Promotional activities to boost exports of lychees to Japan

Bac Giang lychees (Photo: VNA)

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has said that the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan is continuing to coordinate with relevant domestic authorities as well as supermarket networks and distributors in Japan to promote Vietnamese lychees among Japanese consumers.

According to the ministry, a year after Japan officially opened its doors to fresh Vietnamese lychees, favourable conditions are now in place for exports and consumption.

The first batch of lychees, arranged by Japan’s Sunrise Farm Co., Ltd and Ameii Vietnam, reached the country on May 23 and was warmly welcomed by customers.

Vietnamese lychees have made a noise in the year since they first arrived in Japan. Initially introduced at the AEON supermarket chain in June 2020, lychees have been bought by Japanese consumers and also the local Vietnamese community. Many Japanese customers have praised the freshness of the lychees and bought for their families and friends.

With a growing number of Vietnamese living and working in Japan, there has been an increase in demand for the fruit. The lychees have even become the first story to be discussed when Japanese people and their Vietnamese friends before they mentioned main affairs.

The Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has not sent experts to directly supervise and disinfect exported lychees this year, and instead allowed Vietnamese quarantine agencies to do so.

With experience and the results obtained after a year of exporting lychees to Japan, local authorities, exporters, and farmers in large lychee growing areas are fully prepared for this year’s crop.

Bac Giang and Hai Duong provinces have increased the production and growing area as well as the number of planting area codes for export to Japan, while major exporting enterprises have boosted their investment in lychee production and handling and preserving the fruit to meet Japanese standards.

Central and local State management agencies have also been proactive in supporting lychee sales and exports. The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have actively called for e-commerce trading floors and foreign importers to become involved. Both Hai Duong and Bac Giang provinces have held lychee export promotion conferences and carried out online trade activities with export hubs.

In this context, the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan quickly carried out promotional activities to promote Vietnamese lychees in Tokyo and elsewhere around Japan.

Specifically, the office coordinated with Japanese importers to urge local people to buy lychees through e-commerce sites, and at the same time actively called for Japanese importers to pay greater attention to investing in modern technologies to help handle and preserve the fruit more effectively.

Main lychee exporters developed a plan this year to export about 1,000 tonnes of fresh lychees to Japan. The Vietnam Trade Office in Japan will also continue to monitor information and actual consumption in the market.

Japan has stringent standards, the office noted, and consumers have high demand regarding food product quality, especially imported products. More than five years of negotiations were needed for Vietnamese lychees to meet the strict regulations in Japan./.