Vietnamese Dragon Fruit Day goes vibrant in Australia

Nearly 100 kilos of dragon fruit were sold during the Vietnamese Dragon Fruit Day. (Photo: VNA)

Sydney (VNA) - Nearly 100 kilos of dragon fruit were sold during the Vietnamese Dragon Fruit Day, which was jointly held by the Vietnamese Trade Office and the Embassy of Vietnam in Australia on September 30.

The fruit was sold at 30 AUD (23.89 USD) per kilo due to its high quality and eye-catching appearance.

At the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Ngo Huong Nam expressed his hope that Australia market entry will help Vietnamese dragon fruit enter a group of fruits earning export value of 1 billion USD.

The move is also a good launch pad for the fruit to go to other fastidious markets worldwide, Nam highlighted.

He said that Australia is a prospective market for the Vietnamese fruit due to its contrast in fruit harvest time with Vietnam.

Vietnam will promote negotiations to ship other fruits to Australia like longan, passion fruit and rambutan, he stressed.

Hoang Huy Khanh, Director of the Da Lat Export-Import Company in Australia, said that farmers and domestic businesses must obey strict requirements in food safety and quarantine set by Australia and the fruit must be harvested from Global GAP farming areas and undergo proper pasteurised process.

Among three fruit shipped to Australia (lychees, mangoes and dragon fruit), dragon fruit poses huge potentials as it can fruit all year-round and if the import cost is lower the consumption will go up soon, he added.

The first batch of Vietnamese dragon fruit was exported to Australia by the Hoang Phat one-member Ltd Co in the southern province of Long An on September 20.

Dragon fruit is one of Vietnam’s key export fruits, and saw export sales of 895.7 million USD in 2016, 50.3 percent of the country’s total fresh fruit exports and 36.1 percent of its total fruit and vegetable exports.

Vietnamese dragon fruit has been exported to 40 countries and territories such as China, Thailand and Indonesia.