HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - Several large supermarket chains have pledged tosupport the consumption of lychees as the fruit enters the harvest season inthe northern provinces of Bac Giang and Hai Duong, the two biggest growers ofthe fruit in the country.

Last weekend, specialised trucks started to transport fresh thieu lychee, a unique variety grown inBac Giang’s Luc Ngan district, for distribution at nearly 1,000 outlets ofSaigon Co.op across the country.

The volume this year will be 20 percent higher than last year.

A spokesperson for Saigon Co.op said the retailer has bought fresh lycheesdirectly from Luc Ngan and Hai Duong province’s Thanh Ha district, all meetingVietGap quality or safe fruit certification standards.

This year Saigon Co.op has begun selling some agricultural products, including thieu lychees, online.

Customers can order them using MoMo e-wallet, and the supermarket will deliverhome.

Besides fresh lychees, canned lychees that can be kept for a long time are alsoavailable at Co.opmart, Co.opXtra and Co.op Food at 40,000 VND (1.7 USD).

Also last weekend, Central Retail transported fresh thieu lycheesgrown in Luc Ngan district in five 20-feet containers to its Big C and Go!supermarkets across the country for consumption and export to Thailand.

A week of promotion will be held in Hà Nội to sell the fruit at 38 Big C andGo! stores across the country, said Nguyen Thi Phuong, deputy general directorof Central Retail Group in Vietnam.

This year Big C and Go! are expected to buy around 1,000 tonnes, three timesthe volume they bought last year.

Central Retail will display the fruit at the best locations in its stores andoffer a series of special promotions.

Central Retail will continue to export Luc Ngan lychees to Thailand and displaythem on the shelves of Tops and Central Food Hall hypermarkets (Central Group’sfood retail chain) to introduce the fruit to consumers in Bangkok.

In addition to Saigon Co.op and Central Retail, the two provinces are also intouch with other retailers such as Aeon, MM Mega Market, Lotte Mart, Vinmart,and Hapro, agricultural product wholesale markets across the country and fruitprocessing plants to help farmers sell their lychees.

This year the fruit was grown on a total area of 28,100ha in Bac Giang provinceand the output has risen by 10,000 tonnes this year to 160,000 tonnes.

Deputy Director of Bac Giang province’s Department of Industrial and Trade PhamCông Toan said due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year the province plans topromote its lychees mostly in the domestic market, and only 40 percent would beexported.

According to Hai Dương province’s Department of Industry and Trade, the outputis 55,000 tonnes this year, double that of last year./.