office in the US has coordinated with relevant agencies at home and abroad to step by step remove difficulties in order to expand the market share of lychees in the US market, such as advising and proposing a mechanism to resolving problems related to the Hanoi Irradiation Center’s participation in the pre-certification program of the US Animal and Plant Health Service (APHIS); Negotiating with APHIS and being allowed to add 1 more irradiation hub to export lychees to the US; Introduce and organize many American import business delegations to conduct field surveys and work with partners in Bac Giang.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, among the groups of agricultural, forestry and fishery products, the US buys the most cashew nuts, seafood, wood and fruits from Vietnam.

The US has been identified as a market for many of our high quality agricultural products and tropical fruits, such as fresh lychee, dragon fruit, mango, and pomelo. Up to the present time, there are 7 types of Vietnamese fruits exported to the US market (dragon fruit, rambutan, longan, litchi, custard apple, mango and pomelo).

The Agricultural Product Market Report of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts that US agricultural imports in 2023 may reach 199 billion USD, 5 billion USD higher than in 2022. This is an opportunity for exporters. Vietnam’s agricultural, forestry and fishery exports, including fruits.

The US market currently has over 331 million people with great consumption power and is a key market for agricultural products and foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables.

In 2022, the US imports of vegetables and fruits reached a record level of over 31 billion USD, of which 19.3 billion USD of fresh and frozen fruits (equivalent to 23.5 million tons) increased by 10% compared to 2021, mainly from Canada, Mexico and some Central and South American countries.

For lychee, to meet the increasing demand, the US imports lychees from China, Vietnam, India and Thailand, of which Luc Ngan and Bac Giang are always well received and appreciated by American consumers. High price for quality.

Mr. Do Ngoc Hung, Commercial Counselor, Vietnam Trade Office in the US said that the US market currently has a lot of room for Vietnamese fruit to expand and develop.

The US is a huge fruit consumption market with diverse needs, increasingly focusing on vegetables, organic foods that are good for health. The main customer group today is the Asian community and especially the growing Vietnamese community, concentrated in big cities and towns.

Solving the irradiation problem for fruit

However, access to the US market for Vietnamese agricultural products in general and lychees in particular still faces some obstacles.

Specifically, the geographical distance is too far, leading to a long transportation time, while perishable fruits are lost during transportation. In particular, litchi is a difficult fruit to preserve and Vietnam’s preservation technology is still unable to guarantee its quality for a long time.

​Not to mention, there is currently no US-standard irradiation facility located in the North. To export to the US, lychees must be transported to Ho Chi Minh City for irradiation, increasing transportation costs and loss in quantity and quality of exported litchi.

Ms. Chinh Nguyen shared, when the Hanoi Irradiation Center soon goes into operation to contribute to reducing the time and cost of transporting fruits when exporting to major markets, the competitiveness of fruits will certainly be strong. lychee in particular and Vietnamese fruit in general will be larger.

“When the cost of transporting and irradiating Vietnamese fruits is reduced, Vietnamese fruits will be warmly received by the US market with a much larger quantity and scale (about 3-5 times higher than the current one). now). This also helps farmers and businesses that import and export, produce and process agricultural products to benefit more, “said Chinh Nguyen.

Shipping by air is too high, many times the cost of the product.

The Vietnam Trade Office Branch in Houston also recommends that the associations and large fruit-exporting and exporting enterprises of Vietnam and the US need to exchange information, have close links and determine their roles when directly participate in or support the export of seasonal fruits such as litchi.

In particular, businesses should have and make long-term commitments to ensure good coordination between exporters – importers – distributors for large shipments; jointly contribute to investment, research cooperation and share market information, share responsibility-risk with partners, create a healthy competitive environment… This will be an important factor to help shipments Successfully exported to major markets such as the US.

In addition, our fruit exports to the US are currently aimed at Asian consumers, in which the Vietnamese community in the US is the main. This is one reason why not many Vietnamese fruits enter the US. It is necessary to promote promotion and introduce products to other communities because the US is a united country.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/trai-cay-viet-chinh-phuc-thi-truong-my-post760115.html