Thieu lychees from the northern province of Bac Giang Province are now available at over 700 outlets of Saigon Co.op. The retailer will buy about 500-700 tonnes of the fruit this year. — VNS Photo

The Saigon Union of Trading Co-operatives (Saigon Co.op) will buy 500-700 tonnes of thieu lychees, a unique fruit grown in the northern province of Bac Giang’s Luc Ngan District, this year, 25 per cent more than in 2018.

Pham Trung Kien, Saigon Co.op’s deputy general director, said fresh lychees are bought directly from the province and transported by specialised vehicles for distribution to more than 700 outlets of Saigon Co.op, including Co.opmart, Co.opXtra, Co.op Food, Co.opSmile, and Cheers, so that customers, especially in the central and southern regions, could enjoy them at reasonable prices.

Saigon Co.op will organise a “Viet Nam Fruit Festival” in June and July featuring lychees and other fruit specialties at its outlets, and offer discounts and samples of the lychee to introduce and popularise it.

It will also collaborate with its partners to take the lychee to international markets, especially Singapore.

Tran Quang Tan, director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, said his province is the biggest lychee grower in the country with 28,000ha under the fruit and an annual output of more than 150,000 tonnes.

All the lychees meet VietGap quality standards as well as standards in choosy export markets, he said, adding that the fruits’ quality this year is the highest so far since farmers recently started to apply advanced technologies.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam praised Saigon Co.op’s effort to promote consumption of lychees cultivated in Bac Giang.

He expected the retailer to also promote the consumption of other farm produce from the north to bring seasonal products to consumers around the country. — VNS