Thieu lychee, a unique fruit of the northern province of Bac Giang, is expected to record VND5.5 trillion (US$240.28 million) in value this year if it can retain its current price until the end of the fruit season.

A report from the province shows that it had consumed about 125,630 tonnes of Thieu lychee as of June 19, bringing in a revenue of VND3.4 trillion.

China is the main export market for this fruit. At present there are about 1,650 traders, mainly purchasing lychee in Luc Ngan District, a hub of Thieu lychee. There are more than 150 Chinese traders in this area alone..

Chairman of Luc Ngan District Nguyen Thanh Binh said there were a number of companies exporting lychee to the US, Japan, the Netherlands and Australia.

The price of Thieu lychee, which is grown under Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practice (VietGAP) standards, is currently between VND20,000-VND28,000 per kilo (US$0.89 - 1.24), meanwhile normal lychee is priced at VND12,000-20,000 per kilo on average.

The district has 15,290 ha of Thieu lychee, of which nearly 11,500 are being grown under VietGAP standards. Nearly 220ha has been granted area code numbers by the US Agriculture Department and 20ha have been recognised as GlobalGAP standard, a global farm assurance programme translating consumer requirements into Good Agricultural Practice.

According to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, the province has worked with distributors and retailers such as Big C, Co.oppart and Hapro to enter its products to supermarket chains. Earlier, Luc Ngan District successfully organised a trade promotion conference pushing to export Thieu lychee to China, which is the largest export market of Thieu lychee, accounting for 90 per cent of total export.

General Director of Dong Giao Food Export Joint Stock Company Dinh Cao Khue said the quality of Bac Giang lychee this year was very good, with just 1-2 per cent being infested by pests.

“We plan to harvest about 10,000 tonnes of Thieu lychee in Luc Ngan District, in which 4,000 tonnes will be exported to Japan,” said Khue.

The company now has 10 points of purchase in the province for lychee, including those for export, for canning and for making juice.

A Thao, a business person from China, told the Vietnam News Agency that he was purchasing lychee to sell in Beijing. He bought about 60 tonnes of lychee per day at a price ranging from VND23,000 to VND25,000 per kilo.

“China has a lot of lychee but the Vietnamese fruit is more delicious and sweeter with a more beautiful colour. Chinese people prefer them, even though they’re more expensive than Chinese lychee,” said Thao.

Director of Hung Thao Trade and Export Company Ltd., Dinh Van Hung said this year’s harvest was good and his company’s sales were high.

He said his company planned to purchase about 8,000 tonnes to sell in various retail chains, especially Co.opmart in HCM City and exports to China.

“I think that the price of lychee will increase in the coming time as China finishes its lychee season. At present, my company is purchasing at the price of between VND20-23,000 per kilo,” said Hung.

Luc Ngan District has successfully registered branding protection in eight countries including Laos, Cambodia, South Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, the US and Australia. — VNS