It takes 30 days for lychees to reach US consumers

The Trade Promotion Conference with the Vietnam Trade Office system abroad May 2023 took place recently with the theme "Promoting trade for lychee and longan products".

Providing information to the conference, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said, “Fresh lychee products have been exported to 30 different markets such as China, the EU, Japan, South Korea, etc., ready to expand to other markets”.

Currently, the preparation work for lychee export has been basically completed. Trade, transportation and logistics activities to import markets are executed without problems. But Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai still thought that it is necessary for farmers and enterprises purchasing for export to strictly comply with the regulations of the importing country, especially in the context that traditional markets are increasingly demanding more and more stringent requirements for export standards, while markets that are already strict with technical requirements face high inflation, which reduces purchasing power.

Mr. Do Ngoc Hung, representative of the Vietnam Trade Office Branch in Houston and Texas (USA) said that the USA is a key market for Vietnamese agro-products, especially for fruits, and lychee is one of the seven fruits of Vietnam exported to this market. The United States is importing lychees from China, Thailand, Vietnam, and India, but the people of the country always have high regard for the quality of Luc Ngan lychee products from Bac Giang.

Vietnamese agro-products’ access to the US agricultural market in general and the export of lychee and longan in particular still has many obstacles. The geographical matter is the first to consider as the distance is too far, it takes too long to deliver shipments, and the fruits therefore also suffer loss. Vietnam and the USA have already established direct flights since 2021, but the cost of transporting lychee is still too high.

Another thing to note is that there is a lack of irradiation facilities qualified for US standards located in the North, so if enterprises in the region want to export to the US market, the fruits must be transported to Ho Chi Minh City for irradiation, hence an increase in transportation costs.

"The lychee harvest period is very short, only concentrated in 30 to 45 days. This is a fast ripening fruit, so it can usually only be stored for 3-5 days at room temperature. Meanwhile, It takes 30-35 days for lychee fruit from the orchards to the consumers in the United States. Vietnam also needs to put its main competitors into consideration, which are China and Mexico. They have a lot of experience, a wide distribution system, competitive prices, and low shipping costs," said Mr. Do Ngoc Hung.

To make the most of the export potential of this massive fruit consumption market, Mr. Do Ngoc Hung proposed the authorities, associations, and the business community in Vietnam research solutions to reduce transportation costs as it would increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese lychee in the United States.

Regarding the lack of irradiation plants, Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said, “This is a problem that we need to decisively deal with soon so that lychees attain competitive prices in the US market”. Mr. Vu Ba Phu proposed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and localities with large fruit cultivation areas call for more investment in irradiation centers in the Northern region.

According to the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Vietnam's fruit output in the second quarter of 2023 is estimated at over 2.6 million tons. In which, lychee reached 330,000 tons and longan 110,000 tons. Hundreds of thousands of tons of pineapple, mango, orange, and dragon fruit are also in the harvest stage. Abundant fruit supply is putting great pressure on consumption when exports in many markets drop sharply and domestic demand is limited.

In the lychee and longan crop 2023, export turnover is expected to grow again because the main consumption market, China, has lifted the Zero Covid policy and reopened. Consumption promotion activities to other markets are also being actively implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and related agencies, units, localities and enterprises.