Durian on shelves of a supermarket in HCM City. This type of fruit is gaining increasing interest of consumers in Australia. — Photo nld.com.vn

The Vietnamese Trade Office in Australia and New South Wales – headquartered ASEAN Company co-organised the Viet Nam Durian Week In Australia, which will run until July 31.

The event aimed to promote the consumption of durian - a specialty fruit of Viet Nam’s southern delta region - in Australia.

Customs clearance procedures were completed for seven tonnes of Vietnamese frozen durian imported by ASEAN Company, kick-starting the fruit’s journey to conquer consumers in one of the world’s most fastidious markets.

According to Nguyen Phu Hoa, Head of the Vietnamese Trade Office in Australia, after the successful durian promotion programme held in Australia last year, the office’s survey found that there was significant potential for sales of durian in the Australian market.

He expected that the fruit would be brought to the shelves of several supermarkets throughout Australia.

Hoa said that durian was permitted to enter Australia without having to wait for market opening negotiations like other fresh fruits.

With gifts and prizes on offer at the durian week, the event also aimed to introduce other high-quality farming products to consumers in Australia.

Durian is also introduced on the office’s Viet-Aus Trade app while the fruit’s information is posted on the social sites in an effort to promote durian to Australian consumers.

Following the Durian Week, the trade office will continue to work with another partner in Perth City, Western Australia to launch a promotion programme for a batch of Vietnamese durian branded AAA, which is expected to arrive in Western Australia early next month.

Frozen durian is gaining increasing interest of consumers in Australia. Australia mainly imports durian from Thailand and Malaysia.

Hoa urged Vietnamese businesses to launch campaigns and enhance product quality to expand in the Australian market.

The durian cultivation area expanded rapidly over the past 10 years, from 17,500ha with an output of 93,000 tonnes in 2008, to 47,300 hectares with 478,600 tonnes in 2018.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s statistics showed that Viet Nam’s durian export was estimated at US$18 million in the first five months of this year, a drop of 87.5 per cent against the same period last year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which caused difficulties in exporting to China. — VNS