Vietnam’s dragon fruit exports to the US, Japan and South Korea are expected to double this year to 2,600 tonnes.
According to a report on Vietnamnet.com, US importers were actively sourcing the fruit this year.
“Since the beginning of this year we have received many orders from the US and have delivered 11 shipments, including eight by air. This time last year, there was no order made,” said An Phu Irradiation Joint Stock Company (API) director Vuong Dinh Khoat.
Last year Vietnam exported 865 tonnes of the fruit to the US, more than eight times the amount exported in the previous year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
This year exporters expect to send more than 1,500 tonnes of the fruit to the US.
Mr Koat said API was expanding its US distribution network to accommodate the increase in volume sent there.
“Instead of delivering the fruit only to Vietnamese or Chinese-owned supermarkets, we have been working with some American supermarkets to put the fruit into their distribution channels and onto their shelves,” he said.
Improved quality of the exported fruit has helped boost sales to the US, while consumers there are beginning to develop a taste for it, he added.
Japan is also a growing market importing 420 tonnes of the fruit last year, the website reported.
Nguyen Hong Hung, deputy director of Yasaka Fruit Processing, forecast that 600 tons of dragon fruit would be exported to Japan this year.
Yasaka would also export the fruit to South Korea this season, after the country lifted a ban on Vietnamese dragon fruit in October last year.
The Korean market had the potential to consume up to 500 tonnes of the tropical fruit. Exports to the country would be given the all clear following a final inspection of Yasaka’s vapour heat treatment system by Korean officials in mid February.
