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Large number of Vietnamese lychees are being set to for export for Japan and Australia, where they are proving a huge hit among consumers.

In 2021, Luc Ngan district of Bac Giang province has about 15,500 hectares of lychees, an increase of 160 hectares compared to 2020, with 12,700 hectares cultivated according to international standards. Output is estimated at about 120,000 tons, 30,000 tons of which are early ripening lychees, Dan Tri has reported.

Photo: Dan Tri

To meet requirements to be exported to the Japanese market, lychees are granted codes and regularly inspected and evaluated by Japanese experts.

Photo: Dan Tri

The processing of lychees for export to fastidious markets such as Japan, the United States and the EU are also guaranteed by the facilities from purchasing and packaging to shipping.

Photo: Dan Tri

Director of Global Import-Export Joint Stock Company Nguyen Duc Hung said: "Japan is a very demanding market, so, to meet requirements to be exported to this market, Vietnamese lychees must go through rigorous quality control."

Photo: Dan Tri

After being purchased, lychees are steamed, disinfected for three hours, preliminarily processed, dried, canned, stored at 4 degrees Celsius and then exported to Japan.

Photo: Dan Tri

Hung said the processes of steaming and disinfection were the most time-consuming and complicated. The sterilization chambers have been evaluated by Japanese experts as being of high quality. Lychees for exports will be carefully chosen and put into the sterilization chamber for three hours. Then, workers will take them out and pack them.

Photo: Dan Tri

A close look at lychee trays taken out by a forklift from the disinfection chamber.

Photo: Dan Tri

Normally, the company has about 50 official workers. However, when the lychee season comes, the company needs to hire about 100 seasonal workers to meet the growing demand for exports.

Photo: Dan Tri

“We mainly hire students who are on summer holiday,” Hung said.

Photo: Dan Tri

To date, Hung’s processing facility has exported about 20 tons of lychees to the Japanese market for 120,000 VND per kg (US$ 5.2). When arriving in Japan, they are sold at about 350,000 VND per kg at supermarkets.

Photo: Dan Tri

Apart from requirements as in previous years, disinfection is indispensable. Before getting out of the processing facility, refrigerated vehicles will be sprayed with ChloraminB disinfectant. drivers must also have a certificate showing that they tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.

Vietnamese lychees on way to Australia

The first two batches of Vietnamese fresh lychees are being shipped to Australia, nearly 26 tons of which are about to reach the market and the remaining has been containerized, according to the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia.

Australian importers said that the two batches were early ripening lychees. It is expected that more lychees will be exported to Australia when the main season comes.

The Vietnam Trade Office in Australia has organized a series of promotional activities to promote Vietnamese lychees

A farmer prepares to transport lychees in Luc Ngan District, Bac Giang province. Photo: VnExpress

The Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association in Sydney has expressed its determination and desire to contribute to the promotion of Vietnamese lychees in the area.

Although Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, has applied restriction measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Tran Ba Phuc, chairman of the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association in Australia, agreed with the trade office to jointly promote Vietnamese lychees when they are transported to Melbourne.

In the two states of South Australia and Western Australia, the 4wayfresh company has actively prepared for distribution as soon as the lychees arrive.

Importers and supermarkets owners in Australia have said that Vietnamese lychees would be soon sold out, such is their popularity

In the first four months of 2021, Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports to Australia hit US$25 million, increasing by nearly 35% over the same period last year.

Bac Giang lychees on the way to Japan Businesses in Japan are eagerly waiting their first batch of lychees from Bac Giang province

Bac Giang to boost domestic lychee consumption due to export difficulties Bac Giang, Vietnam's lychee growing hub, is switching from export of the fruit to selling in the domestic market due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

100 tonnes of Vietnamese lychees to be exported to Australia Approximately 100 tonnes of Vietnamese lychees are due to be exported to both South Australia and Western Australia in the near future, according to the ...