Retailing at €18 (US$21) per kilogram, the first consignments of Vietnamese lychees officially imported into the European Union are selling like hot cakes in France. 

After successfully passing EU’s origin label requirement, imported Vietnamese lychees are proving popular with French customers, according to the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Viettrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade. 

The consignments were sourced from Thanh Ha District in Vietnam’s Bac Giang Province, an area with unique terroir that is known for producing top-notch lychees. 

Currently sold at supermarkets and Asian grocery stores in France at €18 per kilogram, a dozen times higher than the retail price in Vietnam, Vietnamese lychees still manage to lure French customers thanks to their flavor and freshness.

French importers are looking to speed up import procedures ahead of schedule to meet local demand.

In the past seven days, two shipments of Thanh Ha lychee, weighing a total of one metric ton, have entered France via official routes thanks to trade promotion efforts by the Vietnam Trade Office in France and Viettrade, following a series of business matching sessions.

Local customers can examine the origin, quality certificates, cultivation, harvesting, and packaging of the fruits by scanning the label on the package with their smartphone. 

French consumers uphold high standards when it comes to food origin to ensure quality and responsibilities of growers and distributors, said Vu Anh Son, head of the Vietnam Trade Office in France. 

Considering the popularity of the Vietnamese lychee in France, the agency plans to boost promotion of the product in the future with a dedicated booth at the 2021 Vietnamese Food Festival, which is slated for June 19 in downtown Paris. 

They are also seeking to leverage advantages from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, pinpointing more import partners and firms in Vietnam meeting requirements of the European market to bolster exports of the unique agricultural product.

Lychees from Bac Giang have been shipped to more than 30 markets around the world, including the EU, Russia, the U.S., Canada, and China, according to the official government news site VGP.

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