Vietnamese lychee becomes “hot item” in Australia

One kilo of Vietnamese fresh lychees was sold for AUD3,000 (US$2,254) at a special auction in Perth city of West Australia.

The auctioned lychees are chosen from the first batch of 17 tonnes of fresh lychees in the crop of 2021 that has just arrived in Australia.

The auction, took place in MCQ supermarket on June 16, drew a large number of visitors who lauded the outstanding quality of Vietnamese lychee this year.

Head of the Vietnamese Trade Office in Australia Nguyen Phu Hoa said that along with the high quality, this year, importers and distributors have paid great attention to packaging.

The auction aimed to affirm the value of Vietnamese lychee and support the promotion of the trademark, he said, adding that all the money from lychee selling at the event will be sent home to support children in the lychee-growing regions.

Prior to the harvesting season at home, the office had implemented the trademark-building programme to promote consumption of Vietnamese lychee in the largest market in the Oceania.

In the Vietnamese Lychee Week, it has conducted a series of activities to advertise the Vietnamese lychee trademark.

This year is expected to be a good year for Vietnamese lychee in Australia. The leading importer of Vietnamese farm produce in Australia, 4wayfresh, said that this week, an additional batch of lychees will arrive in West Australia as part of its plan to import 100 tonnes of lychees in this crop. In other states such as Victoria and South Australia, importers are importing fresh lychees from Vietnam to meet the market demand.

Vietnamese lychee has been favoured by Australian consumers since the product was first sold in the country in 2015. Last year, 80 tonnes of the product was sold in the market.

Ly Hoang Duy, Director of 4wayfresh, said that Vietnamese lychee has outstanding taste and quality thanks to improved storage and transport technology. The majority of consumers in Australia agree that this is the best of its kind in the market.

This year, Australian importers plan to import 300-500 tonnes of Vietnamese lychee.