European consumers are becoming increasingly interested in sampling new tropical fruit, creating opportunities for local firms to boost their exports to the demanding EU market, according to the Vietnamese Trade Office in the Netherlands.

Vietnam's fresh litchis are favourites with EU consumers

The trade office stated that the import value of tropical fruits such as fresh litchi, passion fruit, star fruit, and dragon fruit in the EU market has increased by 40% over the past five years, reaching EUR142 million last year alone. In addition, the import value of other exotic fruits such as pomegranate rose by 21% to EUR202 million last year.

Amid this context, Vietnamese fruit exporters have been advised to pay close attention to seasonal demand within the EU market, especially during special occasions in April, May, and December when demand for fruit imports tends to soar sharply, according to the Trade Office in the Netherlands.

Local firms have been urged to improve the packaging technologies they use by applying ethylene scavengers, oxygen filters, anti-microbial, and atmospheric packaging in an effort to preserve fruits during the transportation process.