The initial shipment of Thanh Hoa seedless fabric is now available on the British market.

DNHN - The first shipment of Vietnam's seedless lychee was introduced to the UK market, making it the fourth Vietnamese speciality fruit after Tan Lac red pomelo, Dien Yen Thuy pomelo and Cao Phong orange (Hoa Binh), the main export.

The seedless lychee mentioned above was grown in Ngoc Lac (Thanh Hoa) by Ho Guom-Song Am Hi-tech Agriculture Company and imported to the United Kingdom by TT Meridian Company.

This batch of seedless lychee was harvested and packaged in the Ngoc Lac district on June 14 evening; it was refrigerated for 36-48 hours. After completing the flight quarantine procedure at Noi Bai airport, the shipment was transported on a direct Vietnam Airlines flight from Hanoi to London. The shipment of cloth arrived in London on the afternoon of June 15 (local time), was cleared and returned to TT Meridian's warehouse on the morning of June 16.

TT Meridian Company is a distributor of Vietnamese lychee and agricultural products in the United Kingdom. The retail price of seedless lychee is approximately 16-18 pounds/kg (about 480,000-540,000 VND), which is higher than the price of regular lychee, which is 3-4 pounds.

Even though the selling price is quite high, the company has decided to test the import of this speciality fruit to gauge market demand. This decision was made after the results of a quality inspection revealed that the fruit has a characteristically sweet lychee flavour, juicy, crunchy pulp, and is seedless, making it suitable for British and European consumers.

If the quality and price of seedless Vietnamese lychees are accepted by the British market in June and July, TT Meridian Company will import approximately one tonne of fruit per week. Before that, at the start of May 2023, TT Meridian imported a batch of Ri6 durian from Vietnam to the United Kingdom market.

According to the e-commerce portal of Ngoc Lac district (Thanh Hoa province), the Ho Guom seedless lychee seed research project developed by the Institute of Agricultural Genetics in collaboration with Ho Guom - Song Am Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. has been registered for protection and deployed in Ngoc Lac district.

Since 2019, the Ngoc Lac District People's Committee in collaboration with Ho Guom - Song Am Company has planted nearly 30 hectares of seedless lychee imported from Japan. This is the first region outside of Japan to cultivate this speciality fruit tree.

After nearly three years, Ngoc Lac seedless lychee will be harvested for the first time in 2023, with an estimated yield of more than 20 tonnes. The quality of the seedless lychee is plump, the pulp is white and crisp, the flavour is light and cool, and the flavour is refreshing.

The test results of seedless lychee all obtained organic certificates, VietGap, growing area codes, etc., qualifying them for export to the markets of Japan, Canada, and Europe.

P.V