Vietnamese exporters have shipped nearly 30 tonnes of dragon fruit to Australia in recent weeks at a price of VND200,000 (US$8.7) per kilogramme, according to the Viet Nam Trade Office in Australia.

They will consign another 14 tonnes next week.

Vietnamese dragon fruit not only meets top global safety standards but is also highly popular with Australian consumers, the agency said.

Many customers providing feedback to Australia's largest supermarket chain, Woolworths, rate frozen dragon fruit from Viet Nam as ‘five star.’

HOA Australia Pty Ltd said dragon fruit is a strategic product it distributes in coastal cities, and there are times when supply could not meet demand.

Coles and MCQ supermarket chains sell fresh Vietnamese dragon fruit all year round.

Australian importers said they concur with the strategy proposed by the office of targeting young people to promote the fruit.

In 2021 dragon fruit exports to Australia grew by more than 14 per cent despite the transportation difficulties posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last year Viet Nam's agricultural exports to the market grew by more than 28 per cent. — VNS