Seeking markets for lychee fruit

When every lychee season comes, the provincial People’s Committee of Bac Giang province (PPC) and its related agencies join hands to find the markets. The bumper lychee crop of this year is likely to burden consumption. BGO’s reporter had an interview with Tran Quang Tan, Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade (DOIT) about DOIT’s initiative to boost consumption and price of this fruit. 

Exhibition of Phuc Hoa's early ripen lychee in the promotion conference. 

The lychee crop of this year predicted to be bumper with high productivity is likely to burden consumption. Could you tell me what is DOIT’s effort to find solutions to this question?

It is true that high productivity requires more attention to stimulating consumption. In order to solve this problem, at the very beginning of this year, DOIT jointly held some conferences to provide information to Thai journalists and Japanese enterprises and scientists on investment opportunities, communication and linkage to export lychee to these markets.

We advised to connect and penetrate domestic and export markets with the principle of focusing on traditional markets while exploiting new and potential ones. Currently, Luc Ngan lychee is accepted to be consumed in the supermarkets of Metro, Co.opmart, Hapro, BigC and the fruit wholesale markets in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. 

Besides, we will expand markets for this product in the Middle and Central Highland of Vietnam. We not only maintain the traditional market (China) and increase consumption in US, EU, Japan, South Korea but we also expand consumption markets to the Middle East, Thailand and Canada. Numerous firms have registered to purchase this kind of fruit for export.

This year, DOIT will continue collaborating with the central ministries and sectors and related agencies of the provinces and cities having border gates or wholesale markets for lychee consumption to support communication, exchange information and grasp the consumption demands of specific markets.

Is there anything new in lychee consumption promotion this year?

Bac Giang has about 29,000 hectares of lychee cultivation, 13,500 hectares of which follow VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. This year, thanks to favourable weather conditions, the lychee output is estimated at 150,000 to 180,000 tons with higher quality. Early ripen lychee is expected at 30,000 tons while lychee output of main season is expected at 120,000 to 150,000 tons.

With an aim at seeking favourable markets for this sweet fruit, this year, we advised the provincial People’s Committee (PPC) to renew consumption promotion campaigns i.e. holding three larger-scale conferences to expand consumption in the big and prestigious supermarkets and provide the markets with higher-quality lychee products under the Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practice (VietGAP) and Global Good Agricultural Practice (GlobalGAP) standards. Particularly, the lychee consumption promotion conference in Pingxiang Shi (China) is planned to be held in May, the Forum on lychee and 52 provincial key and typical agricultural products on 8 June and Luc Ngan - Bac Giang lychee Week in late June in Hanoi.

It is said that for a bumper lychee crop with high price and favourable consumption, DOIT’s effort is not enough but it requires involvement of other sectors and localities. What is your opinion on it?

This year, PPC regularly directs the competent agencies to guide lychee production following advanced methods ensuring safe and high quality lychees under VietGAP and Global GAP standards. Besides, they are required to take initiative in seeking and expanding markets, strengthening linkage among enterprises and farmers.

In fact, when the competent agencies, localities and enterprises join hands with farmers in production following VietGAP and Global GAP, establishment of cooperatives, good preparation for such conditions as financial capital, preservation and processing techniques, materials, storage, means of transportation, market information and favourable traffic, purchasing, processing, transportation and consumption, they will bring success in value chain of lychee.