Hanoi (VNA) - Australian importers and ownersof supermarkets and grocery stores have said they believe Vietnamese lycheeswill gain much favour among Australian consumers this year and sell quickly thanksto their high quality.

According to the head of the Vietnamese Trade Officein Australia Nguyen Phu Hoa, Vietnam is now shipping its first two batches of freshlychees to Australia. A 26-tonne batch is about to reach the country while a 14-tonnebatch is being loaded into containers.

Over the next few days, the two batches will becomeavailable in many Australian states. Local exporters said these are just the initialbatches to be exported early in the lychee harvest of 2020. In the main crop,the volume of Vietnamese lychee exported to Australia will increase sharply.

In order to introduce Vietnamese lychees in the country,the Vietnamese Trade Office has long held various promotional activities,including large-scale events.

In New South Wales, with the encouragement of the office, the VietnameseEntrepreneurs’ Association in Sydney has confirmed it will engage in promotingthe fruit. Meanwhile, in Victoria, Chairman of the Vietnamese BusinessAssociation in Australia Tran Ba Phuc agreed to become involved in introducing theVietnamese lychee trademark when the fruit is sold in Melbourne.

In South Australia and Western Australia, the 4wayfreshcompany is finalising preparations to distribute lychees as soon as they arrivein the country.

Hoa said that unlike most countries, there is competition in lychees in Australiaas local farmers grow the fruit and Chinese imports are also sold.

He advised Vietnamese exporters to work harder to win marketshare.

In the first four months of 2021, Vietnam’s fruit andvegetable exports to Australia increased 43.33 percent year-on-year to nearly25 million USD.

Hoa said the rise in farm produce exports to Australianot only contributes to increasing Vietnam’s export revenue but also helpsaffirm the trademarks of Vietnamese agricultural products./.