Vietnamese pomelo has large potential for expanding exports to demanding markets including the US, the EU and Japan, according to the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency.
Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, Deputy Director of the Export Promotion Centre, said that Vietnamese pomelo was considered to have superior quality to other countries thanks to its moderate sweetness and suitability to consumers of many regions and markets together with a low pest risk.
As pomelo has thick skin, it is easy to preserve for a long time after harvest, which makes it possible to transport by sea, according to the official.
Besides, agricultural products and pomelo in particular are subject to preferential tariffs under free trade agreements to which Viet Nam is a member. The export potential to many markets of Vietnamese pomelo is still large.
Thuy pointed out that currently, Vietnamese pomelo was mainly exported in the form of fresh fruit with low added value. Pomelo could be processed into many different products such as fruit juice, essential oil and jam while the essence in pomelo peel could be used to produce many types of pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs.
Thuy said the US allowed the official import of green-skinned pomelo from Viet Nam, making pomelo the seventh fresh fruit of Viet Nam to be allowed to enter this market, after mango, longan, lychee, dragon fruit, rambutan and star apple.
Other goods such as coconut and durian were already exported to the US but in frozen form.
After pomelo, the US is considering procedures to allow the import of Vietnamese coconuts into the US.
Thuy cited statistics from the US Department of Agriculture that the US had huge demand for fruits, estimated at around 12 million tonnes per year while the US’ domestic production of fresh fruit met only about 70 per cent of the demand. This was a big opportunity for Vietnamese fruits, including pomelo, Thuy said.
According to Nguyen Manh Quyen, Head of the Viet Nam Trade Office’s branch in Houston, Texas, Viet Nam’s export of fresh pomelo to the US remained modest.
Statistics showed that the US imported pomelo worth around US$17 billion in 2020 and $20 billion in 2021. In the first seven months of this year, the US’ pomelo import reached $14 billion, of which Viet Nam accounted for around $1 billion.
Quyen said that the key issue is to properly evaluate the market potential, urging enterprises to pay attention to strictly comply with the guidance of the US Department of Agriculture and the US Food and Drug Administration when exporting fruit to the US.
Vietnamese pomelo also had the opportunity to expand in Indonesia and Hong Kong.
Vu Thi Thuy, from the trade office in Hong Kong, said that Hong Kong had high demand for fresh pomelo, spending $36.4 million to import pomelo last year, an year-on-year increase of 28.2 per cent. Viet Nam ranked second in exporting pomelo to Hong Kong with an export revenue of $2.5 million, after Thailand with $7.8 million in 2021.
However, in the first seven months of this year, Viet Nam’s export of pomelo to Hong Kong increased 133 per cent against the same period last year to reach $2.53 million, making Viet Nam the largest pomelo exporters to Hong Kong as Thailand’s export was at $2.5 million. — VNS