Vietnamese lychee (Photo by THANH DAT)

Currently, the country has 469 lychee growing area codes with a total area of 19,377 hectares and 55 packing facility codes for markets such as China, Australia, Thailand, Japan, and the US.

Diversifying markets and forms of distribution

In the lychee-growing area of Phuc Hoa Commune, Tan Yen District, Bac Giang Province, people are currently busy preparing for the 2025 harvest season. Nguyen Huy Ngoc, Vice Chairman of Tan Yen District People's Committee, said that the total lychee-growing area in the district in 2025 is 1,375 hectares, with an estimated output of 15,500 tonnes (an increase of 500 tonnes compared to 2024). Of which, the early-ripening lychee area is 1,250 hectares with an estimated output of 15,000 tonnes, while the main-season lychee area is 125 hectares with an estimated output of 500 tonnes. Notably, about 455 hectares have been certified as meeting VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards.

The district has directed close management and supervision of 33 lychee growing area codes with a total area of 1,036 hectares eligible for export to markets such as China, Japan, the European Union (EU), Thailand, and Australia. It is expected that harvesting will begin around the end of May, peak in early June, and end around June 15, 2025; about 12,000 tonnes will be exported, an increase of about 1,000 tonnes compared to 2024, mainly targeting high-quality markets; approximately 3,500 tonnes will be consumed domestically.

“As for the domestic market, early-ripening Tan Yen lychees will be distributed through major supermarket retail systems, e-commerce platforms, and wholesale markets. Currently, some enterprises have conducted surveys and signed preliminary contracts to export about 700 tonnes of lychees. In addition, traditional distribution enterprises such as Toan Cau Joint Stock Company, Rong Do Co., Ltd., VIFOCO Import-Export Joint Stock Company, and Ameii Viet Nam Joint Stock Company have committed to consuming quality lychees in 2025. Notably, from the beginning of the season, Dragonberry Produce Company conducted surveys and selected growing areas to coordinate and sign chain-linked contracts from production, preliminary processing, and packaging to distribution in the North American market with a linked area of 30 hectares,” Mr Ngoc emphasised.

Bac Giang is the country’s key lychee-growing province with a total area of approximately 29,700 hectares. The area of lychees produced to VietGAP standards is 16,000 hectares; the area certified for GlobalGAP is 204 hectares; and the area meeting organic standards is 10 hectares. In 2025, the province's total lychee output is expected to exceed 165,000 tonnes. Recently, the province has focused on directing the production of 240 lychee growing area codes covering 17,421 hectares for export to markets including China, the US, Australia, Thailand, and Japan, while maintaining 40 packing facilities that have been granted area codes ensuring eligibility for export, including 37 facilities serving the Chinese market, 1 for the Thai market, 1 for the Japanese market, and 1 for the US market.

Proactively planning for preservation and processing

According to Huynh Tan Dat, Director of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, to facilitate distribution, the department has coordinated with relevant units to prepare for experts from importing markets to inspect production conditions and carry out plant quarantine procedures for lychees; deploy staff to be on duty 24/7 at border gates and testing laboratories to handle plant quarantine procedures and inspect pesticide residues and heavy metals in fresh lychee export batches; and send plant quarantine officers to conduct on-site inspections to create favourable conditions for export. At the same time, the department has requested that plant quarantine units at border gates take the initiative in working with inter-agency authorities at the gates and quarantine authorities of importing countries (mainly China) to expedite customs clearance for fresh lychee shipments.

Regarding preservation and processing during peak harvest time, the department has suggested that agricultural processing enterprises develop plans to purchase lychees as raw materials to reduce pressure on distribution during peak season; connect enterprises with large-scale cold storage systems to help farmers preserve lychees when immediate sales are not possible or mobilise resources to invest in temporary cold storage and mobile preliminary processing stations to reduce distribution pressure during the peak harvest period.

Minister of Agriculture and Environment Do Duc Duy stated that the ministry is working with localities to prepare infrastructure conditions for harvesting, transporting, preliminary processing, and preserving products, with special attention to logistics issues. In the near future, the ministry will work with customs authorities at border gates to create favourable conditions for the distribution of fresh lychees, while also opening green lanes for lychee exports at border gates.

The ministry has also requested a strong linkage along the value chain from production, harvesting, preservation, processing, to distribution, especially connections between production facilities and processing, packaging facilities, and export enterprises, and links between enterprises and importing partners. In addition, it is necessary to flexibly arrange various transportation methods across multiple distribution channels. Relevant agencies should regularly monitor the import market dynamics for lychees, especially China, to ensure smooth distribution. In the long term, it is necessary to complete the technical package for off-season lychee production to reduce seasonal pressure; encourage and support investment in regional cold storage warehouses, combined with inter-regional cold transport systems to optimise logistics costs, contributing to the development of the Vietnamese lychee national brand.