Bắc Giang lychees promoted in Thailand

BANGKOK, VIETNAM, June 16 - Fresh lychees from Lục Ngạn district, the northern province of Bắc Giang, continue to be sold at the supermarket chain of Gourmet Market and shopping malls belonging to Thailand’s The Mall Group this year.

This is the second year in a row, the Bắc Giang lychees have been sold at major supermarkets in Bangkok.

Pumin Piyawanich, a representative of Ekthai company - the importer of lychees for sale at Gourmet Market - Siam Paragon commercial centre, said that the company wants to sell Vietnamese lychees because of their best taste.

This year's Vietnamese lychee output is not as high as last year, but the company luckily signed contracts with farmers last year. That's why they still have opportunities to sell the fruit to meet the expectations of customers in Thailand, he said.

Although the price of imported lychees this year is a bit higher than last year, his company still tries to keep the selling price as same as last year's so that more customers can enjoy Vietnamese lychees, he added.

The Bac Giang lychees which are fresh and sweet not only attract Thai consumers but also foreign visitors.

Debby, a tourist from Singapore, said she heard Vietnamese lychees are available in Thai supermarket. After having some, she hoped the fruit will soon enter Singapore so that she can buy them there.

In an effort to widely introduce Vietnamese lychees in Thailand which is well-known as the kingdom of tropical fruits, Gourmet Market has combined with the Mam Initiative - a project of a group of young Vietnamese people dedicated to building a brand for Vietnamese agricultural products - launching the promotion campaign "The best lychees from Vietnam" for the first time in Thailand in 2024.

Under the campaign, hand-drawn adverstisements and a set of stickers of lychees with different funny expressions in Thai language are free to download on some applications such as Viber or WhatsApp. The promotional activity is expected to bring Vietnamese lychees closer to more Thai consumers.

The campaign will be carried out from June 15 to the end of July, during which the lychees are imported weekly and sold in Bangkok.

Truong Duc, strategy team leader of the Mam Initiative, said that they want to innovate trade promotion methods through the application of technology and creative ideas. In the coming time, they hopes to join promoting other Vietnamese agricultural products in countries. - VNS