According to the Vietnam fruit and vegetables Association (Vinafruit), Vietnam earned USD29.6 million from pomelo exports in the first eight months of this year, up 144 percent on-year, representing the highest growth over the past five years.
Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of Vinafruit, said that since late last year, Vietnamese pomelos had been exported to the US and New Zealand, in addition to the EU and Middle East. This was the major cause of the rise in the fruit export value.
Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Import Export Trading Service Co., Ltd., said that Vietnamese pomelos in the US and New Zealand had faced fierce competition from Chinese and Mexican products. However, Vietnamese pomelos have gradually been gaining customer appreciation, which has been shown by the higher number of orders.
Tung’s company exports around 16 containers of pomelo to the US every month up from four containers per month in the first quarter of this year.
Vietnamese mangoes, longans, litchi, dragon fruits, rambutans, star apples and pomelos have been exported to the US so far.
Vietnamese pomelos have been exported to 12 countries and territories.
Vietnam cultivates 105,400 hectares of pomelo fruit, generating a total of around nearly 905,000 tonnes per year. The Mekong Delta region remains the country’s biggest pomelo hub with 32,000 hectares.
