More Vietnamese lychees to be flown to France

HÀ NỘI — Another batch of ‘thiều’ lychee from the northern province of Hải Dương will be shipped to France this week thanks to swift consumption of the fruit in the European country.

Vietnamese lychees for sales at a supermarket in Paris. Nearly two tonnes of lychees have been flown to France within just one week. — VNA/VNS Photo Linh Hương

France decided to speed up import procedures ahead of schedule to meet local demand, two batches containing nearly one tonne of lychees each have been flown to France within just one week.

Labelled with Việt Nam’s itrace247 origin tracing stamp, the first batch was shipped thanks to trade promotion efforts by the Vietnam Trade Office in France and the Trade Promotion Agency (Viettrade) at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, following a series of business matching sessions involving Hải Dương lychees.

Vũ Anh Sơn, head of the office, said that France consumers attach importance to food origin labels to ensure quality and responsibilities of growers and distributors.

The shipment of the fruit demonstrates a strategic and responsible export policy of the Vietnamese Government, he noted.

On June 12, a one tonne batch of ‘thiều’ lychee grown in Hải Dương arrived at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in France. It was available at the prestigious Asia supermarket chain in Paris and strongly favoured by local consumers.

Before the arrival of the batch, the Vietnamese fruit was imported in just small amounts and made almost no appearance at big local shopping malls. 

To further promote the consumption of Vietnamese lychees in France, the trade office and the Embassy of Việt Nam will set up a booth dedicated to the fruit at the 2021 Vietnamese Food Festival, which is slated for June 19 in downtown Paris.

Viettrade and the trade office in France are seeking more import partners and firms in Vietnam meeting requirements of the European market, in an endeavour to bolster export of agricultural products at large and lychees in particular, thereby optimising advantages from the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement.