The San Francisco branch of the Vietnam Trade Office said that following their success in introducing lychees into the major supermarket system (Safeway, Albertsons, Winco,…) in 2022, the trade will be active in the US market as of November/2022 The San Francisco office and the Vietnam Trade Office in Washington DC have lobbied and coordinated with domestic authorities, corporations and US companies to import fresh Vietnamese lychees for consumption. They are consumed in the US market, especially in the west coast states of this country.

After many efforts, Dragonberry Produce Company (US company based in Canby City, Oregon) has successfully imported nearly 20 tons of fresh lychees to this country by sea shipment.

Vietnamese lychees are officially distributed and sold at Safeway and Albertsons supermarkets in the West Coast states of the United States, including Washington, Oregon and California, on the proper occasion to serve the American people on the occasion of National Day. 4/7

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in San Francisco, the supermarket chains with the largest network are Safeway (https://www.safeway.com) and Albertsons (https://www.albertsons.com). West Coast of the United States. Safeway has 913 stores and Albertsons has 300 stores.

“As most of our country’s fruits exported to the United States can only access small markets and supermarkets that serve Asian consumers, the introduction of lychee fruit into supermarkets will continue. This product is quite competitively priced at USD 3.99/pint which is equivalent to VND 200,000/kg is a great success in promoting the consumption of Vietnamese fruits in general and lychees in particular in the US market. , said the Vietnam Trade Office Branch in San Francisco.

The price of 200,000 VND/kg is a very competitive price compared to fresh lychees imported from China and Mexico (sold in the Asian market in San Francisco at $4.99/lb, equivalent to 259,000 VND/kg). The two main suppliers and also the two biggest competitors of Vietnamese fresh lychee.

Vietnamese fresh lychee fruit is marketed under the Golden Lychee brand, beautifully packaged, attractive, professional, to match consumer psychology and taste, along with competitive prices… United States of choice.

To help bring Vietnamese lychee closer to US consumers, the San Francisco Trade Office, in cooperation with the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association in the United States (VENUSA), organizations and companies use promotional activities and communication through information channels, especially social networks .

At the same time, organize stalls to display and sell lychee fruit in some Vietnamese and Asian market areas. Organization of tasting activities to help people get to know and love lychee, thus promoting the consumption of this fruit.

However, exporting lychee to the US market still faces many difficulties, especially since there is no US-recognized irradiation facility in the north.

According to the San Francisco branch of the Vietnam Trade Office, it is a major challenge to ensure the export conditions of fresh fruit, especially lychee, to this market due to the short storage time.

Due to the lack of irradiation facilities according to US standards outside the north, lychee has to be transported to Ho Chi Minh City for irradiation, increasing transport costs and resulting in loss of quantity and quality. Reduce the consumption time of lychee fruit in the distribution system.

Therefore, the Vietnam Trade Office in the United States, the San Francisco Trade Office Branch recommends that agencies and units of relevant departments and branches, as well as the US Department of Agriculture, must find a way to solve this problem.

In addition, the post-harvest preservation technology is still limited, there is no synchronization in the process of pre-processing, packaging, preservation and transportation, and the temperature and humidity cannot be stably controlled, so… there is still no guarantee of extending the shelf life of fruit , vegetables, vegetables in general and lychee in particular.