Retailers, exporters active in distributing lychee

Unlike previous years when retailers and exporters only came to lychee farms in Luc Ngan district, Bac Giang at the peak of the harvest season. This year, many businesses have earlier reached distribution contracts with local farmers to ensure the quality of lychee and better serve export orders.

Hong Giang Trade and Production Cooperative in Luc Ngan district plans to process 500 tonnes of litchi for exports to the EU. (Photo: Viet Hung).

Having dozens of grocery stores branded Co.opmart, Co.op Xtra and Co.op Food nationwide, the Saigon Co.op FairPrice Ltd., Co. has a plan to make litchi one of the chain’s key fresh fruit products. According to Le Ngoc Nam, Director of Co.opmart Bac Giang, since early April, a working group was sent by Saigon Co.op to Luc Ngan to examine the lychee farms here and negotiate contracts to purchase lychee with several lychee plantations.

According to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, businesses play an important part in lychee consumption. The department will join hands with the Luc Ngan district People’s Committee to attract and create favorable conditions for companies to collect the fruit, helping promote exports and increase the value of the local staple.

After the working group carefully considered standards like lychee quality, appearance, having certificates of origin, or meeting food hygiene and safety requirements, the company signed an agreement to buy about 500 tonnes of the lychee from Hong Xuan agricultural cooperative in Luc Ngan. 

Under the agreement, 22 cooperative members have worked intensively to take care of more than 20 hectares of lychee in accordance with VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards to supply to the retailer. Meanwhile, the Saigon Co.opmart agreed to purchase the lychee at a higher price than the market’s at the same time and the company will send refrigerated trucks to transport the lychee so as to ensure the fruit’s quality. The firm will also actively promote the products among its consumers.

The Hanoi-based Phong Son Tiem Ltd., Co, one of the country’s leading lychee exporters that has shipped the fruit to the United States, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands, has obtained Production Unit Code (PUC) for more than 34 hectares of VietGAP-certified lychee farming areas in the communes of Tan Moc, Kien Lao and Tan Son.

The cooperation between the company and lychee farmers is quite smooth with both sides strictly complying with what has been agreed, said the firm’s director Vu Dao. “In 2018, the company sets a target of continuing to export a large amount of lychee to Australia and Thailand. Our partners in Thailand have inked contracts to purchase around 10 tonnes of lychee per month by air. We are seeking new partners to expand our market. We are expecting to ship lychee by sea to the Middle East and ASEAN nations.”

Similarly, the Hung Thao Ltd., Co in Luc Ngan completed negotiation for contracts to distribute lychee to both domestic and foreign buyers in 2018 a month ago.

Currently, the price of early-ripening litchi in Phuc Hoa commune (Tan Yen district) ranges from 15,000 VND to 18,000 VND per kilogram. Meanwhile, VietGAP-cultivated fruit is sold at 22,000 VND per kilogram, 5,000-7,000 VND higher than the ordinary one.

This year, the company plans to export some 6,000 tonnes of the fruit to China. It will supply 2,000 tonnes of the fruit to Big C supermarket chain nationwide while providing material for some juice processing businesses in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to the Luc Ngan district People’s Committee, over ten large firms and supermarkets like Hapro and Fivimart in Hanoi, and Thu Duc wholesale market in Ho Chi Minh City came to the locality to survey and order large amounts of lychee. In addition, local firms and cooperatives also shipped the local staple to cities and provinces nationwide.

To meet the ordered volume from the customers, local farmers have focused on cultivating 11,400 hectares of lychee in line with VietGAP standard, up 900 hectares from last year, and 218 hectares of GlobalGAP-standard lychee.

Cao Van Hoan, Vice Chairman of the district People’s Committee, said: “More enterprises have ordered local lychee due to its better quality this season. The locality basically completed support services for lychee sales like styrofoam shipping boxes and ice with some 5 million products, meeting businesses’ demands for fresh lychee package and transportation.”