The US market has been importing increasing volumes of Vietnamese fresh fruit and vegetables, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Export-Import Department.

     The department reported that US consumers preferred fresh fruit and vegetables to canned goods. Since the start of this year, 36 varieties of fruit and vegetables have been exported to the US from Vietnam, with a total export turnover US$1.1 million.

According to Vietnamese Minister Counselor to the US – Mr.Nhan Dao Tran, US consumers enjoy lychees, mangosteens and dragon fruit.

They even liked sweet potatoes, ginger and garlic, but dragon fruit remained the most popular, Nhan said. In the first two months of this year, Vietnam earned $624,000 from dragon fruit, a year-on-year increase of 171 per cent.

     Mr.Nhan said that this was a good chance for Vietnamese companies, and advised Vietnamese companies to meet the strict US standards on hygiene safety. In addition, managers and producers must have a long-term strategy to support production in order to effectively export fruit and vegetables to the US.

    Dragon fruit farmers are benefiting from a new initiative that makes value added products from dragon fruit that do not meet export criteria.

     The local  Department of Science and Technology is working with Companies  to make refreshment products like bottled beverages from dragon fruit.

     La Mai Han Trang, Director of the company, said it produced more than 25,000 refreshment products of various kinds every day, all of which were made with dragon fruit that were of good quality but fell short of specific export standards. 

    The packaging for these products, including bags and bottles, was imported from South Korea. They could be recycled and were environmentally friendly, Trang said. "We aim to introduce products to the market for the first time," she said.

       Two of these products had been exported to Cambodia and Laos and were also on sale at many supermarkets at home, including Citimart and Satra Saigon, she added. "The company will continue to research and diversify the products made from dragon fruits, making them more competitive. We are also looking to expand foreign markets for these products," Trang said.

    Farmers benefit from the new venture because they are usually forced to sell dragon fruit that do not meet export criteria at lower prices. Dragon fruit is currently the most Vietnamese prominent product. However, exports of the fruit via official channels account for just 10-20 per cent of the total output.

Source: VNS